Battles of Fredericksburg

E-44

During the First and Second Battles of Fredericksburg, the Confederates occupied Marye's Heights, a defensive position enhanced by a sunken road and stone wall on the eastern slope. On 13 Dec. 1862, during the first battle, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's Confederate corps withstood attempts by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's and Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner's Grand Divisions to take the heights. During the second battle (Chancellorsville campaign), on 3 May 1863, Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's Union troops repeatedly attempted to capture the ridge from Brig. Gen. William Barksdale's brigade. A bayonet charge finally drove the Confederates off the heights.

Department of Historic Resources, 2000

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

The Battles for Marye’s Heights, http:www.nps.gov/frsp/maryehts.htm, 24 January 2000; Patricia L. Faust, ed., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986), 287-290; E. B. Long, The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861-1865 (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971), 295-296, 347-348; John S. Salmon, The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, forthcoming).