Both General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia on the high ground to the west, and General Ambrose Burnside, whose Federal forces occupied Fredericksburg on the lower ground along the river, saw the fog rising from the Rappahannock at dawn on 13 December 1862. It was cold, frosty, and foggy, Irish winter weather, one might say - and the night's fog had masked the armies' movements. More than six Union divisions now thronged the streets and riverbanks of Fredericksburg, most of whose residents had sought refuge elsewhere. The twinkling fires of the Confederates looked down from Marye's (pronounced Marie's) Heights above.
Provided it was done speedily, Lincoln agreed to Burnside's would-be masterstroke: push across at Fredericksburg using pontoon boats and rush to Richmond. The problem was, the boats were late and his troop movements alerted Lee. Now the Confederates were massed, waiting. A chain of hills reaches south of Fredericksburg to the town. Lee's army held these hills. A sunken road ran along the crest of Marye's Heights, bordered by a stone wall which provided excellent cover with a firing step formed by the east bank of the road. Firing positions and rifle pits extended from the wall toward the woods north of town where Confederate soldiers waited shoulder to shoulder, rifles ready. Confederate cannon enfiladed the approach to the wall where the Union assault was likely.
In front of the stone wall, parallel to it, ran a rail fence, and nearer town the ground dipped in a slight depression. Beyond the depression was a mill race, and beyond that, Fredericksburg with its distinctive church spires stretching skyward.
Lee knew the masses of men would come at Marye's Heights. He asked "Old Pete" Longstreet if he was concerned. Lee worried, "They are massing very heavily and will break your lines, I am afraid."
Longstreet looked toward town and at the approach to the heights. He was a little annoyed and amused at Lee's concern, replying, "General, if you put every man on the other side of the Potomac on that field to approach me over the same line, and give me . . . plenty of ammunition, I will kill them all before they reach my line." He indicated where Union General W. B. Franklin massed opposite Stonewall Jackson's forces near Hamilton's Crossing below Fredericksburg. "Look . . . right; you are in some danger there." Then he added, "But not on my line." Satisfied, Lee looked to other matters.
Brigadier General Thomas R.R. Cobb's mostly Irish brigade of Georgians (Cobb's Legion, Phillips' Georgia Legion, the 16th, 18th, and 24th Georgia infantry regiments) defended Marye's Heights behind the stone wall. As a precaution, Ransom sent half his division, Cooke's brigade of North Carolinians (16th, 27th, 48th, 49th NC infantry regiments plus Cooper's Virginia artillery battery) to reinforce them, but before the day ended, they were joined by the rest of Ransom's Division (Ransom's brigade of the 24th, 26th, 36th, and 48th NC infantry regiments plus Branch's Virginia artillery battery) and stood three ranks deep, plus the Washington Louisiana Artillery whose guns enfiladed the approach.
In Burnside's original plan, Franklin's Left Grand Division was to take lower Telegraph Road and then move north; when this was accomplished, Major General E.V. Sumner's Right Grand Division would attack the heights and together they would roll up the Confederate flank. But that was not what happened. Around 1000 hours, the fog burned off. When Franklin did not break through by 1100 hours, Sumner was told to take Marye's Heights.
Sumner's Grand Division was to assault head-on. Any Union initiatives on Marye's Heights would be uphill across a murderous field of fire where entrenched Confederates awaited, almost invisible behind the stone wall.
Six divisions would assault in successive waves, and when one broke through the others would follow to carry the Confederate position. Units were on the move as early as 0500. As of 0800 everyone was in position. They awaited the command to attack.
An unimaginative man, Burnside planned with little subtlety, feeling superior numbers in a head-on approach would carry the day, and not realizing that defenders were aided by enfilade fire, fortified positioning, and ready reinforcements. The Union attacks were ill-advised to start, and sheer madness as they progressed.
In Fredericksburg, Union troops formed in the dubious shelter of the streets. A Southern artillery barrage boomed, exploding masonry and cobblestones which did nearly as much damage as direct hits. In tight packed units, men could only move forward. If conditions in town were bad, at least here they faced only artillery fire. Once they began the assault, they would face the full fury of Confederate infantry fire.
Roots Of The Irish Brigade
Since 1814, an increasing wave of emigrants from Ireland came to the United States. The Potato Famine, the resettlement of the displaced farmers, and a desire for a better life caused a massive diaspora. In the 1860 census, 1,611,304 Irish (more than any other nationality) were in the United States. States with a population of 50,000 Irishmen or more were Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and almost half a million in New York alone. 110,000 Irishmen were in the South, some serving in Cobb's unit.
By the outbreak of the Civil War, over forty Union regiments were of mostly Irish extraction. The best known of these were those that served with the 69th New York State Militia. The Irish Brigade was composed of 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York Infantry Regiments, the 116th Pennsylvania and shortly before Fredericksburg, the Irish 28th Massachusetts joined Army of the Potomac's Second Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps.
The men had pride in their unit. Not only were they fighting for equal treatment for themselves under the Constitution, they were fighting by proxy against the British (who had been ineffective in helping during the Famine and had dispossessed many tenant farmers) as England was popularly thought in the North to be more sympathetic to the Southern cause than to the Federal's. Thus they fought for both their ancestral and adopted homelands. At Antietam they had bravely headed down "Bloody Lane" with great casualties. At Fredericksburg, they numbered over 1200 men before starting up Marye's Heights.
Thomas Francis Meagher was an Irish patriot who had a part in the unsuccessful uprisings of 1848. Threatened with hanging, he was transported to Tasmania on an English prison ship instead. After escaping, he came to America where he became active in politics and the Irish community. He encouraged fellow Irishmen to volunteer for service at the start of the war, was made a general of United States Volunteers and raised the Irish Brigade which he commanded.
