Qualla: Second Battle of Fredericksburg

Second Battle of Fredericksburg: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain. Colonel Thomas M. Griffin of the 18th Mississippi made a decision on the morning of May 3, 1863, without asking his brigade commander. A Union officer from the 7th Massachusetts had requested a brief truce to gather wounded from the slope below Marye's Heights. Griffin agreed. The Union soldiers walked out into no-man's land, saw the layout of the Confederate right flank up close - it was lightly held - and walked back. Within hours, John Sedgwick's VI Corps used what they had seen to take the same stone wall and sunken road that had cost 12,000 Union casualties five months earlier. Griffin had told them where to attack.

Image: Mathew Benjamin Brady | Public domain

Second Battle of Fredericksburg: Why Fredericksburg, Again

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain. When Joseph Hooker crossed the Rapidan in late April 1863 to begin what became the Chancellorsville campaign, his plan called for Major General John Sedgwick to hold a separate force near Fredericksburg as a diversion. Sedgwick had the VI Corps, the I Corps, and John Gibbon's div...

Image: Mathew Benjamin Brady | Public domain

Second Battle of Fredericksburg: Confusion in the Confederate Lines

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain. Early's orders from Lee were clumsy. If Sedgwick attacked and won, Early was to retreat south. If Sedgwick moved west to reinforce Hooker, Early was to leave a covering force and follow. On May 2, Early misread the orders. He pulled most of his troops away from Fredericksburg tow...

Image: Mathew Benjamin Brady | Public domain

Second Battle of Fredericksburg: Sedgwick's Two Assaults

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain. At dawn on May 3, Sedgwick moved his forces through Fredericksburg toward the heights. His first attack aimed at the ends of Marye's Heights, but a canal and a stream channeled his troops into killing zones. He pulled back. Next he sent John Newton's division straight at the cent...

Image: Mathew Benjamin Brady | Public domain

Second Battle of Fredericksburg: Aftermath and Argument

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain. Confederate casualties came to about 700 men and four cannons. Sedgwick had lost 1,100 of his own. Early withdrew his division two miles south while Wilcox retreated west, slowing Sedgwick's progress and giving Lee time to detach two divisions from his main army to deal with the ...

Image: Mathew Benjamin Brady | Public domain

Second Battle of Fredericksburg: What Remains on the Heights

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. The Second Battle of Fredericksburg is sometimes called the Second Battle of Marye's Heights, because that ridge is the ground where everything that mattered happened. The stone wall and sunken road are preserved today as part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military ...

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain