Military
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On 11 December 1862, Union engineers began building pontoon bridges here to allow the army to cross the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg. They started in the morning under cover of fog, but when the fog lifted Confederate sharpshooters drove them off. A heavy Union artillery barrage and an amphibious assault finally secured the crossing, and the engineers completed the bridges. Two days later, Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin’s Left Grand Division, including divisions led by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade and Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday, crossed the bridges as the Battle of Fredericksburg began. They were defeated by Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s corps.
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Virginia · United States
