Ambrose Burnside Failures

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General Ambrose Burnside was a commander, leader, senator, governor, and many other things. He was a part of the Union army. He brave soldier who fought in the Civil War. He had many successes, but he also failed throughout his career. General Ambrose Burnside was born on May 30, 1824 in Liberty, Indiana. His parents worked as a farmer and a court clerk. When he was young his first job was working as a tailor. In 1843, as he became older his dad decided to help send him to the United States Military Academy. The United States Military Academy was located in West Point. The military life was really hard on him, and he struggled getting used to it. Even though he struggled with the military life, he did really well in his academics (History.com …show more content…

A month later in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Burnside failed and causes the Union another defeat. In this defeat the Union had 13,000 casualties. This mistake caused Burnside to be removed from commander of the Army of the Potomac (Ambrose E. Burnside). In March of 1863, Burnside becomes in charge of the Department of the Ohio. Burnside was responsible for getting a politician named Clement Vallandigham arrested for sedition (History.com Staff). Later in 1863, Burnside was able to hold the city of Knoxville because his troops outmaneuvered General James L. Longstreet (Ambrose E. Burnside). Because of this success, Burnside was awarded with commanding the XI Corps for the Army of the Potomac. Under the leadership of General Ulysses S. Grant, Burnside fought in many more battles. In the siege of Petersburg, the troops put explosives in a mine and exploded a gap in the Confederate line. Burnsides troops were supposed exploit the gap, but they did not do it in time. This delay causes many of the Union soldiers to lose their lives. April 15, 1865, Burnside resigned because of this mistake (Ambrose E.

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