Why Didn’t Ambrose Burnside Just Wade His Army Across the River?
On December 11, 1862, Ambrose Burnside forced a river crossing at Fredericksburg, Virginia, to begin what became the battle of Fredericksburg. Burnside had been stalled on the north bank of the Rappahannock River for weeks because pontoon bridges he had ordered did not arrived in time for him to slip across the river unopposed.
Upriver of the city, the Rappahannock is shallower than it is at and below Fredericksburg. A common misperception about the battle is that Burnside could have—indeed, should have—just waded his army across the shallow part of the river above the city.
I wrote about this in more depth (pardon the pun) waaaaaay back in 2011. Read that post here. But this past week, ECW Chief Historian Kris White and I went down to Riverside Drive with a drone and captured some stunning views of the river for you that show why a river crossing there would have been problematic for Burnside. We hope you enjoy this unique view!
Having served in a light Infantry unit, I know from personal experience that wet shoes and pants + cold and mud = extremely miserable. Just not a good idea to wade through an icy river in winter.
Interesting articles, Chris. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading!
Great views of the river upstream, and reasons “why not to do it”. Thanks Chris and Kris.
Also, great presentation to the Rappahannock Valley Roundtable by Kris this week on Christmas in The Civil War. A splendid talk.
We’re doing a podcast version of that program coming up later this month–stay tuned. Hope you’re well, pal!
Great posts and old and new – “and a little cow shall lead them”.
They’d better get moooo-ving! 😉
And leave the artillery where?
For once I agree with Ambrose … perhaps the one thing he got right during that campaign.