Ravaged Town

Fredericksburg had enjoyed more than a century of comfortable prosperity by 1860, and although its economic heyday was past, its elegant houses, numerous churches, and shady, tree-lined streets still reflected lingering wealth and refinement. The Civil War shattered that stately tranquility. On December 11, 1862, some 150 Union cannon fired on Fredericksburg, toppling walls and setting fire to buildings. Confederate artillery added to the destruction by targeting Union soldiers who occupied and then looted the town. Terrified citizens fled with whatever they could carry, and when they returned, their lives, like the town itself, were in shambles. Rebuilding took decades.

Fredericksburg, Virginia · United States