June 28, 2021

June 28, 2021

From our Fredericksburg, VA hotel we drove across town to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. This park consists of four separate battlefields. The Visitor Center exhibits are cordoned off (for no good reason) so they have an information booth setup outside. A very knowledgeable and delightful ranger volunteers to give us the rundown of the history and strategy of the Fredericksburg battlefield and an intro to the other three. I would love to pack him in the car and take him with me on our tour.

After continued frustration with the lack of action out of General McClellan, Lincoln finally fired him in late 1862. His replacement, Ambrose Burnside, took action leading the Army of the Potomac south to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. The Rappahannock River here lay in his way. With much difficulty and delay he got the army across using pontoon bridges. Robert E Lee was waiting behind defensive positions on the heights. Incredibly Burnside sent wave after wave of soldiers against fortified positions to be mowed down. After losing lots of men, Burnside retreated back across the river. We walked along a short section of this walled sunken road where many were lost. We left the rest of the battlefield for later this afternoon.

We drove northwest ten miles to the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center where we got an overview from a young ranger. Burnside was replaced by Joe Hooker. Hooker had a grand plan of crossing the Rappahannock here and flanking Lee’s army. In Lee’s most daring move of the War, he split his forces in two, sending Stonewall Jackson on a long end run at night around Hooker through dense forest to surprise the right flank. Hooker could have taken advantage of the army split, but timidity and lack of situational awareness prevented that move. In the end Hooker got cold feet and also retreated across the river. Despite the victory, Lee suffered a major loss with the death of his trusted right hand, Stonewall Jackson (by friendly fire). We drove the auto tour of the battlefield.

Our next stop is at the Wilderness Battlefield. There are no Visitor Centers for the last two battlefields so we bought the auto tours. Finally Lincoln appoints the Western Theater hero, US Grant, as Commander of the Army. Grant has different ideas of how to pursue the war. In 1864, he personally leads the army towards Richmond. Lee surprises Grant here in an area called the Wilderness. It held an iron furnace that cleared the old growth open forest leaving a dense thicket of young trees, hedges, and vines. Grant fights Lee to a stalemate.

Instead of retreating back and regrouping for six months, Grant races south that night to the next battlefield of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Lee has to follow quickly to prevent Grant from having an open road to Richmond. At Spotsylvania, Lee hurriedly digs defensive trenches and the next two weeks is some of the most vicious fighting of the entire war. The most famous section is a trench corner called the Bloody Angle.

We do the driving tours of both battlefields. This four battlefield combination is the largest and bloodiest in the world. One hundred thousand Americans were lost here.

Returning to Fredericksburg, we had lunch and stopped in the old historical town center at James Monroe’s old law office. It has been turned into a museum of his life with lots of cool artifact donations from the Monroe family. Monroe came of age at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He crossed the Delaware River with Washington. After the war, he was a representative, senator, ambassador, and our fifth president. To his credit, he ran unopposed for his second term; something only matched by George Washington. His administration earned the moniker of 'Era of Good Feelings'. Interestingly Monroe died on July 4th, five years to the day after John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

From downtown Fredericksburg, we went just across the Rappahannock River to Chatham Manor sitting on a bluff above the river. This beautiful plantation estate has a nice large manicured garden. During the Battle of Fredericksburg in late 1862, it served as army headquarters and hospital. From this position Burnside’s artillery pummeled Fredericksburg so his engineers could finish constructing the pontoon bridge. A replica bridge section sits on the grounds.

We spent the night again in Fredericksburg, VA.