Civil War "From All Sides" 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg unaired TV Special

you the Battle of Fredericksburg historians view it as an awesome display of the power of weapons over antiquated tactics the cradle of new styles of combat but for the men on the ground the Battle of Fredericksburg was one of the most ghastly episodes of human carnage ever on American soil we relive the ordeal of Fredericksburg in an entirely new way [Music] through state-of-the-art computer animation and unique views from every point on the battlefield [Music] discover that the truth can only be seen from all sides November 10th 1862 the second year of the American Civil War is drawing to a bloody clothes and the Union Army has suffered a string of disastrous defeats President Abraham Lincoln is furious with his generals and pressures them for a decisive Union victory he Awards command of the Army of the Potomac to inexperienced general Ambrose Burnside Confederate General Robert Elite knows the Union is ready to attack but he doesn't know where the stage is now set for one of the most horrific episodes in American military history general Burnside reluctantly takes his command after Lincoln fires George McClellan Burton side is uncomfortable with the assignment I think Burnside just realized he didn't have the brilliance necessary to be a great commander he was a man of moderate intelligence only limited experience and I think he realized that this was a huge responsibility bigger than any military responsibility that any other American general had ever shouldered before meanwhile Confederate General Lee analyzes the impact of McClellan's dismissal and struggles to predict the union's next move he knew quite well that McClellan wasn't relieved due to incompetency he was relieved you to inactivity and he knew full well that the next guy who Everett was going to be was going to get pressured by Washington to move and move now under intense pressure from President Lincoln to act general Burnside sets his sights on the Confederate capital at Richmond to reach the city he will march his army of more than 100,000 men south from Northern Virginia along the route he must take Fredericksburg a small unfortified rail and river junction in central Virginia Fredericksburg was extremely important because it had a railroad that ran from north to south ran from the Potomac River all the way to Richmond it was a surefire way that the army could get reinforcements it could get supplies no matter what the weather was so it was a perfect way to keep going and driving on to Richmond on November 17th Burnside's army reaches the banks of the Rappahannock River just four hundred feet across from Fredericksburg but they have no way to get across Burnside is irate a week earlier he had ordered pontoon bridges to be sent ahead for the crossing pontoon bridges were a low-tech wonder they were 30-foot long boats that would be anchored in a river and then they would be lashed together and then planks would be laid across them and lashed together held together with basically boards and ropes but once built these were amazingly sturdy devices you could march large numbers of men across them you could bring artillery pieces across them cavalry could cross them but there's been a mix-up in Washington the pontoon bridges are still days away at that point Burnside has to make a decision does he take a risk and try to cross his army over the river without the pontoons or should he wait and take the safer course and wait for those pontoon bridges to reach him fearing that his army could be cut off from supplies and heavy weapons if they forded the Rappahannock without bridges Burnside decides that he and his troops will wait on the Confederate side of the river the city of Fredericksburg is virtually defenseless no one anticipated an attack here so the town hasn't been fortified no artillery has been positioned and only a handful of Confederate troops are stationed in the city the rebels quickly dispatch a messenger to General Lee's headquarters 30 miles away in Orange Virginia Lee is shocked by the news of the appearance of the Federal Army outside the city robert e lee was surprised when the Union Army showed up at Fredericksburg he was completely unprepared for it his initial impression was that once the Union Army had gotten to Fredericksburg there was nothing he could do to stop them from crossing the river and taking the city caught out of position league orders elements of his Confederate Army 1st Corps under General James Longstreet to rush to Fredericksburg to intercept burn sites advancing army when he arrives Longstreet is surprised to find the Union troops haven't crossed the river so he digs in fortifies the hills around Fredericksburg and moves his troops into position now 40,000 Confederate troops occupy a strong position in the heights and a seven-mile ridge line behind the town while 100,000 Union troops wait for orders from general Burnside to cross the Rappahannock River General Lee quickly arrives and sets up his command tent on Telegraph Hill in heights above the town he waits for Burnside to make the first move