Ambrose Burnside's Role In The Battle Of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Spotsylvania County, along the Rappahannock River. The geography of this place affected the outcome of the war battle and which war the war was headed. Fredericksburg lies at the junction of two rivers, this river is the reason this battle turned out the way it did, resulting in a Confederate victory. Prospects hill played a minor part in keeping General Ambrose Burnside’s men back from breaking General Robert E. Lee’s line of defense. Marye’s Heights also played a pivotal role in this battle, and the sunken road there gave cover to the rebel soldier keeping the federals back. The Army of the Potomac had been given to General Burnside for his command by president Abraham

When the Army of the Potomac came to the river, Rappahannock, which was about four hundred feet wide at the town of Fredericksburg they were surprised to find their pontoon bridges had not arrived already (Pfanz, 2-3). General Edwin Vose Sumner informed General Burnside of a possible attack route if they forwarded the stream a little ways more, but Burnside refused in the hopes that his pontoons would be arriving soon to take the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River and into Fredericksburg. This river caused one major problem for Burnside, his failed hastiness allowed General Lee to regain knowledge of where the Army of the Potomac was located and gave much needed time to Lee to counterattack Burnsides campaign into the south to capture Richmond. Lee had to make sure all roads south were blocked for when Burnsides army crossed over the river. With his 78,000 rebel army he knew he did not have the numbers for open battlefield warfare so his men took to the hills. The hills and river offered a geographical favor to Lee’s army and the river gave them time to get to Fredericksburg, regroup, and organize there among Marye’s Hill and Prospect

Changing his battle plans in a short amount, rather than using the plans he had been training his troops to use for weeks chose a different plan of action. Confederates had fled from the city streets and onto Myre’s Hill and Prospects Hill and waited for Burnsides arrival. General George Meade lead the assault on Prospects Hill hoping to cut off the northern flank from Richmond and move in closer. Meade was successful in creating a six hundred foot gap in the southern flank, but need support badly. When no support came, Confederate reinforcements rushed in and pushed Meades army back. The war reached a climax when Confederates pushed the Meades army back into Fredericksburg, a place known as Slaughter Pen (Mackowski, 2012). After this, Lees line was restored and fighting resumed on Myres Hill. Lee’s men were occupying a strong position in a sunken road behind a stone wall allowing them to take out waves and waves of Burnside's men without heavy losses themselves (Davis,