the battle of fredericksburg was fought december 11–15, 1862, in and around fredericksburg, virginia, in the eastern theater of the american civil war.the combat, between the union army of the potomac commanded by maj. gen. ambrose burnside and the confederate army of northern virginia under gen. robert e. lee, included futile frontal attacks by the union army on december 13 against entrenched confederate defenders along the sunken wall on the heights behind the city.it is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the confederates.a visitor to the battlefield described the battle as a 'butchery' to u.s. president abraham lincoln.burnside's plan was to cross the rappahannock river at fredericksburg in mid-november and race to the confederate capital of richmond before lee's army could stop him.bureaucratic delays prevented burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and lee moved his army to block the crossings.when the union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire, direct combat within the city resulted on december 11–12.union troops prepared to assault confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as marye's heights.on december 13, the left grand division of maj. gen. william b. franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of confederate lt. gen. stonewall jackson to the south, but was finally repulsed.burnside ordered the right and center grand divisions of major generals edwin v. sumner and joseph hooker to launch multiple frontal assaults against lt. gen. james longstreet's position on marye's heights – all were repulsed with heavy losses.on december 15, burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed union campaign in the eastern theater.confederate armies had been on the move earlier in the fall, invading kentucky and maryland.although each had been turned back, those armies remained intact and capable of further action.lincoln urged major general ulysses s. grant to advance against the confederate stronghold of vicksburg, mississippi.he replaced maj. gen. don carlos buell with maj. gen. william s. rosecrans, hoping for a more aggressive posture against the confederates in tennessee, and on november 5, seeing that his replacement of buell had not stimulated maj. gen. george b. mcclellan into action, he issued orders to replace mcclellan in command of the army of the potomac in virginia.mcclellan had stopped general robert e. lee's forces at the battle of antietam in maryland, but had not been able to destroy lee's army, nor did he pursue lee back into virginia aggressively enough for lincoln.mcclellan's replacement was maj. gen. ambrose burnside, the commander of the ix corps.burnside had established a reputation as an independent commander, with successful operations earlier that year in coastal north carolina and, unlike mcclellan, had no apparent political ambitions.however, he felt himself unqualified for army-level command and objected when offered the position.he accepted only when it was made clear to him that mcclellan would be replaced in any event and that an alternative choice for command was maj. gen. joseph hooker, whom burnside disliked and distrusted.burnside assumed command on november 7.the plan relied on quick movement and deception.he would concentrate his army in a visible fashion near warrenton, feigning a movement on culpeper court house, orange court house or gordonsville.he would then rapidly shift his army southeast and cross the rappahannock river to fredericksburg, hoping that lee would not move, unclear as to burnside's intentions, while the union army made a rapid movement against richmond, south along the richmond, fredericksburg and potomac railroad (rf&p) from fredericksburg.
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