6 8 The American Civil WarGeorge Gordon Meade's division of Pennsylvanians
achieved the only Federal offensive success at
Fredericksburg. Shortly after the battle. Meade told his
wife that his 'men went in beautifully, carried everything
before them, and drove the enemy for nearly half a mile'
until, 'finding themselves unsupported on either right or
left,' they 'were checked and finally driven back.' Meade
subsequently commanded the Army of the Potomac
longer than any other officer. (Author's collection)
high ground above them. Longstreet
exhibited the easy confidence of a soldier
convinced his enemy could do him no
serious harm. Other Confederates shared his
outlook. One artillerist assured Longstreet
just before the battle that southern guns
covered the approaches so thoroughly that
'a chicken could not live on that field when
we open on it.'
Those words proved to be prophetic.
Between noon and 6 pm, several waves of
attackers deployed west of Fredericksburg
and marched up the gentle rise towards
Marye's Heights. Temperatures climbed into
the mid-50s Fahrenheit (about 13°C) on an
unseasonably warm winter afternoon. The
nature of the ground prevented deployment
of more than one brigade at a time, which
resulted in the sickening spectacle of
successive units matching grit and courage
against an unforgiving wall of Confederate
musketry and cannon fire. None of the
attackers received more attention from later
writers than the famed Irish Brigade of
Winfield Scott Hancock's division, which lost
more than 500 men in its attack. But others
absorbed far more punishment, including
John C. Caldwell's brigade, which followed
the Irishmen into the maelstrom and
suffered 900 casualties.
One of Longstreet's soldiers in the sunken
road described the action four days after the
battle. 'We waited until they got within
about 200 yards of us,' observed this man,
'& rose to our feet & poured volley after
volley into their ranks which told a most
deadening effect. ... another column &
another & still another came to their
support. But our well aimed shots were more
than they could stand so about night they
were compelled to give up the field covered
with their dead.' A northern soldier
described the harrowing passage back down
the hill towards Fredericksburg: 'All the way
down the slope to the edge of the town I saw
my fellow-soldiers dropping on every side, in
their effort to get out of the reach of the
murderous fire from the Confederate
infantry securely entrenched behind the
long stone wall and the batteries on the