Battle of Fredericksburg

December 13, 1862 · Eastern Theater

Phases

1. 1Dec 11–12 — Crossing Under FireDecember 11–12, 1862
2. 2Dec 13, Morning — Meade Breaks InDecember 13, 1862 — 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM
3. 3Dec 13, Afternoon — Marye’s HeightsDecember 13, 1862 — Noon to Dark
4. 4Dec 14–15 — WithdrawalDecember 14–15, 1862

December 11–12, 1862

Burnside’s pontoons arrived a fatal week late — long enough for Lee to entrench 72,000 men on the heights behind the town. Engineers bridging the Rappahannock are picked off by Barksdale’s Mississippi sharpshooters until infantry cross in the pontoon boats themselves — the first opposed river crossing in American history — and clear the town house by house while 150 Union guns on Stafford Heights level it.

• ➤Engineers & 7th Michigan — Pontoon crossing under sniper fire — a first in American arms
• ●Barksdale’s Mississippians contest the streets
• ●Stafford Heights — 150 guns level the town
• ➤Franklin’s Grand Division — Crosses a mile downstream