One of the most lopsided Union defeats of the Civil War, with Union casualties more than double Confederate losses during futile frontal assaults on fortified heights.
Key Facts
- Battle dates
- December 11–15, 1862
- Union commander
- Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside
- Confederate commander
- Gen. Robert E. Lee
- Casualty ratio
- Union casualties more than twice Confederate losses
- Key terrain feature
- Marye's Heights / sunken wall
- Theater
- Eastern Theater, American Civil War
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside planned to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November 1862 and advance rapidly on the Confederate capital of Richmond before Gen. Robert E. Lee could react. Delays in receiving pontoon bridges allowed Lee to move the Army of Northern Virginia into strong defensive positions along the heights west and south of the city, negating Burnside's strategic initiative.
From December 11 to 15, 1862, Union forces crossed the Rappahannock under fire and fought through Fredericksburg before launching repeated frontal assaults on December 13 against Confederate positions. Franklin's Left Grand Division briefly pierced Stonewall Jackson's lines to the south but was repulsed, while Sumner's and Hooker's divisions suffered severe losses in multiple futile charges against Longstreet's entrenched infantry behind the sunken wall on Marye's Heights.
Burnside withdrew his army on December 15, ending yet another failed Union offensive in the Eastern Theater. The battle's catastrophic casualty imbalance—described to President Lincoln as a 'butchery'—damaged Union morale, undermined confidence in Burnside's leadership, and reinforced the Confederacy's defensive strength in Virginia heading into 1863.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker.
Side B
1 belligerent
Gen. Robert E. Lee, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet.