Fredricksburg+Battlefield


 * __The Fredericksburg Battlefield __**

Fredericksburg Home Page

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in Spotsylvania County in Fredericksburg, Virginia over the days of December 11-15, 1862. It took place in a town called Falmouth where Confederate forces were digging into the city under command of Generals Jackson, Longstreet, Stuart and Lee. The original plan by the Union was to cross the Rappahannock River by using Pontoon boats to form a makeshift bridge across the river. But unfortunately the Union Pontoon boats were lagging behind the Army and by the time they were arriving it was too late to cross the river without facing opposition by General Longstreet. However General Burnside decided that since half of General Lee's army wasn't dug in yet the best course of action would be to try to get his forces over the makeshift bridge and wipe out Longstreet's forces before they all could get settled in and before General Jackson arrived. But again his plans were foiled since the bridges started arriving at the end of the month and now Jackson and Longstreet were preparing heavy defenses. Finally the time came to cross and General Burnside decided that the best course of action was the cross directly at Fredericksburg. Immediately after crossing they came under fire from Confederate sharpshooters and one of the only things keeping the Union alive while crossing was the 100s of artillery pieces that were raining down mortars on the Confederates. After they crossed there was bloody fighting that lasted for days and in the end there were so many casualties that it was hardly a victory for the Confederacy.