Battle of Fredericksburg Was a Boon for Confederacy

The Battle of Fredericksburg at the end of 1862 was perhaps the Confederacy’s most lopsided victory of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, charged with aggressively pursuing and destroying General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, instead led his own Army of the Potomac to what was perhaps its greatest defeat. On December 13, Burnside sent six Union divisions across an open field against Lee’s well-fortified line, causing such slaughter that Burnside wept openly at the outcome and Lee was inspired to utter his famous remark to his subordinates, “It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.” The Fredericksburg defeat was one of the lowest points for Union fortunes in the war. Eight months later, when Confederates experienced a similar fate at Gettysburg, jubilant Union troops were heard to yell, “Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!”