Lee believes the troop buildup across the Rappahannock is merely a diversion given his superior defensive position around the town Lee assumes that Burnside will not strike in Fredericksburg meanwhile across the river Burnside sets up his headquarters in a commandeered mansion and waits nervously for the pontoon bridges president lincoln rushes to Virginia to meet with Burnside he trusts his general to devise a strategy as long as he acts fast finally a week later the disassembled bridges arrived but having lost the element of surprise Burnside is paralyzed with indecision his troops no they've missed their opportunity if we had had the pontoons promised when we arrived here we could have the hills on the other side of the river without the cost of over fifty men now it will cost at least 10,000 if not more on December 9th Ambrose Burnside calls his commanders together and outlines a risky plan he brashley proposes crossing the river and launching a dual frontal assault into the teeth of the fortified rebel defenses hoping this will be the last place an attack will be expected his officers disagree nobody in the army liked the thought of attacking his position at Fredericksburg the Burnside proceeded with his plan issued the orders when he did so many men in his army were were just disgusted by the orders Byrnes I was so incensed by this that he proceeded to lambast them for their lack of cooperation he told him that he didn't want their opinions he just wanted them to obey unmoved by the protest from his officer corps Burnside sets his plan in motion here's a man Ambrose Burnside who is naturally modest who is naturally timid and I believe that he may be overcompensating for that when he assumes this incredibly aggressive nature that overtakes him at Fredericksburg I expect to be sacrificed tomorrow goodbye old boy and if tomorrow night finds me dead remember me kindly as a soldier who meant to do his whole duty before dawn on December 11th Union engineers quietly begin to assemble six pontoon bridges struggling in vain to mask the sounds of their work within minutes a messenger arrives at General Lee's headquarters with urgent news the Yankees are trying to cross a double cannon shot from the Confederate battery is followed by rebel yells along the banks in Fredericksburg Confederate riflemen take aim across the river and transform the Union bridge builders into sitting ducks before long blue uniform bodies float downriver as the surviving engineers sprint for cover the crossing is stopped in place Burnside takes drastic action directing artillery batteries on Stafford Heights to begin a massive bombardment of Fredericksburg [Music] Union Army arrayed over 180 pieces of artillery along Stafford Heights which up in to our point in American history that was the largest massing of artillery at any one certain location at any point in it at any time the main heavy artillery piece on both sides of the river is the 1857 model Napoleon cannon a one-ton smoothbore cannon that can throw a 12-pound shell more than a mile Union batteries rain more than 5,000 shells on to Fredericksburg over the 10 hour barrage Viraj was something that many of these men had never even imagined before it was something that was immense in its fire it was immense in it's noise it was immense in its destruction a whole blocks of the city of Fredericksburg went up in flames the soldiers were horrified [Music] the bombardment was kept up for over an hour and no tongue or pin can describe the dreadful scene tonnes of iron were hurled against the place it was appalling and indescribable the condition which would paralyze the stafa start with Fredericksburg under siege the few remaining residents flee in horror seeing the crumbling town the Union bridge builders are ordered back to work they nervously return to the pontoon construction but hidden in the rubble tenacious Confederate sharpshooters have written out the cannons Hellfire and emerge to exact a lethal payback in late 1862 President Abraham Lincoln pushes for a Union victory before the winter Union general Ambrose Burnside is forced to mount an attack on the town of Fredericksburg Virginia Confederate General Robert E Lee monitors the Union troop movements Burnside's plan is to build a series of six pontoon bridges and March his troops across the river and seize the town the Union soldiers waited more than a week for the pontoon bridges to arrive now rebel sharpshooters are tearing apart the engineers trying to assemble the bridges but Burnside is determined to push his army across the Rappahannock River and into Fredericksburg so he orders a risky assault by boat this was the very first riverine crossing under fire in American military history no one had ever trained for it or prepared for it under heavy fire to Union infantry regiments totaling nearly 2,000 men make it across the river establish a small stronghold along the bank and begin to push into town by late afternoon house-to-house fighting the first urban combat of the civil war his rage that was astonishing to everyone involved to actually fight from house to house street to street block by block [Music] neither side