The Fredericksburg Campaign

Posted on 16 April 2018 by Francis Augustin O'Reilly

The battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862 involved hundreds of thousands of men produced staggering, unequal casualties 13,000 Federal soldiers compared to 4,500 Confederates ruined the career of Ambrose E Burnside embarrassed Abraham Lincoln and distinguished Robert E Lee as one of the greatest military strategists of his era Francis Augustin O Reilly draws upon his intimate knowledge of the battlegrounds to discuss the unprecedented nature of Fredericksburg s warfare Lauded for its vivid description, trenchant analysis, and meticulous research, his award winning book makes for compulsive reading. New Read [ The Fredericksburg Campaign ] by [ Francis Augustin O'Reilly ] – kino-fada.fr If you re only going to read one book about the Battle of Fredericksburg, this is a good choice The author begins by discussing logistics and the Northern political climate The Union army was unable to support itself using the single track Orange Alexandria Railroad It had to switch its supply line to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad After the Republican Party faired poorly in the November 1862 elections, President Lincoln pressured his armies to launch winter campaign If you re only going to read one book about the Battle of Fredericksburg, this is a good choice The author begins by discussing logistics and the Northern political climate The Union army was unable to support itself using the single track Orange Alexandria Railroad It had to switch its supply line to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad After the Republican Party faired poorly in the November 1862 elections, President Lincoln pressured his armies to launch winter campaigns This led not only to the Battle of Fredericksburg, but to the Holly Springs Raid the Battle of Chick...War definitely is hell Among the many highlights of The Fredericksburg Campaign are viewpoints from those who went through that particular Civil War meat grinder From the book, with soldiers words in quotes A shell hit Warren Webster of the 21st Massachusetts in the face and his head flew from his shoulders Webster s corpse rolled over, the blood spurted from the neck as water comes from a pump, until the heart pumped the body dry A shell eviscerated a Union soldier, and i War definitely is hell Among the many highlights of The Fredericksburg Campaign are viewpoints from those who went through that particular Civil War meat grinder From the book, with soldiers words in quotes A shell hit Warren Webster of the 21st Massachusetts in the face and his head flew from his shoulders Webster s corpse rolled over, the blood spurted from the neck as water comes from a pump, until the heart pumped the body dry A shell eviscerated a Union soldier, and in its passage had set fire to his clothing, and there his corpse lay slowly cooking The 64th New York stepped over the sizzling body while it still convulsed Quotes expressing horror, fear and disbelief are all over Francis Augustin O Reilly s book on the Fredericksburg campaign, which climaxed in virtually hopeless, almost mirror image Union attacks on the Confederate left on December 13, 1862 There has been surprisingly little written about this important battle So O Reilly...This book provides an incredibly detailed and well researched account of the battle presented in a smooth flowing narrative two things that rarely are coupled together The author nails down exact locations, the actions of individual regiments, the behavior and fa...The best study of Fredericksburg I have thus far read.Very detailed account of the Battle of Fredericksburg during the winter of 1862 1863 Author relates events of the 3 different battles which occurred within and around the city December 11 13 with detailed unit movements and positions, and describes the terrible loss of life and casualties through multiple attempts by the Federal forces attempts to take the city and then the heights surrounding the city Unable to successfully gain the ground, failed leadership during battle, and with waning ...Best book I ve read on Fredericksburg Suffers from tedious explanations of assaults on Marye s Heights without making a timeline of events which would have been very helpfulA superb telling of Major General Burnside s efforts to take Fredericksburg and advance to Richmond and the efforts of Confederate forces under General Robert E Lee to prevent this and push the Union army back Nearly every great Confederate general makes an appearance here, from Lee to Jackson to A.P Hill to Longstreet The studied craft of O Reilly s writing provides numerous examples of seldom mentioned specifics of the battle, right down to things like troops stealing beets from a Frederic A superb telling of Major General Burnside s efforts to take Fredericksburg and advance to Richmond and the efforts of Confederate forces under General Robert E Lee to prevent this and push the Union army back Nearly every great Confederate general makes an appearance here, from Lee to Jackson to A.P Hill to Longstreet The studied craft of O Reilly s writing provides numerous examples of seldom mentioned specifics of the battle, right down to things like troops stealing beet...This 500 page behemoth covers the entire 2 1 2 month period when Ambrose Burnside commanded the Army of the Potomac The focus is of course on the battle itself, with the main day of fighting Dec 13, 1862 taking up about 300 pages.The strengths and weaknesses of this book are largely the same it is an incredibly detailed history of the campaign and battle The obvious comparison in my mind ...Best military history of the Ftredericksburg campaign I have read An excellent telling of the overlooked engagements of the Union left vs Confederate right and Jackson south of town on Prospect Hill The slaughter of union soldiers on the Union right attacking heavily fortified Marye s Heights is well known O Reilly, though clearlyinterested in the action on Prospect Hill spends a large amount of pages, chapters and research going into minute detail of wave after wave of unsuccessful att Best military history of the Ftredericksburg campaign I have read An excellent telling of the overlooked engagements of the Union left vs Confederate right and Jackson south of town on Prospect Hill The slaughter of union soldiers on the Union right attacking heavily fortified Marye s Heights is well known O Reilly, though clearlyinterested in the action on Prospect...Francis Augustin O Reilly s The Fredericksburg Campaign is surely the most detailed account that one could desire of Ambrose Burnside s time in command of the Army of the Potomac The book is over 500 dense pages, most filled with minute accounts of the activities of individual regiments and batteries on the fateful fight of 13 December 1862 Perhaps I am telegraphing my own sense that it was all too much O Reilly is to be praised for his thoroughness in researching and describing the battle Francis Augustin O Reilly s The Fredericksburg Campaign is surely the most detailed account that one could desire of Ambrose Burnside s time in command of the Army of the Potomac The book is over 500 dense pages, most filled with minute accounts of the activities of individual regiments and batteries on the fateful fight of 13 December 1862 Perhaps I am telegraphing my own sense that it was all too much O Reilly is to be praised for his thoroughness in researchin...

English
16 April 2018

Francis Augustin O'Reilly