Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/476

464 FREDERICKSBURG federals being concentrated near Warrenton, and the bulk of the confederates near Cul- peper, 20 m. S., the remainder being three days distant. The Union force was about 120,- 000, that of the confederates about TO, 000. McClellan appears to have been disposed to attack the enemy ; but the resolution came too late. On Nov. 7 he was removed from the command, which was given to Burnside, much against his wish. The capture of Richmond being considered the main object of the cam- paign, McClellan had proposed to make Alex- andria his base of supply, and to move by the circuitous lines of railway. He indeed still preferred his former line of movement, making West Point his base ; but as this plan would have again uncovered Washington, he forbore Diagram illustrating the advantages in point of distance of the three proposed routes to Richmond : that of McClel- lan in the spring of 1862, from West Point; that of McClellan, abandoned by Burnside, from Alexandria, by way of Culpeper and Gordonsville ; and that proposed by Burnside, direct from Fredericksburg. to urge it. Burnside proposed a plan between the two, making Acqnia creek, near Fredericks- burg, his base, and moving upon Richmond by the line of the Fredericksburg railroad. If it was to be assumed that the capture of Rich- mond, and not the destruction of the confeder- ate army, was the immediate object, and also that the Union army must always be interposed between the confederates and Washington, then Burnside's plan was undoubtedly the best of the three. The president, who clearly per- ceived that the defeat of Lee's army was the main thing to be aimed at, gave a somewhat reluctant assent to Burnside's plan. He said : " I think it will succeed if you move rapidly ; otherwise not." But the movement was not rapidly made. It was not fairly commenced until Nov. 15, by which time Lee had con- centrated his whole army. The army of the Potomac had been organized into three grand divisions ; the right under Sumner, the centre under Hooker, the left under Franklin. Sum- ner reached Falmouth, opposite Fredericks- burg, on the 17th. The intention was to cross the Rappahannock and seize the heights of Fredericksburg; but the pontoons had not been provided, and the army could not cross in force. So a fortnight passed, and Lee had come up and occupied the heights. On pure- ly military considerations no further attempt would now have been made by Burnside ; but public opinion demanded an onward move- ment. The Rappahannock, with a general course from N. W. to S. E., makes a sharp bend southward a mile above Fredericksburg, and for some distance runs between heights on either side. Those on the east fall steeply down to the river bank ; on the west the hills in the rear of the town rise about a mile from the river, and then trend away until they sink into the valley of the Massaponax, 6 m. below, leaving an irregular plain about two miles wide in its broadest part. Westward the hills rise by a succession of low wooded ridges until they are lost in the region known as the Wil- derness. On the crests of these ridges lay half of Lee's army, under Longstreet ; D. H. Hill was posted at Port Royal, 20 m. down the river ; between them lay Jackson, ready to support either wing. Burnside resolved to cross at and near Fredericksburg, and Dec. 11 was fixed upon for the attempt. The plan was to throw three bridges across at Fredericks- burg, and three more at a point about 3 m. below. Sumner's division was to cross by the upper bridges, Franklin's and a part of Hooker's at the lower, the remainder of Hooker's being held in reserve. The attempt to lay the upper bridges was opposed by a body of confederate sharpshooters, but toward evening Burnside sent over a detachment in boats, who drove out the riflemen, and the bridges were completed during the night. No serious attempt was made to prevent the construction of Franklin's bridges ; they were completed by noon, and he was ready to cross, but was held back until the other bridges were built. The whole of the 12th was spent in crossing, and in prepara- tions for the battle of the following day; a delay which gave Lee time to bring up Jack- son's corps. It was no part of Lee's plan to dispute the passage of the river, as he pre- ferred to receive the attack in his strong po- sition. The extreme confederate left above Fredericksburg was protected by a mill pond, sluiceway, and canal, the bridges over which had been destroyed ; and here the attack could be made only upon Marye's hill, which rises steeply a little behind Fredericksburg. The morning of Saturday, Dec. 13, broke with a heavy fog resting in the valley, and shutting each army from the sight of the other. All told, Lee had now about 80,000 men, and Burn-