prepared for that type of fighting there was enough training and that sort of thing the Rebs opened on us from windows and doors and from behind the houses we had no choice and after losing half our company we made a rush for the houses and broken doors within hours the union engineers managed to complete the first of the pontoon bridges a full division of 5000 of Burnside's troops rapidly cross into town the streets are flooded with blue coats seeing the Union onslaught the Southerners defending the town rapidly flee they quickly joined the forces in the fortified Confederate positions strategically located in the hills that ring the town of Fredericksburg like an amphitheater now the last of the pontoon bridges are swiftly completed the path for a full Union assault has finally been blazed on the morning of December 12th the Confederates secure their positions in the hills above Fredericksburg while two of Burnside's three grand divisions march across the river putting nearly 100,000 troops into the town as they arrive a mortician hands out business cards to the confident troops whomsoever would say to me at the time that anything else but certain victory awaited his army I would have looked upon him with scorn and contempt I was not aware that Elbrus onif ID was so close it out from his headquarters on top of Telegraph Hill Confederate General Robert Ely observes the size of the crossing and realizes that these troops represent the main force of Burnside's army this is no diversion I think Robert Ely was probably relieved because now he knew what was coming and where it was coming and he was able to consolidate his forces and I think he knew at that time that what was at hand was going to be a slaughter within Fredericksburg Union troops have other priorities than battle small time pilfering for food and tobacco escalates quickly into full-scale pillaging art books and furniture are smashed tossed into the streets and birth the Union soldiers took out their anger and their fear and their frustration on the city of Fredericksburg they looted and they plundered and they pillage vandalism reign supreme men who at home were modest and unassuming now seem to be possessed with an insatiable [Music] so it was a very bizarre and very just a shameful scene on the part of the Army of the Potomac the conduct of armed men and officers is atrocious their object seems to be to destroy what they can't steal and to steal all they can as Fredericksburg becomes a spoil of war back across the river a meeting of Union commanders is held at Bernstein's headquarters to firm up the attack plan after a heated debate a final strategy is set in motion essentially was a two-pronged frontal assault which Burnside hopes us by sheer force of numbers would force the Confederates off that Ridge the first prong of the assault will be an attack on Prospect Hill at the far left of the Union lines it is seen as an area where the Confederate Army is more vulnerable because the ridges are lower and accessible General William Franklin is told that his 65,000 men must break through at Prospect Hill against general Stonewall Jackson's forty-nine thousand troops the attack is only hours away [Music] the next morning Stonewall Jackson's second core braces for a massive Union assault but general Franklin receives a vague written order from Burnside that seems to reverse the order for a large-scale attack on Prospect Hill it commands him to take one division at least two assault Prospect Hill near Hamilton's crossing one division means attacking with just 4,000 men less than 10% of the troops Franklin has ready to fight when general Franklin received the order at 7:30 what he read thoroughly perplexed him I wasn't what he expected he thought he was going to be the main attack and he had 65,000 men ready to use but the order he received told him to use just a division Franklin has time to send a rider to Burnside for clarification but decides not to I think by the morning of December 13th general Franklin was getting a little bit disgusted with general Burnside what neither Franklin nor Burnside can know is that at that moment in the Confederate commanders tent a debate is raging which may change everything there was a meeting of the high command of the Confederate armies robert e lee James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson and Stonewall Jackson rode up you know that morning and basically said when do we attack Stonewall Jackson was like a pitbull on a chain this is a man who didn't understand defense he didn't want to fight a defensive battle that wasn't manly where's the honor in fighting a defensive battle his mantra was attack attack attack but Lee is able to quiet his fiery corps commanders aggression and convinces him to await the Yankees first move Jaxon's weight will not be a long one just after 10:00 a.m. Franklin orders General George Meade to lead his division of 3,800 infantry into the field and attacked Prospect Hill for most Union troops the fight is waged only with a single-shot rifle but guns like the Springfield model 1842 rifled musket represent a big advance over weapons of the late 18th and early 19th