Fredericksburg
13 December 1862

As the final parting shots at Antietam were being fired, the campaign leading up to the battle in Fredericksburg, Virginia was slowly beginning to unravel. The Union Army’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj Gen George B. McClellan, had achieved a decisive strategic victory in halting the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, from advancing further into the North. With this “victory,” President Lincoln and General Henry Halleck both urged General McClellan to immediately set out after General Lee and his Army, destroy the Army of Northern Virginia and put an end to the war. McClellan cautioned that his Army was in no condition to force a march after engaging in two bloody battles in less than 30 days. His men needed rest and to be refitted and other logistical issues needed to be addressed. Both President Lincoln and General Halleck were short on patience with General McClellan and insisted that he move against the enemy. General McClellan conceded and slowly started in pursuit after General Lee. President Lincoln was quoted as saying that “McClellan had a case of the slows,” and because of this on 7 November 1862, General Burnside replaced General McClellan as commander of The Army of the Potomac. General Burnside had already turned down command of the Army twice and out of loyalty to his friend, General McClellan, he was going to turn it down again but reluctantly agreed when he found out that General Joseph Hooker would be next in line should he refuse to take command.

With President Lincoln and General Halleck both urging some kind of action, General Burnside immediately set out after the Army of Northern Virginia. His plan, in simple terms, was to advance to Richmond by the shortest route possible. He proposed that he would occupy Fredericksburg, Virginia and use it as a deep inland port to help supply his troops. By occupying Fredericksburg, he could not only use the Rappahannock River but he could also use the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad (RF&P) to supply his army as they made their way south toward Richmond.

He also re-organized his Army into three “Grand Divisions,” placing two Army Corps in each Grand Division. The Right “Grand” Division was commanded by Maj Gen Edwin V. Sumner and was composed of the Second and Ninth Army Corps. The Center “Grand” Division was commanded by Maj Gen Joseph Hooker and was composed of the Third and Fifth Army Corps. The Left “Grand” Division was commanded by Maj Gen William B. Franklin and was composed of the First and Sixth Army Corps. The 8th Ohio was a member of Kimball’s Brigade commanded by Brig Gen Nathan Kimball, Third Division commanded by Brig Gen William H. French, Second Army Corps command by Maj Gen Darius N. Couch, Right Grand Division. Other units assigned to Kimball’s Brigade were: 4th Ohio, 14th Indiana, 7th West Virginia, 24th & 28th New Jersey.

On 17 November, lead elements of Sumner’s Right Grand Division arrived in Falmouth opposite and overlooking the quiet peaceful town of Fredericksburg. When General Sumner arrived, there was only a token force guarding the town and he immediately requested permission to cross the Rappahannock and occupy the town. Lee’s army was divided and in different areas of Virginia. General Burnside, unsure of where General Lee’s Army was (Longstreet’s Corps was in/around Culpepper and Jackson’s Corps was in/around Winchester) and unwilling to risk having his troops cut off should the river rise with no means to re-cross told General Sumner to hold his position as he was bringing up pontoon bridges to cross the Rappahannock. After unseasonable rains and a month delay, Burnside ordered the construction of pontoon bridges on 11 December so that he could cross the Rappahannock and drive toward Richmond. These bridges would be built at three different points on the Rappahannock. General Lee, knowing that resisting the crossing was futile, ordered Brig Gen William Barksdales’s Mississippi Brigade to contest the crossing but to not bring on a major engagement. Barksdale’s Mississippians were equal to the task and for several hours they kept the Union Army engineers from completing the bridges. They kept up such an intense and accurate fire that General Burnside ordered the shelling of Fredericksburg with the hopes of flushing out the sharpshooters positioned in and about the houses. After a two-hour bombardment of town, the Engineers returned to complete the bridge but were immediately met by rifle fire from town – the sharpshooters had not been silenced.

C ompletely fed up, General Burnside asked for volunteers to cross the river and drive out the Confederates. With very little casualties, volunteers from the 7th Michigan, 19th and 20th Massachusetts braved accurate enemy rifle fire, climbed into pontoon boats, crossed the Rappahannock and effected a bridge head in what would become the first amphibious landing under fire from an armed enemy in United States military history (we’ll add a link here to walk through the street fighting in F’burg). After several hours of house-to-house and street-to- street fighting, Barksdale’s Mississippians were grudgingly pushed to the edge of town. With Fredericksburg now in Union control, the remaining two pontoon bridges were completed. While the street fighting in Fredericksburg was taking place, the Left Grand Division of General Franklin was crossing the Rappahannock below town and positioning themselves for the impending battle.