Decisions at Fredericksburg

Early in the Civil War, the Union sought to put a quick end to the Southern rebellion by capturing Richmond, Virginia, the new capital of the Confederacy. The Army of the Potomac, under the recently promoted leadership of Major General Ambrose Burnside moved to take Richmond, but delays in pontoon bridge construction and troop movement allowed General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia ample time to entrench his troops and block Burnside's advance. As Burnside finally crossed the Rappahannock River, his troops engaged in direct combat with the Confederate defensive positions, leading to several failed frontal assaults and one of the more lopsided victories for the Confederacy of the entire Civil War. Intended for the Command Decisions in America's Civil War series, Chris Mackowski's study examines the tactical choices at the heart of the Battle of Fredericksburg. Rather than offering a history of the battle, Mackowski focuses on the critical decisions confronting Federal and Confederate leaders and ultimately shaping the battle as we know it today--