Battle of Fredericksburg

A December 1862 battle in Virginia in which Confederate forces defeated the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.

Fredericksburg: A city in Virginia on the Rappahannock River, contested during the American Civil War. Union troops had to cross the river and fight through the city to reach the Confederate defenses.
Battle of Antietam: A September 1862 battle in Maryland that halted Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North. Its aftermath shaped the Union’s next effort to take the initiative in Virginia.
Edwin V. Sumner: A Union general who commanded the Right Grand Division at Fredericksburg. His troops led the first major Union attacks against Marye’s Heights.
Mud March: An unsuccessful Union operation in January 1863 after the Battle of Fredericksburg. Burnside’s renewed attempt to maneuver against Lee collapsed amid severe weather.
Rappahannock River: A river in Virginia that flows southeast to Chesapeake Bay. Its crossing delayed the Union advance and shaped the battle’s opening operations.
Ambrose Burnside: A Union general who commanded the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg. He succeeded George McClellan and chose a rapid advance toward Fredericksburg.
William B. Franklin: A Union general who commanded the Left Grand Division at Fredericksburg. His delayed and limited attack on the Confederate right drew criticism after the battle.
Burnside's dismissal: The January 1863 removal of Ambrose Burnside from command of the Army of the Potomac. The Fredericksburg defeat and subsequent failed campaign preceded his replacement by Joseph Hooker.
Marye's Heights: A ridge west of Fredericksburg, Virginia, defended by Confederate troops in 1862. Confederate infantry behind a stone wall there repelled repeated Union assaults.
Army of the Potomac: The Union army responsible for major campaigns in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War. Its winter 1862 campaign produced the Union defeat at Fredericksburg.

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