century its rifled barrel spins the projectiles on their way out adding range accuracy and killing power when Meade's troops near Confederate lines they're taken by surprise there seems to be a hidden Confederate artillery batteries men and horses fall to the hidden continents and the advance halts 500 yards away 24 year-old Confederate Major John Pelham directs just a single cannon Pelham was at a great risk operating very far in front of his lines but he handled it brilliantly the unexpected presence of our guns so close to them seemed to paralyze him and throw them into disorder instead of rushing for us and overwhelming us with their numbers they were evidently afraid of us judging no doubt that we had a strong force concealed for nearly an hour Meade's men returned fire and call for Union artillery to knock out what they believe to be four to eight guns firing up finally Pelham runs out of ammunition and is forced to retreat no longer in Pelham sights Meade's men reorganize and prepare to assault Prospect Hill completely unaware that they are outnumbered ten to one in the opening moments of the Battle of Fredericksburg the first of the union's duel assaults meets with stiff resistance a single hidden Confederate Canon stops the division sent to probe Prospect Hill at that moment five miles to the north Burnside second prong under the command of General Edwin Sumner is preparing for the attack on Marie's Heights the approach to the Confederate position offers little cover for the Union troops the field outside of the town of Fredericksburg going up to Marie's Heights is roughly about a half a mile so as soon as they passed out of the protection of the houses and the buildings of the town of Fredericksburg and entered into that open plain they're going to be under the fire of the guns midway across the field a small canal must be crossed then a slight Ridge offers the last protective cover before a low stone wall and finally a short march to the base of the heights at 11:00 a.m. the Gibraltar Brigade made up of troops led by Brigadier General Nathan Kimball approaches the lower end of the canal the attack is launched in wide Napoleonic columns the standard tactic of the era troops march in two lines sometimes over a hundred men across just one foot behind the other the Confederate soldiers dug into the heights wait for the impressive lines of Union troops to march into range federal troops expect most of the rebel cannon fire to be lobbed from behind the Confederate lines instead artillery chief Porter Alexander has devised an innovative new way to position his guns he brought him over the hill and put him on the down side and arranged them to repel any potential infantry assault up that hill general he didn't like this and finally Porter Alexander says generally a chicken won't be able to live on that field when we open on it Alexander was right Confederate gun crews shred the Union troops firing solid shot an explosive shells directly into the advancing waves once within a few hundred yards an even more lethal munition awaits canister canister is basically a thin tin can count like a coffee can and inside the coffee can you're going to put 27 inch and a half golf ball-sized lead balls and you'll put that inside your cannon you're basically turning your cannon into a giant shotgun five miles to the south at Prospect Hill the second prong of blue coats is also approaching enemy lines having survived Pelham's cannon George Meade's division is again on the move advancing across the field toward rebel lines like at Marie's Heights Confederate artillery crews are dug in and ready to calculate a deadly kill zone a lone tree 800 yards out has been measured for the cannons to set their range a raise of the hand as the fatal tree is reached and the 14 guns let loose at the same instant and then on is load and fire load and fire Loden fire's fascist sponge and rammer and lanyard can do their work the brutal reign of shot and shells stalls meets advanced back at Marie's Heights the Gibraltar Brigade has lost nearly 1/3 of their men before the final crest in the field but the troops stay in rank and continue forward as they clear the final rise and approached the Stonewall one more surprise awaits behind the wall hundreds of Confederate shooters under General Thomas Cobb load their rifles they could see the Confederate artillery on top of Marie's Heights and thought that was their target but as they close to within about a hundred yards of the base of that hill they were stunned to see an entire line of Confederate infantry stand up from a sunken road and fire into their face never dawned on them that there was an entire infantry brigade standing right in front of them the sheet of flame emanating from that Stonewall stop the Federals dead in their tracks against these thousands of rifles all neatly protected by the Stonewall there almost was no defense the Federals had no cover the destruction of the Gibraltar Brigade is complete from the edge of town the renowned Irish Brigade witnessed the slaughter under the heights on command they fixed bayonets and march forward to reinforce the embattled divisions