The Boy's Trip to Fredricksburg Battlefield

Earlier this month Ryan, Connor and I took off to Fredericksburg battlefield. We did this to keep a promise I had made to them both about two years ago. I never intended it to take this long to take our field trip. There just never seemed to be enough money or time. Finally Vicki told me that we were going and we just needed to do it. We had a grand time. We did not stay over night like we had first planned, but still all in all it was a good trip. We are going to attempt another visit sometime this fall back to the Chancellorsville and Wilderness area. There is just so much to see and do there. This is a car that belongs to the Battle Field Park Service in Fredericksburg. The paint job is extremely detailed. We were very impressed with it.

At the time of the Civil War, Fredericksburg was a prosperous and charming town that lay on the banks of the Rappahannock River. In November of 1862 the Union Army, under the command of General Burnside assembled on the far bank of the river. The plan was to cross the river, move through Fredericksburg and force his way between the Confederates and Richmond. However the pontoon boats that he needed to cross the river did not arrive until December. By that time General Lee was entrenched on the hills that surrounded the town waiting on Burnside to make the next move.

On December 12, Burnside forced the crossing. The Confederates posted sharpshooters throughout  the town that defied the Union and played havoc with the engineers setting up the pontoon bridges. Burnside ordered the town shelled, which destroyed much of it. It however, did not drive out the snipers, it just made it harder to find them.
Burnside landed troops by boat and a fierce battle raged throughout the day. Finally, the confederates withdrew from the town. The occupying Yankees ransacked the town and completed the destruction of homes and shops. By the time of the Yankee landing, most of the townspeople had fled their homes. It would take 100 years before Fredericksburg would reach its prewar population.

The park provides a self paced walking tour that covers Lee's battle line. Much of it covers the bottom of Marye's heights. In this area, the union troops moved through the town and attempted to take the hillside known as Marye's heights. At the bottom of the hill, as seen then and now, lay the sunken road. This roadway was the main route in and out of the town. A stone wall ran down both sides of the road, with several residences and shops located there as well.
The confederates established a battle line at the base of Marye's heights. The stonewall and the natural depression of the roadway formed a very strong fortification from which the rebels could not be driven. Waves after waves of union soldiers would die attempting to gain Marye's Heights. Eyewitnesses of the battle claimed that a person could walk from the base of Marye's Heights to the river bank on the bodies of the union dead, without touching the ground. It was a huge disaster for Burnside, which would end his career.







Above and below are pictures of the sunken road. As you can see it is a bit different then it was on December 13 1862. This road was a major road that led into and out of the town. The stone walls that you see were actually on both sides. On the bottom picture, on the left side, is the beginnings of Marye's Heights..

Today the Sunken Road is a very pleasant walk for the part of the battle field that overlooks the then small town of Fredericksburg.

I had really wanted to be able to walk through this house. It is the Innis home. During the battle, the family had to flee. The Union line broke around this house like waves of the sea. The confederates used the house to place sharp shooters in the top. The inside wall of the front room still bares all the scars of the battle. It is full of holes from rifle and cannon shot.

The picture above is of the Kirkland memorial. Kirkland was a young confederate soldier from South Carolina that was serving at the sunken road the day of battle. As the battle unfolded, wave after wave of Union solders hit that wall. They were all repulsed with great loss.  Kirkland was well within ear shot of the Union wounded and their cries for water. On his own, he gathered up canteens and went over the wall into the wounded enemies and administered to them. The union army cheered him for his efforts. It does not really say if his buddies did. Kirkland would be killed later in the war. He is a great example of compassion.

This cannon is one of several that marks the area that the Confederates used on top of Mary's heights for their artillery.

This is a family cemetery that existed on top of the heights. The brick walls that you see were rebuilt after the war. During the battle the graveyard was used by Confederates as a makeshift hospital site. It was shelled so badly that the walls were destroyed. This is not the greatest picture, but the marks you see on the gate post are Minnie ball holes. Many of the grave stones were turned red from dust of the brick walls.

The markers that are pictured here above and below are found in the large soldier's cemetery at the top of Marye's Heights. This area had four major battles fought here, Fredericksburg I and II, Chancellorsville and the Wilderness. Fifteen thousand union soldiers are buried here, a program of the government during the years following the close of the war. Of these 15,000 soldiers who rest here, only about 3,000 of them are identified. The upper number on the stone, 1175, denotes the burial lot number, the lower number notes how many soldiers who are buried here.

This monument is in honor of the 5th Corp of General Butterfield. This Corp bleed a great deal on this battle field and those that are adjacent areas.

The area that is shown in these pictures are of what has become to be known as Lee's Hill. Lee had so much time to prepare for Burnside's arrival that he had large caliber navy cannons brought up and placed. These guns had a devastating effect on the lines of union troops.

The trench lines that mark the right flank of Lee's lines are still very visible. It is a very peaceful place now. It is hard to think that in this area thousands of troops were engaged in deadly work so long ago.