Timeline
The Battle of Fredericksburg was one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War. In the battle, which had the largest concentration of soldiers, more than 170.000 soldiers fought, more than half of them for the Union. Almost 20.000 casualties were counted. The Union army suffered 13.300 casualties, nearly 2/3 of them in front of Marye's Heights. The Confederates suffered some 4.500 losses. The battle featured the first major opposed river crossing in US military history and the Civil War’s first urban combat.
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- November 14th, 1862 - Burnside sent corps to occupy the vicinity of Falmouth near Fredericksburg. The restof the army followed soon. Lee reacted by entrenching his army on the heights behind the town.
- December 11th, 1862 - Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock river under fire.
- December 12th, 1862 - Union army crossed over and took over the town of Fredericksburg.
- December 13th, 1862 - Burnside mounted a series of futile frontal assaults on Prospect Hill and Slaughter Pen Farm and at Marye's Heights. At Prospect Hill and Slaughter Pen Farm the Union army's main assault against the Confederates produced initial success and held the promise of destroying the Confederates right. Lack of reinforcement and the Confederate's powerful counterattack stymied the effort. The battle forced heavy losses on both sides. 9.000 casualties were counted. About the same amount of casualties were counted at Marye's Heights, most suffered by the Union troops. Wave after wave of Union soldiers marched forth to take the heights, each was met with devastating rifle and artillery fire from the nearly impregnable Confederate positions. Confederate artillerist Edward Porter Alexander's earlier claim that "a chicken could not live on that field" proved to be entirely prophetic this bloody day. Union Generals C. Feger Jackson and George Bayard, and Confederate Generals Thomas R. R. Cobb and Maxey Gregg were killed.
- December 15th, 1862 - Burnside called off the offensive and recrossed the river, ending the campaign.
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