already in the field their fortitude is matched by that of the small division back at Prospect Hill who at the same moment are attempting yet another assault at this point of the Battle of prospect kill is it's just chaos all three of George Meade's commanders are out of action one of them is dead one of them is wounded and the other ones pinned under a horse and can't get out and so the men are basically leading themselves as Meade's outnumbered troops close on Confederate lines some of his men crossed through an undefended area thought by rebels to be an impassable Marsh when men are desperate for cover they go into the woods and they begin to filter up and much to the surprise of the Confederates it was not impassable at all when the Union Army hit the swamp and were able to penetrate into the gap of Stonewall Jackson's line they were pointed straight at Maxie Gregg Confederate Brigadier General Maxie Gregg South Carolina Brigade is charged with holding six hundred yards of ground behind the swamp unaware of Meade's attack his men sit eating lunch when Gregg Saul troops coming up the hill he assumed that they were going to be Confederates when reality there were Federals shots cracked through the trees the men run to their guns and fire at the figures spotted in the distance through the woods Gregg is certain that the men are firing at their own Confederate skirmishers and rides along his lines urgently yelling to cease fire by the time he discovered his mistake he was too late a union round catches Maxie Gregg in the spine his misjudgment has cost him his life and leaves his troops without a leader Meade's men rocked the Confederate defenders and breached Stonewall Jackson's lines with the battlefield in chaos with nothing being planned you don't want to use the word miracle but I can't think of another one just 4,000 men George Meade has penetrated a wall of more than 40,000 Confederate defenders at Prospect Hill remarkably one phase of Burnside brazen plan has broken through [Music] on Murray's Heights the Union troops are being slaughtered by Confederate rifles rebel General James Longstreet is confident he can hold this position indefinitely but surprisingly at Prospect Hill on their second attempt of the day Union General George Meade's troops are able to pierce the formidable defenses George Gordon made led probably the smallest division in the entire Union Army in that attack against Stonewall Jackson his success was something that must have startled everyone not only in the Confederate lines but also in the Union lines and his success was a one-in-a-million chance but outnumbered ten to one Meade cannot hold out for long on his own now at this point with Stonewall Jackson's front line on the verge of crumbling Meade knows that he can take this line he deeds out he asked to need to go find the closest troops available and bring them up his plea reaches General David Birney shockingly Ernie refuses to send in more troops and instead what he got was a great big dose of who made you the boss of me this is a guy who said I don't work for you your division commander I'm a division commander we're in two different cores I take my orders from somebody else now George Meade was man with one of the most ferocious tempers in either army at this point he went back to fine Bernie himself he proceeded to yell and scream at Bernie chewing him up and down to the point where a witness said to listen to me it was enough to make stones under foot almost creep trying to get away I'm surprised George Gordon Meade didn't callout pistol and shoot the guy as Meade rages he may be the only federal commander who realizes what history will soon confirm in one moment of fateful hesitancy all chance at a Union victory has vanished on top of Prospect Hill Stonewall Jackson directs two divisions to spearhead the Confederate counter-attack and close the fractured defensive line soon it's every man for himself outgunned and drastically outnumbered Meade's troops sprint back toward the main Union lines pursued by thousands of Confederate soldiers in no time Meade's men surrender every inch they've gained leaving hundreds of their dead and wounded in the woods behind them their dramatic breakthrough yields little except for unanswered questions about what could have been achieved now once me broke through and if Franklin had shown any great initiative and moved up with reinforcements immediately the Federals would have been able to consolidate everything that Meade had captured had they stayed on the Confederate right flank there's a good chance they could have made the entire line untenable for robert e lee there was a real chance at Union victory but up the lines at Marie's Heights there's no time for analysis the battle still rages [Music] the Irish Brigade made up of mostly Irish immigrants from New York Massachusetts and Pennsylvania is the fifth Brigade sent against the heights one of their number William McArthur from the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteers describes their advance as it reaches the small Ridge in the center of the field every third man had fallen and along some parts of the line