History 304 Readings Wiki

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Reverend Arthur B. Fuller, a Union chaplain, was a physical wreck in 1862. Despite this, he rallied from his sickbed to join his regiment out of fear for his nation. (Guy)

Arthur's elder sister, Sarah Margaret, showed precocious gifts for language, leading to her father, Timothy, subjecting her to a brutal study regime. By her father's dedication, Sarah Margret became the best educated girl in New England. (Guy)

In mid-April 1833, Arthur Fuller was wounded by a large piece of wood, permanently blinding him in his right eye. (Guy)

Louisa May Alcott and Walt Whitman's service in hospitals during the American Civil War was motivated by different events. Alcott wanted to serve the country and did so in the way she could and Whitman was motivated by the search for his brother, George. Both of them suffered similar fates of this service, becoming ill as a result of their labor. -Sarah M.

Various Union blunders were part of the loss at Fredericksburg. The material needed for the pontoon bridges took too long to arrive, giving Confederate forces time to occupy the stone wall and Marye's Heights past the town and an incorrectly identified Confederate withdrawal by Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock caused Union troops, including the 133rd PA, to attack against fresh artillerists under Col. E.P. Alexander. -Sarah M.

Shortly after the Battle of Fredericksburg, Senate Republicans cast a vote of no-confidence for William Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State. Lincoln met with the 9 senators who intended to overhaul his cabinet after the vote and defended Seward, intending to keep his same cabinet throughout the war. Lincoln also called all cabinet members but Seward to a meeting and imparted that they must all present a united front in defending Seward. After William Seward and Salmon P. Chase both tried to resign, Lincoln rejected that proposal and his cabinet continued with the same members, ending that conflict. -Sarah M.

Fredrick Douglass gave a lecture in Syracuse in which he spoke some harsh remarks, specifically targeting Northern clergymen. He believed that the minister was strong and capable of influencing change in the country because churches served as a "breeding ground" for slaveowners. Douglass criticized them because the clergymen had moral hypocrisy: they preached the Bible but they didn't really resist slavery. (Hannah E.)
 
It was interesting to me that there were firsthand accounts from men painting a romanticized version of J.E.B Stuart's attack. They apparently wrote about it in a romantic and sentimental tone. Obviously, any attack was anything but romantic, but in their points of view, they were attempting to console themselves after the tragedy. Additionally, they were delusional, they wanted to see what they wanted to see. I appreciate how the author of this book wrote about it and presented that viewpoint. (Hannah E.)

In 1860, Fredericksburg voters nominated a pro-Union delegate to the state convention that decided whether Virginia might secede. However, what I thought was interesting was that their opinions did a 180 when President Lincoln called for volunteers to subdue the Southern insurrection and stated that loyal states should turn their backs on secessionists. Because of that, the town of Fredericksburg opinion changed and Virginia seceded. (Hannah E.)

Army chaplains had a mixed reputation. Most of them were moral and did the best they could under the circumstances, "mak[ing] business out of kindliness", though others were basically uneducated imposters who brought down the morals of the units they served with. There was also a dissonance between the preachings of chaplains and the reality of war. (Ezra C.)

In the aftermath of McClellan being replaced, his successor, Burnside, had a complicated line to walk. He had to convince the soldiers that he cared as much about them as McClellan did, while showing the government that he was very different from McClellan. McClellan's care for his soldiers led him to not take risks and not push, so Burnside had to treat the soldiers as more expendable. (Ezra C.)

Walt Whitman used what he saw in the war as writing material, but he also took up a merciful role. He dressed well in order to encourage the wounded troops in the hospitals he visited, and gave them little gifts. He saw his most important gift as being his presence and cheer, as he spent a lot of time sitting with, talking and reading to wounded soldiers. (Ezra C.)

