Battle of Fredericksburg Civil War Print

An archival premium Quality art Print of The Battle of Fredericksburg by Kurz and Allison for sale by Brandywine General Store. This Civil War Lithograph was originally published in the year 1888. The scene shows the Union forces belatedly laying down the pontoons upon which they intend to cross the Rappahannock River to overtake the city of Fredericksburg. A large American flag is showing in the foreground and you can see the city in flames from the Union bombardments. The troops are under fire because you can see a few dead soldiers laying along the river bank.

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought from December 11th thru 15th, 1862 in the town of Fredericksburg and the county of Spotsylvania in Virginia. General Burnside was now the commander of the Union forces. He was trying to get to Richmond to launch an attack of the Confederate Capitol. He intended to lead his army across the Rappahannok River near Fredericksburg and then once across the river march straight to Richmond. Burnside thought that a quick successful river crossing would allow his troops to reach Richmond before Lee and his southern army could respond to the threat to the CSA capitol. The plan failed because the pontoon bridges that the Army needed to do a quick river crossing did not arrive in time. This delay gave Lee and his men time to prepare and defend the area. Lee also had time to call up General Stonewall Jackson and his army who were in the Shenandoah Valley. A division of Union troops under the command of Meade briefly penetrated the Confederate Line held by General Stonewall Jackson, but Jackson and his troops did a counter attack and drove the Union soldiers back. On December 15, Burnside called off his offensive and crossed back over the river ending the campaign to reach Richmond and also giving up what little territory he had gained. In January of 1863 he initiated another offensive which quickly bogged down in the winter mud. This abortive "mud march" and the loss at Fredericksburg led to President Abraham Lincoln replacing Burnside as commander of the Union armies by Major General Joseph Hooker in January 1863. The Union army had a total of 100,000 soldiers engaged in this battle with a total of 13,300 casualties while the Confederate Army had a total of 72,500 troops with 4600 casualties. This was a clear Confederate victory.

This was the first opposed river crossing in the history of American Warfare. This battle had the largest number of soldiers involved than any other battle of the Civil War, a total of 172,000 which compares to 158,000 at Gettysburg. The first urban fighting of the Civil War with the troops fighting each other in the streets. The city of Fredericksburg changed hands at least 7 times during the course of the Rebellion. While watching the fighting in the Slaughter Pen from his command post, General Robert E. Lee uttered his famous words "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it." Civil War art print #34