every second soldier had been killed or wounded to make matters still worse we had lost nearly all our officers they took instant in overwhelming losses across the board the bloodbath was terrible and it was showing that the old form of fighting was quickly becoming a thing of the past [Music] you see individuals commanders as well as common soldiers saying this does not make sense this long lines marching up to one another and duking it out the Irish Brigade battles to within 50 yards of the sunken road before it is destroyed completely [Music] survivors run for a shallow ravine that is already choked with hundreds of Union wounded 545 men from the brigade are lost joining the thousands of dead and wounded that have already fallen those fortunate enough to be carried off the battlefield soon find themselves at one of the dozens of makeshift union field hospitals Fredericksburg was transformed in one vast hospital just about every residence Church Civic building that was still standing was converted into a hospital ghastly and bloody wounds met the eye in every direction some had their eyes shot out the tongues of some were swollen out of their mouths some had their body shot through others were torn and mangled by shell and shot and all were crowded wherever there was any space a top Telegraph Hill robert e lee grows worried that Burnside's masses of human wave attacks may ultimately break through long streets formidable defensive positions but long streets confidence in his men is unshakable general if you put every man now on the other side of the potomac in that field to approach me over the same line and give me plenty of ammunition i will kill them all before they reach my line but as the attacks continue to roll forward one after another after another robbery you may started seeing a different aspect of the battlefield that he hadn't encountered before and that was the destructive power of his own men to look at the pristine Union legions of the morning comeback tattered and ruined and broken and bleeding that truly affected him and probably affected him for the rest of his life in response to Longstreet's morbid boasts Lee said it is well that war is so terrible we should grow to fondant across the Rappahannock at Burnside's headquarters generals Edwin Sumner and Joseph Hooker pressed the Union commander to end the slaughter conversation between a hooker and Burnside was not at all Pleasant hooker was a very outspoken man he didn't like Burnside Burnside didn't like him and general hooker made it very clear and that Burnside should not make these assaults Burnside was a someone inflexible man somewhat stubborn man and as the going got tough Burnside simply decided to up the ante generations of historians have spent their lives trying to figure out what in the world was Ambrose Burnside thinking it's a difficult question to answer the man is sleep deprived for one thing he is probably a little bit delusional the attacks on Murray's heights would continue one of Sumner's commanders general Darius couch witnesses the result from an observation post in the courthouse tower the whole plane was covered with men prostrate and dropping the live men running here and there in front closing upon each other and the wounded coming back the command seemed to be mixed up I had never before seen fighting like that nothing approaching it in terrible uproar and destruction in all 15 brigades are sent to their destruction before sunsets on the killing fields not a single yanking reaches the sunken road with nightfall on December 13th the futile Union attacks on the Confederate strongholds around Fredericksburg finally halt thousands of dead dying and wounded Union troops lay across the battlefield for the Confederate troops watching and listening the night is one that will remain etched in their minds if you're a Confederate soldier looking out across that field as the fighting sputtered to an end on December 13th it would have been a terribly gruesome sight you would have had hundreds of Union soldiers lying in all attitudes of pain on the ground some with heads blown off others with wounds to their arms some groaning some trying to crawl to safety when night descended upon the bloody field nearly 1,500 dead soldiers lay in an area of two acres in front of our lines three or four times as many wounded held in the darkness a dismal concert for assistance which could not be rendered or they perished in the cold from neglect [Music] shots and artillery are exchanged wildly in the dark the wounded used the dead as human shields Union recovery teams brave the blind volleys to pull their casualties off the field a half mile away in his headquarters on Telegraph Hill robert e lee assesses the situation some of his commanders press for a counter-attack to finish off the army of the potomac but in spite of having crushed every union unit sent against him the Confederate leader is not convinced that the Union Army has abandoned their offensive both Union and Confederate soldiers were under the impression that what had ended on December 13th would almost certainly begin again on December 14th nobody was under the impression