7 0 The American Civil Warheights.' A union general observed simply
that the area in front of Marye's Heights 'was
a great slaughter pen.'
The Army of the Potomac remained in
Fredericksburg and exchanged desultory fire
with the Confederates for two more days. On
the night of 15 December, Burnside ordered
a retreat across the river. A disappointed Lee,
who had chafed at his inability to launch a
counterattack because of Union batteries
posted on high ground east of the
Rappahannock, expressed disbelief that the
enemy had given up the field without
further struggle. The one-day battle had
produced 12,650 Union casualties, most of
whom had fallen in front of Marye's Heights.
Most of the 5,300 Confederates who fell had
been hit defending Jackson's position.
Burnside took full responsibility for the
debacle and received fearful criticism from
soldiers and civilians alike. Many in the North
also assailed Lincoln as a failed war leader.
The seemingly pointless, unimaginative
nature of the attacks at Fredericksburg
triggered especially bitter reactions. When
first informed of what had happened on
13 December, Lincoln told a friend, 'If there is
a worse place than Hell, I am in it.'
Robert E. Lee and a group of staff officers and
subordinates watch the Battle of Fredericksburg from
atop Telegraph Hill (later called 'Lee's Hill'). In this
post-war engraving by Alfred A. Waud, James Longstreet
is the fourth figure from the left. A witness on the hill
described Longstreet, whom Lee had called 'the staff in
my right hand' after the Seven Days, as 'about six feet,
two inches high, a strong, round frame, portly and fleshy,
but not corpulent or too fat.' (Author's collection)Confederates took heart from the easy
victory. Their faith in Lee and his army
deepened, prompting the General to worry
lest they fall into the trap of believing the
war was about to end. The enemy had
'suffered heavily as far as the battle went,'
noted Lee, 'but it did not go far enough to
satisfy me ... The contest will have now to
be renewed, but on what field I cannot say.'
Fighting in Virginia had ended for 1862,
but Burnside's problems continued. An
indifferent administrator, he presided over a
dark period in his army's history. Morale
plummeted and desertions increased. An
attempted flanking movement around Lee's
left, the infamous 'Mud March', ground to
an ignominious halt amid a spell of wet
weather in January 1863. Many of Burnside's
senior subordinates sought his removal.