The Battle of Fredericksburg – A Visit to the Battlefield
The Battle of Fredericksburg
On December 13th, 1862, Union Troops poured out of Fredericksburg to attack the Confederates behind the city limits. For 8 hours Union Troops charged at the Confederates only to be slaughtered. The Confederate riflemen had a distinct advantage, they were occupying a sunken road at the base of the hill that they could hide behind.
Just a few weeks ago my husband, one of our sons and his girlfriend and I walked alongside the wall of that sunken road in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
This is my husband and our son’s girlfriend, Jessi, standing on Sunken Road. The road sits below the surrounding hill slope. These stone retaining walls held the banks in place. The Confederates embedded behind these walls and fired at the oncoming soldiers. It was like lambs marching to slaughter. These walls and the ground were covered in blood. Today only one-block the of the original wall remains.
From this angle you can see the wall and the road, as well as one of the original houses from that time period. As you can imagine it was riddled with bullet holes. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be a civilian inside that house during the battle?
This is the Brompton House which was also a witness to The Battle of Fredericksburg. The plaque says, “The pillars of the porch were speckled with the marks of bullets. Shells and solid shot had made sad havoc with the walls and the woodwork inside. The windows were Shivered,the partitions torn to pieces, and the doors perforated.” Traveler John T. Trowbridge (September 1865)
The home first belonged to a prominent lawyer and businessman. During the Battle of Fredericksburg Colonel James B. Walton made the building his headquarters. Later the house became a hospital. A Union surgeon said, “The poor fellows just arrived had not had their clothes off since they were wounded. They were sleeping in blood and filth, and were swarming with vermin. They lay as close as they could be packed.”
Today the University of Mary Washington owns the house.
This statue deeply touched my heart. I can’t imagine the courage of this young man as he ran across enemy lines and took water to the wounded, no matter what side they fought on.
The Fredericksburg National Cemetery
In 1865 Congress established this cemetery for the Union soldiers who died on area battlefields. The remains of of 300 veterans of later wars were interred here as well. Of the 15,300 men who are buried here identities of fewer than 3,000 are known.
Such a sad but beautiful place. It was getting late by the time we reached the graveyard and it definitely gave me a chill standing and looking at where so many soldiers are buried.
This is my son and husband standing in front of the cemetery next to a replica cannon.
If you are ever in the area I think you would enjoy a visit to the battlefield where the Battle of Fredericksburg took place. We sure did. We experienced history in a personal way. How I wish that when I was teaching I could have taken my American History students to battlefields and museums!
Take your children and grandchildren. Teach them about the past and about the horrors of war so that their generation will do their best to avoid war at all costs.
#CivilWar #BattleofFredericksburg #Fredericksburg #Virginia