General Burnside's orders to fire on the city of Fredericksburg were the first time in the war that a general ordered his soldiers to fire on civilian structures. The reactions on either side were the most interesting to me. While the Union felt guilt, they were also happy that the battle was more in their favor than before. However, the South, particularly Lee, felt more guilt that the city had become the focal point of the battle. (Emily Booth)

One of the interesting stories was that of Army Chaplain Arthur Fuller, who came to Captain Dunn and told him he wanted to help defend his men. Army chaplains were meant to help boost morale during the war, and I feel like Fuller fully embodied his work. His job was to help his men stay confident in what they were fighting for, so he went and fought with them. It was also interesting how Matteson compared Fuller's death to the death of honorable fighting in the war since Fuller fully pushed men to fight nobly. (Emily Booth)

The last day of battle ended with little fighting and the city still burning from the previous days' attacks. The Union entered the city finding that the Confederates had retreated, leaving a victory for the North in Fredericksburg. (Emily Booth)

At the beginning of the assigned section, the individual stories of people in the war helped really center this conflict back to some of the people it was directly affecting. Seeing how some people in different parts of life navigated this was was really interesting. (Caty)

Some of the Union’s shortcomings at Fredericksburg can be attributed to the Union War Department not being totally adequate. The war department failed to deliver pontoon bridges in time with Burnside reaching the city, and so the Confederates had time to mass their troops and dig atop Maryes Heights. - Ewan H.

General Burnside, likely frustrated with how things were going in his campaign, resorted to brash actions to try and take the city of Fredericksburg. After being repelled in his attempt to cross the Rappahannock elsewhere, he decided to cross into the heavily fortified/defended Confederate line set up behind the city, and when his advisor told him that was a bad idea, Burnside basically told him to shut up. - Ewan H

General Lee took great offense with the Union barrage of Fredericksburg via cannon fire. When Burnside opened fire on the city of Fredericksburg, Lee saw this move as cowardly and awful. This is despite the fact that Lee had stationed troops throughout the city, and Burnside had given several warnings that he would commence a bombing on the city. - Ewan H

The Union strategy for Fredericksburg and eventually Richmond required speed. Unfortunately, the Union Army was slowed down due to them having to wait on materials needed to build bridges leading to Fredericksburg. This allowed the Confederates to prepare and ultimately build up their defenses. (Hank L)
	
The Union Army ultimately takes Fredericksburg and pushes the Confederates out; however, Burnside used more aggressive tactics than McClellan did, leading to greater Union casualties than Confederate. This is partially because the Confederates were firing on the Union army while they were trying to construct their pontoon bridges and because the Union Army was so disorganized. (Hank L)

The wall that lined the base of Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg was built as a retaining wall on the Fredericksburg side of a sunken road. The stone wall extended north and south for about an eighth of a mile. It stood about four feet high, just the right height for a rifleman to rest his gun barrel and more than high enough to protect him as he sank down to reload. (Guy)

Behind the Sunken Road, the terrain sloped sharply upward. The crest of Marye's Heights was about forty feet higher than the stone wall. It was as ideal a place for artillery as the stone wall below was for infantry. (Guy)

Guns on Marye's Heights had almost perfect command of the open stretch of several hundred yards between the stone wall and the western edge of town. There was one slight swale where men might be shielded from Confederate fire, but beyond the swale there was no protection at all. (Guy)

Once the Confederate Army figured out Burnside’s plan, they decided to dig into Fredericksburg and the ridges overlooking the town and the Rappahannock. This provided great defenses for the Confederate Army during a Union assault on the town. Because of how dug in the Confederates were, it made it incredibly hard for the Union to push the Confederate Army out of the town. (Hank L)

The failure for the Union army to beat back the Confederate army at Fredericksburg can very well be attributed to two factors: the delayed arrival of the resources needed to build the pontoon bridges, and Burnsides overwhelming need to be as timid as McClellan was. This meant that even with the delayed river crossing giving away the element of surprise, a crucial part of the Fredericksburg stratgey, Burnside still pressed on the attack, and essentially ran his troops into a fortified hill position. (Orion van Rooy)

It was also interesting to learn that there had been a small urban skirmish within Fredericksburg itself, something you wouldn't really expect from the Civil War or Fredericksburg itself. (Orion van Rooy)

Up to 200 000 troops fought at Fredericksburg on both sides, the scale being surprisingly high for me, as I always imagined Fredericksburg having been a relatively smalle battle compared to Gettysburg, Petersburg or Vicksburg. (Orion van Rooy)

I found it interesting how the ministers would sing songs to the soldiers to help lift their spirits. This is one of the many things they did to try and push through the bloodshed and trauma of the war. (Lexi)

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