Last year, I made a day trip to Fredericksburg to see the battlefield and learn the history of the area. I went on a Sunday, and there was hardly anyone there. I visited with a historian in the park headquarters for quite awhile, and he cleared up some common misconceptions about the battle. I would highly recommend doing the same if you ever get the chance, because I learned a lot and the area is beautiful. The most important thing to understand with Fredericksburg is that communication was slow, inefficient, and at least with respect to the Union forces, often based on inaccurate information. It was remarkable to think about how just two radios could have potentially changed the outcome of not just this one battle…but of the entire campaign. Here are some of the things that some resources get wrong (according to my understanding, which is based almost entirely on my conversation with the aforementioned National Park Service employee): 1. The gap in Jackson's line (in the swampy area) was not intentionally charged; it was found entirely by accident by the Union forces. 2. The Union's maps had some key errors. Perhaps the most consequential of these was the inaccurate labeling/drawing of some roads in the area. If the maps in the Union's possession were more accurate, they would have clearly seen that their southern force of 6,000 could have rounded Jackson's right flank and either wreaked havoc on his forces or high-tailed it south towards Richmond. If the force had been reinforced (or initially been larger), this could have easily convinced Lee to reposition some of the men on and around Marye's Heights to the southern end of their line. This would have considerably weakened the northern end of the Confederate line, making a breakthrough in the subsequent wave-after-wave attacks much more likely (but still not likely). It is also possible that with the road to Richmond wide open, Lee would have mobilized the entire force to a) separate the southern Union force from their potential resuppliers and/or reevaluate the situation to find more favorable ground to fight on, given the drastic change in events. 3. Ambrose Burnside is widely blamed for decisions that many competent commanders would have made if they had been unfortunate enough to find themselves in his shoes. Ironically, George McClellan would have fared much better, because he probably never would have committed to the attack with such fervor...if with any fervor at all. This video is slightly misleading, because it presents the repulsion of the forces from the marsh as happening well before the assault on Marye's Heights began (or at least that's the impression I got from the video). This is not the case. Burnside received word from his southern forces that they had broken through Jackson's line with a small force. This is why I say Burnside did what many would have done: the news from a couple miles south of town triggered him to launch the assault on Marye's Heights in an attempt to prevent the diversion of troops to aid in the fighting back of the Federals who had broken through the marsh. Because he received no updates from the south, Burnside continued those assaults to maintain pressure on Longstreet's men so they would be less likely to send forces south to aid Jackson;s men. Communication was so ineffective that it took several hours for Burnside to receive word that the Union troops had been repelled by Jackson's reserve forces. I am by no means saying Ambrose Burnside is a world-class military leader; I am simply saying that with some context, his decisions seem less asinine. 4. I understand the limitations of the game used to create this video; however, it is important to note that the fighting that occurred in the actual city proper of Fredericksburg did not occur as portrayed in the video. Rather than lining up, the Confederate forces were predominantly Mississippi sharpshooters. They were perched in windows, behind doors, amongst rubble created by the cannon fire, and most importantly, in basements. If you walk around historic Fredericksburg (or many areas in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states), you may notice that the first floor of many buildings is slightly elevated and the basement is not entirely sunken. This enables the addition of windows (often just gaps in the stone or brick walls with hinged wooden doors to close in the event of snow or rain) towards the ceiling of the basement. This provided excellent cover for the Mississippi sharpshooters, especially from the cannon shot raining down on the city from the opposite banks of the Rappahannock River. Instead of having to take cover further back from the river, they were able to stay in their sniper locations during the bombardment. This enabled them to begin firing at the Union troops while they were still crossing the makeshift bridges constructed from the late-arriving pontoon boats (it is also important to note that if these pontoons arrived when Burnside was originally told they would arrive, Lee would have had far less time to form makeshift bulwarks and Jackson’s “foot cavalry” would not have had an extra day or two’s rest after their march to Fredericksburg from the Shenandoah Valley to the west). 5. At the base of Marye's Heights, there is an old path known as the "Sunken Road". It is directly adjacent to the park headquarters, and it was an excellent tactical advantage for the defending Confederate troops during the repeated frontal assaults launched by Burnside. This road is essentially dug into the hillside in a way that enabled the defenders to have four to five feet (vertically) of their bodies shielded from opposing fire by a stone retaining wall that prevents tons upon tons of soil from falling onto the road. Basically, the advancing Union soldiers had to shoot the Confederates in the head in order to weaken the first line of defenses at Marye's Heights…so not only did the Federals have to shoot on the move, but they also had to hope and pray that they could hit a target the size of an adolescent watermelon instead of an entire human body while doing so. Hopefully this goes without saying, but the cross-sectional surface area of a man's head is much smaller than that of his entire body, and that goes a long way in explaining why the casualty ratio in this facet of the battle was so lopsided. Hopefully this also goes without saying, but I am not a historian, and this is simply the way that I understand things to have happened 162 years ago. I have been wrong before, and it is possible that I am wrong now as well.
