The Battle of Fredericksburg

This landscape, now changed by commercial and residential development, was once crowded with Union soldiers during the Battle of Fredericksburg. Forty thousand Northern troops led by General William B. Franklin crossed the Rappahannock River and massed on the plain south of Fredericksburg, while a like number led by General Edwin V. Sumner occupied the town itself. Franklin and Sumner shared the objective of driving the Confederate army from its stronghold on the heights west of the river. Franklin was to attack the right end of the Confederate line at Prospect Hill, one-half mile away, while Sumner attacked the left end at Marye’s Heights behind Fredericksburg. Franklin deployed his troops one-quarter mile ahead, and at 10 a.m. on December 13, 1862, as he made final arrangements for the assault, cannon fire shattered the silence and Franklin came under attack.

Virginia · United States