Battle Analysis Battle of Fredericksburg

Battle Analysis-Battle of Fredricksburg

The battle of Fredericksburg was a very important battle of the civil war. The paper will look at some important facts about this battle.

Opposing forces

The battle was one among many other battles where Federal forces had tried to launch attacks on Confederate capital. There was an army organized by Burnside which was an army of the Potomac that was organized into three grand divisions which included infantry corps, cavalry and artillery that was made up of 120,000 men whereby 114,000 of them were involved in this battle. There was the right grand division which was under the command of Maj. Gen Edwin .V. Bull. The center Grand Division was under the command of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. The left Grand division was under the command of Maj. Gen William B. Franklin. On the other side Robert. Lees Army from the Northern part of Virginia was made up of 85,000 men and only 72,500 took part in the battle. The organization of this army was under the approval of the act of the confederate congress. These two armies at Fredericksburg was a representation of a very large number of the armed forces which had ever confronted each other during the civil war (O'reilly, 2010).

Events at the Battle and outcome

Sedgwick moved his forces into the Fredericksburg at the dawn of May 3 uniting with Gibbon's division that had crossed the river before dawn. His initial intention was to attack ends of Mare's Heights but the union forces were blocked by a stream and canal. The attack was then launched at the Confederate center on heights manned by Bark dale's Brigade. But this attack was defeated .Colonel Thomas M. Griffin of infantry granted a truce to the union forces so that they would gather those who were wounded. Sedgwick launched another attack against Flank and Barksdale with the use of elements of all three VI corps divisions that pushed the confederate forces out of the ridge at capturing some artillery. Barksdale retreated to Lee's Hill where he made attempts to make yet another stand but was forced to retreat southwards. Confederate casualties were 700 men and about four cannons. When he learned of the defeat of the confederate lee started moving his two divisions east in order to stop Sedgwick. Sedgwick lost 1100 men in the engagement .Gibbon's division remained at Fredericksburg so as to guard the city (Totallyhistory. com, 2013).

Location of battle

The battle took place at Fredericksburg which was a n area that had hills and heights with streams and canals. There was therefore need for the armies to take a lot of care especially when crossing the river and when the war ensued in the heights.

Timeframe of the conflict

This battle took place between December 11 and December 15, 1862 ( O'reilly, 2010).

Root reasons for the conflict