I live in Fredericksburg, and I appreciate your sentiment and expressions to my City, A great little place right in the middle of it all, and to what happened here. Thank you for Clarifications if so styled as truest.
Nah, well said. Communications operating at the speed of a runner or horse using innacurate information is nearly always going to end up with something going wrong or indeed accidentally right. Even with radios screw ups still happen.
Yeah they bugged tf out all the time and my guys would never shoot. The reloading is nice when you’re watching a cinematic like this don’t get me wrong but in terms of how actually playable the game is, newer ones blow the old out of the water
@@poyloos4834there are mods out there that improve the older total war games. Darth mod for Napoleon and Empire are very good. Lots of good stuff In them.
Im from Fredericksburg. You can still see some scars of the battle at places like Chattem Heights and at the sunken road which is a nice walk. You wont see much of the battlefield past Caroline Street and the sunken road because it all was built on from the 1920s to modern day. Id recommend if you ever go, visit Slaughter Pen Farm. That part of the battle has remained farmland to this very day. I have yet to visit it myself but used to drive past it daily. Its particularly haunting.
Can just imagine the pathetic scene of Burnside declaring he would lead one final attack, apparently he was in tears and blubbering. Good on his officers essentially surrounding and stopping him. He should've gone alone. After his similarly botched mud march he would be sidelined for the rest of the war, only finally resigning in the summer of 1865.
In essence, Pickett's charge was a reversal of this as the Union Army of the Potomac was in defense and the Army of Northern Virginia was slaughtered attempting to take this defensive position. Many Union soldiers saw this reversal as revenge and gleefully chanted “Fredericksburg. “
Kinda. Even tho pickets was 1 massive charge versus 15 (I believe) separate charges for the union. Seems like burnished would have gotten the idea after the 5, 6, or 7th charge.
Which is the strangest thing. Lee saw this slaughter happen first hand. So why would he send his limited forces to do a repeat of what he saw happen to the Federal Army.
@@hisdudeness8328because Lee saw his group as invincible and hardened veterans where as the union forces at Fredericksburg were still poorly trained and lacked any sort of competent leaders or cohesion. Theres also other contributing factors. The death if Jackson was still heavy on Lee and its possible that the 2nd day of Gettysburg would have been very different had Jackson lived. He most likely would of taken the little and big round tops on day 1. Moreover, Lee was going through some medical issues during this phase of the war that might have contributed to a very poorly calculated strategy.
The actions of the federal troops in the town of Fredericksburg, was despicable. Wanton theft, arson and pillage was common and their leaders did nothing to stop the rabble.
So "looting" a town is what upsets you? "Theft" is the thing that gets you going? You know what was even more "despicable"? Causing a civil war that killed more than 620,000 Americans needlessly. Let's not waste time on looting some buildings as if some candlesticks or a blanket mattered. As far as Confederates go, just about anything Union troops did to them in this war was justified in order to end it and save lives.
@@tylerskane9899 recorded history is now "classic southern propaganda?" History doesn't care about your feelings. The Library of Congress contains records of this event occurring.
Very well done! Richard Kirkland's actions surprised me, I've never heard such great actions be taken by any man on both sides. Truly the Angel of Marye's Heights!
Fun fact: At the Battle of Gettysburg after Pickett's Charge against the entrenched Union center was beaten back, Union soldiers chanted "Fredericksburg!" at the retreating Confederates as a way to avenge this humiliating defeat.
I think of this battle because of Gods and Generals. Civil War Combat did justice in portraying the battle. The butcher's bill was in full display here.
This was one of the hardest battles in the Union campaign of R. E. Lee's American Civil War game besides the wilderness. I took sooo many losses even with flanking the wall to the north with most of my forces 💀
Love the video but the battle did take place in mid Dec, would have been nice for the landscape to have reflected that, instead of high grass, fully leafed trees and summer uniforms. Sorry to nitpick
Still going through with the plan even though they didn't have the speed and had lost the element of surprise was Burnside's biggest mistake that got so many soldiers killed in vain. Though can't deny he did try thinking outside box in his attempt to outflank Lee, it just backfired horribly. Though if Meade had gotten reinforcements in time to exploit the gap, things could have been different that day.
Union descriptions refer to left and right as we understand them today. Lee always referred to left and right as he saw them.....meaning Marye's heights was the Union left.
Well, I agree with Gen. William "Uncle Billy" Sherman...."I intend to make war so unpleasant that Generations will pass before they ever take a liking to it again...." Oh, and don't make me mention the POW camp at Andersonville. BK Zahn, SUVCW, Pvt. L. Cooley, 10th NH VOL INF REG...engaged at Fredericksburg.
The Union Army of The Potomac's actions as far as the looting and destruction of personal property in the town itself were disrespectful & disgusting to a fault🤢
