Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee. The combat included futile frontal attacks by the Union army on December 13 against entrenched Confederate lines, hurling themselves against the 'sunken wall' on the heights overlooking the city. It is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates; a visitor described it as a "butchery" to President Abraham Lincoln.