Fredericksburg |
Fredericksburg - The Battle |
Fredericksburg - The Visit |
Fredericksburg - The Area |
The One-eyed Traveler |
In December 1862, just after the bloody stalemate of Antietam, under pressure from Washington to attack the Confederates somewhere, Ambrose Burnside led the Army of the Potomac on a two-pronged assault across the Rappahannock River against Lee's forces on the heights back of the town of Fredericksburg. Union troops plunged through a gap in the Rebel line ensconced on hills east of town, but the inadequate Union force was shoved back. The most memorable part of the battle occurred in the city itself. Union troops crossed on pontoons, fought their way into the town, and then stormed Mayre's (pronounced Marie's) Heights directly behind it in wave after wave of blue. For those involved on both sides, it seemed like murder. With flags waving, and men tumbling at an alarming rate, the Yankees kept coming, until their fallen bodies carpeted the ground in blue. Not one of them reached their destination as artillery on the hilltop raked the Union lines across the open plain leading to the river, while gray infantry along a stone wall-lined sunken road cut them down in droves. Some managed to take cover in a large hillside swell, in buildings, or behind the dead. |
Burnside wanted to resume the attack the next day, but his generals felt it was futile, and nearly two days after the debacle the army withdrew. If Chancellorsville was Lee's masterpiece, Fredericksburg was perhaps his most one-sided victory. The Yankees would never forget the nightmare of it all. Eight months later, following Rebel general George Pickett's own failed charge against a somewhat lower stone wall at Gettysburg, the victorious boys in blue raised the taunting cheer of "Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg!" Revenge was finally their's. |
Fredericksburg is an attractive old town lying along the Rappahannock River, halfway between Richmond and Washington, D.C. The battlefield visitor center sits about ten minutes off Interstate 95. The town itself is well worth a visit for its historic 18th and 19th century buildings and antique shopping. The battlefield visitor center contains a small, but interesting exhibit of battlefield relics. One I particularly remember was a shoe unearthed with a bayonet still sticking through it. There is a short electronic map presentation, which gives a good overview of the battle. The bookstore, in a separate building, is very large and well-stocked. The National Park Service offers several on-site tours. It seems the most popular one is the tour covering The Sunken Road, the area of stone wall that protected the Confederate Infantry against the attacking Yankees. This tour of about half an hour offers an overview of the battle and a walk along the road. You are shown where a Confederate leader was killed and a bullet-ridden house, one of the few structures that stood on Mayre's Heights at that time. |
Today the whole area is covered with houses and looks nothing like it did in 1862, but you can walk down the street parallel to the Sunken Road to see a private residence that also figures in all the historic photos of the battlefield. Other sites of interest include the statue in honor of "the Angel of Mayre's Heights," a Rebel soldier who bravely delivered water to wounded Yankees during the night after the battle, and the National Cemetery, which contains the bodies of thousand of Union soldiers. The heights above the Sunken Road are now privately owned and not open to the public. The cemetery is one of the more attractive battlefield burial sites anywhere. If you buy a copy of the driving tour on tape, I would suggest buying it ahead of time. It actually has the tour ending, not starting at the Sunken Road, so we had already toured this area of the battlefield when our tape got to the relevant section. Some information will be redundant, of course, if you take a guided tour. Without spending a lot of time outside the car, the driving tour still took us about three hours to complete. It took us across the river for a look at the crossing sites and Chatham, a mansion that figured prominently as a hospital and artillery position. On the river side of the property are several large Union guns. Much of the battlefield tour is located in a hilly, wooded park, the site of the downriver battle. The drive through these winding roads was quite beautiful, as the autumn foliage was nearing its peak. We saw the well-preserved remains of Confederate gun emplacements, miles of trenches, and several cannons. I did get out of the car for a while to climb Lee's Hill, the site of Lee's headquarters. At the top of this steep hill, literally in someone's backyard, is a shelter with exhibits about the battle and a few cannons. From the top, I could see the town and National Cemetery in the far distance. It was from here that Lee, overlooking the spectacle below, pronounced "It is good that war is so terrible; if not we should grow too fond of it." |
Fredericksburg has an abundance of important historic sites relating to the Civil War and earlier periods of American history. George Washington's boyhood home and the homes of his mother and sister are among the other places of interest. The Fredericksburg city visitor center (on Caroline Street) is a good place to pick up brochures on the area and ask questions. For Civil War buffs, the area is really a must. Just a few miles down the road are the sites of three other major battles: Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. In addition, you can visit the Guinea Station house where Stonewall Jackson died after his wound at Chancellorsville. Fredericksburg can also serve as a base, if you choose to stay in one place, for visiting the battlefields at Manassas and around Richmond. Just up I-95 a bit toward Washington is the hugely popular Potomac Outlet Mall, if you are into shopping. |
Accommodations are plentiful, but reservations ahead are not a bad idea because of the number of people who stay overnight in Fredericksburg. It is on a very busy stretch of highway, and this part of Virginia is growing by leaps and bounds. There are a few historic inns downtown, but we chose one of the cheap motels out near I-95. This is a good area for inexpensive food and supplies and is conveniently close to the highway. The motel was decent and not too noisy late at night, considering the proximity to the road. It is a good idea at these types of establishments to look around for construction workers, who do tend to frequent them. If you stay near the workers, you may encounter a lot of noise from early-risers and warming diesel pickups. Ask for a room in another part of the motel. Fredericksburg is not all that big, so anywhere you stay should give you good access to the sights. |
This page was last updated on: April 1, 2005
Text and photos copyright 1984-2002 Dan Woodlief |