that this battle was over least of all general Burnside and robert e lee lee's instincts are correct across the river Burnside is laying out his plan to seize victory from ghastly defeat with a final all-out assault this attack is gonna be a little bit different this time Burnside planned to attack with his own old life korechi he's going to mask them into a very compact formation Burnside's intention is to create a colossal block of infantry hundreds of men wide and 36 lines deep it is an idea that is both daring and desperate in the hope of getting a few hundred men past the Stonewall Burnside is willing to sacrifice thousands more one man almost certain to fall will be the officer leading the charge Burnside himself I think Burnside was so distraught by what he'd seen on December 13th and felt so guilty about it that he this was run sides way of trying to end his own life Burnside's men are finally able to reason with their commander and they talked him out of his reckless final maneuver and thousands are saved from needless slaughter dawn on December 14th brings skirmishes and artillery but no further attack for the wounded abandoned in front of the Stonewall it also means another day of agony these men had bled they were thirsty they were crying out for water and yet nobody could go to help them because the step out on that no-man's ground was essentially to commit suicide finally one soldier couldn't take it any longer Richard Kirkland a 19 year old Confederate sergeant Manning the sunken Road cannot stand the anguish he sees among the Union wounded stretched out in front of him he asked for permission to take water out into no-man's land and give it to the Union soldiers his commanders thought that that would be a suicidal mission but he undertook it anyway the risk of his own life he leaped over the wall dodged some bullets til he reached the very first soldier at that point he knelt down gave a man a drink of water out of one of the canteens he was carrying the firing halts quickly as exhausted soldiers on both sides watch in awe the bold display of compassion amid the slaughter a day later under cover of a blinding rain and sleet the Union Army completes a miraculous silent retreat across the river they escape undetected saving the remainder of the Union Army of the Potomac in Fredericksburg and in the hospitals and fields outside the town more than 13,000 Union casualties lie wounded or dead Confederates tally their wounded and dead at 5,300 in spite of their casualties the rebel troops are exultant they've dealt the Union Army another grave blow they thought they were invincible they were unbeatable in the future one more victory maybe the Southern Confederacy would be a reality ironically in victory Lee misses a chance to deal the Army of the Potomac a mortal blow Lee could have damaged the army much more than he did had he simply shelled the town of Fredericksburg it was a very small place packed from end to end with troops and if Lee had unleashed its artillery on the town onto some of the 14th there have been thousands of more casualties following the Battle of Fredericksburg President Lincoln downplays the defeat by saying the number of casualties is comparatively low general Burnside living up to his own feelings of incompetence is relieved of his command of the Army of the Potomac his replacement is General Joseph Hooker Burnside's rivals since their days together at West Point the soldiers and generals at Fredericksburg cannot know that the future of warfare has been revealed among the fighting of the past days amphibious assaults and grim urban fighting will become deadly fixtures of war in the next century and the cost of pitting outdated tactics against modern weaponry tragically we learned in the trenches of World War one but what is clear to the men who survived this battle is that many rules of engagement and civility have been smashed forever on this battlefield I believe that the Battle of Fredericksburg is the moment at which the American Civil War became notoriously uncivil I believe that this is the moment that these two armies grew to hate each other proved to think of each other as barbarians the period on the end of the Battle of Fredericksburg is Stonewall Jackson looking at the destruction of the town somebody asked him how do we deal with such barbaric acts Stonewall Jackson said kill kill them all [Music] if you're eager to see more of our historical documentaries please like share and subscribe

Channel: LionHeart FilmWorks

Views: 635,052

Rating: 4.8072529 out of 5

Keywords: Civil War, American Civil War, war between the states, southerners, rebels, confederates, csa, north and south, blue & grey, battle, battlefield, combat, War, American history, Americans, union army, federal army, military history, rebel flag, Americana, historical, reenactors, re-enacting, living history, re-enactors, reenacting, Johnny Reb, civil war movie, civil war fight scene, battle of fredericksburg, history channel, from all sides, maryes heights, historical reenactment (hobby)

Id: M_6PoozBb0k

Length: 47min 12sec (2832 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 23 2018