FREDERICKSBURG, Chancellorsville and Shiloh (
The Battle of Fredericksburg (Virginia), fought December 11-15, 1862, was one of the largest and deadliest of the Civil War. It included the first major river crossing in American military history. Union and Confederate troops fought in the streets of Fredericksburg, the Civil War’s first urban combat. And with nearly 200,000 soldiers, no other Civil War battle included a larger group of soldiers.
It all started on November 14, General Ambrose Burnside, now in command of the Army of the Potomac, sent a corps to settle near Fredericksburg. The rest of the army soon followed. Confederate General, Robert E. Lee reacted by entrenching his army on the hills behind the town. On December 11, Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River while under fire. On the 12th, the Federal army crossed over, and on December 13, Union general Burnside ordered a series of 13 failedattacks on Marye’s Heights that resulted in a large amount ofcasualties. On December 15, Burnside called off the attackand re-crossed the river in retreat. Let me go into more detail:
Burnside’s plan at Fredericksburg was to use the nearly 60,000 men to crush Confederate General Lee’s southern side while the rest of his army held the Confederate First Corps in position at Marye’s Heights.The Union army’s main attack against Confederate commanderStonewall Jackson was successful at first and held the promise of victory, but lack of reinforcements(back up), a delay with the pontoon bridges and Jackson’s powerful counterattack ruined the effort. Both sides suffered heavy losses.
In the meantime, Burnside’s sent his Union soldiers against experienced Confederate soldiers behind a stone wall and faced many Union casualties. Wave after wave of Union soldiers marched forth to take the heights, but each was met with horrible rifle and artillery fire from the nearly unreachableConfederate positions. One Confederate soldier said, “a chicken could not live on that field!” as he watched the Union soldiers attempt to get closer to the Confederates behind the wall.
As darkness fell on a battlefield filled with dead and wounded, it was very clear that a Confederate victory was at hand. In the end, the Army of the Potomac had suffered nearly 13,300 casualties, nearly two-thirds of them in front of Mayre’s Heights. By comparison, Lee’s army had suffered some 4,500 losses. Robert E. Lee, watching the great Confederate victory unfolding from his hilltop command post sadly exclaimed, “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”
Roughly six weeks after the Battle of Fredericksburg, President Lincoln removed Burnside from command of the Army of the Potomac (mostly because of this unnecessary slaughter/loss).
CHANCELLORSVILLE, Virginia – President Abraham Lincoln picked Major General Joseph Hooker to take over the Army of the Potomac.Hooker's energetic control put the Northern army into tip-top condition, and with more strength than ever before. The army commander outmaneuvered Lee in late April, when the weather finally allowed roads to harden enough for marching. But, Lee planned to attack Union general Hooker while he was still within the thick wilderness (part of the “Wilderness Campaign”). Late on May 1, 1863, Lee and Jackson created one of the boldest plans of the war. Through great planning and moving his soldiers well, Lee's victory at Chancellorsville is thought to be his greatest of the entire war. Let me tell you more details.
Come May 3rd, soon after 5 p.m., Confederate hero Stonewall Jackson, led his men and shattered a part of the Union army. The Confederates pushed them back more than two miles. About three hours later, Jackson fell mortally wounded by the mistaken fire of his own men.
Hooker’s men were pushed back and forced to re-cross the Rappahannock River to its left bank, back to where he started, early on May 6. This battle had cost him about 18,000 casualties, and his enemy about 13,000. None of the losses on either side would be as memorable as the death of Stonewall Jackson.
SHILOH, Tennessee- Following Major General Ulysses Grant’s Union victories over Forts Henry and Donelson in February of 1862, the commander of Confederate forces was pushed to withdraw from Kentucky, and leave much of western and middle Tennessee to the UNION. The Confederate retreat was a welcome surprise to Grant, whose Army of the Tennessee would need time to prepare for its own fighting along the Tennessee River. Grant's army made camp at Pittsburg Landing where it spent time training new soldiers and awaiting for reinforcements(back-up troops) in the form of Union Maj. Gen. Buell’s army. The Confederacy needed to attack Grant’s men at Pittsburg Landing before the two Union armies could unite.
Aware of Grant's location and strength—and that more Yankees were on the way—the Confederacyattacked on April 6, 1862. The Confederate's morning attack completely surprised many of the unprepared Northerners. At the “Hornet’s Nest” the Rebels pounded the Yankees with massed artillery, and ultimately surrounded them. Later in the day Yankees established a defensive line covering Pittsburg Landing, as Buell and his men began to arrive. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Union held their ground. Though the Rebels had successfully driven the Yankees back, there was, however, one significant blow to the Confederate cause on April 6. The Confederate general had been mortally wounded early during the day and command of the Confederate force fell to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.
With the addition of Buell's men, the Union force of around 40,000 outnumbered Beauregard’s army of fewer than 30,000. Rebel Beauregard, however, was unaware of Yankee Buell’s arrival. Soon, Beauregard realized he was outnumbered and was suffering from heavy casualties. Union General Ulysses Grant’s April 7th continued attackoverpowered the weakened Confederate forces and Beauregard’s army retreated from the field. The two day battle at Shiloh produced more than 23,000 casualties and was the bloodiest battle in American history at its time. But most importantly, it was all an important plan for Union control of the Mississippi River; the Anaconda Plan was ready to squeeze!