In his pride, General Meagher wanted Confederates to know they faced the Irish Brigade. Gone were all but one of its famous green standards. The New Yorkers' regimental flags were so badly damaged that they had been returned for replacement, and only the 28th Massachusetts had its color present, and so they were given the place of honor in the middle of the formation. Then Meagher put a sprig of boxwood in his kepi (not having a shamrock) so all would know who they faced. Officers were presented sprigs of boxwood for their men's kepis to identify them as Irishmen. Wreaths of boxwood wound round the finials of regimental colors substituted for the green regimental flags. Thus all wore something green to face their foes. The 28th Massachusetts carried its one-sided green regimental standard with its golden harp and Gaelic motto, "Faugh A Ballagh" (Clear The Way) into battle.
Meagher recalled, "I addressed to every regiment . . . reminding them of their duty, and exhorting them to do it bravely and nobly. Even while I was addressing the Sixty-ninth, which was on the right of the brigade, 3 men of the Sixty-third were knocked over, and before I had spoken the last word of encouragement the mangled remains - mere masses of blood and rags - were borne along the line."
The First Assault
Brigadier General William H. French's Division was the first to assault. They would move against the Stone Wall in waves: Kimball's brigade, then Andrews', and Palmer's last. Hancock's Division followed, ready to support, reinforce, or take the offensive. Southerners blasted holes into French's ranks which wavered. Continual volley fire halted French's Division, shattering it. 1153 killed, wounded, or missing Union soldiers dotted the ground, leaving the wounded and stunned to make their way off as best they could.
Union commanders feared a counter-attack and ordered an artillery barrage while Hancock's men moved into position. Disrupted remnants of French's Division lay protected in a slight depression and could offer no support to Hancock in the second assault. As the barrage lifted, Hancock's men jumped to their feet and charged. Colonel Samuel Zook's 3rd Brigade led, followed by Meagher's Irish Brigade (2nd Brigade), and Caldwell's 1st Brigade brought up the rear. Confederates held their fire until the Union soldiers were close, then a rippling wall of gunfire erupted from behind the wall. Zook's men were shattered.
Hancock said: "Colonel Zook's brigade . . . failed . . . to take the stone wall although our dead were left within 25 paces (about 75 feet) of it. These troops still held their line of battle in front of the enemy and within close musketry range."
The Irish Brigade
Now the lot fell to the Irish Brigade to carry the day. They were seasoned campaigners, many of whom would stay for the duration. When the war began many had gladly volunteered to fight when some American citizens held back, and for once they did not hear the cursed words, "No Irish need apply". As the Irish Brigade moved out of Fredericksburg, Confederate artillery found their range. Few fell or dropped out, though many were wounded. The unscathed pressed their bloodied comrades forward in parade ground ranks.
Keeping their greatcoats on, the men had taken off backpacks and other gear which would slow them down and laid them aside. They had seen what had happened to the troops which had gone before, and had no illusions about what they faced.
The Hail of Gunfire
Led by the 69th New York, the Irish Brigade moved through town in columns. "Advancing up the street, . . . worried by shell and shot and rifle balls . . . , we crossed the mill-race immediately outside the city. The entire brigade, consisting of 1,200 men, at that moment had to cross a single bridge and... deploy into line of battle. This... took some time" and "the Sixty-ninth... was compelled to stand its ground (under fire) until the rest of the brigade came up and formed. This ordeal it had to endure for fully half an hour."
Meagher continued, "I directed Colonel Nugent to throw out two companies of his regiment as skirmishers on the right flank. I had hardly done so before the Eighty-eighth, Sixty-third, Twenty-eighth, and One hundred and sixteenth, coming up, and deploying themselves in line of battle, drew down upon the brigade a still more terrific fire."
At the base of the hill the brigade assumed a line two ranks deep. Eyewitness Captain Thomas Francis Galwey of the 8th Ohio observed, "Every man had a sprig of green in his cap and a half-laughing, half-murderous look in his eyes." Stopping at the base of the hill to regroup and dress their line, they could see survivors of French's Division.
According to Meagher, "The line, however, was beautifully and rapidly formed, and then boldly advanced, Colonel Nugent leading the Sixty-ninth on the right, Col. Patrick Kelly, commanding the Eighty-eighth, being next in position, and both displaying a courageous soldiership which I have no words with all my partiality for them, adequately to describe. Maj. Joseph O'Neill, commanding the Sixty-third, was as true that day as he has ever been. His position was on the left of the center of the line.
"The center was assigned by me to the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteers, commanded by Col. R. Byrnes (this regiment carrying the only green flag under which the Irish Brigade this day had the proud privilege to do its duty, the old colors having been sent to New York several days before and the new ones not having as yet arrived). On the left of the line was the One hundred and sixteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, a new regiment . . . Thus formed, under unabating tempest of shot and shell, the Irish Brigade advanced at the double-quick against the rifle-pits, the breastworks, and batteries of the enemy . . . "
Confederate General D.H. Hill recognized the Irish Brigade advancing: "There are those damned green flags again," he muttered. At Marye's Heights, many of Cobb's Georgians were of Irish descent. A regretful murmur ran along their line as they recognized their fellow Irishmen who advanced, crossed the canal, and moved toward the wall. "What a pity, here comes Meagher's fellows," muttered Irish lips in Cobb's line, according to one listener.
Meagher's brigade approached to less than one hundred yards on the "double quick." Left to right, the Union line consisted of the 116th Pennsylvania, 63rd New York, 28th Massachusetts with colors flying, 88th New York, and on the far right, the 69th New York. Advancing through the depression, stepping around the dead and wounded but staying in formation, resolute, weapons ready, they advanced toward the wooden fence. Cobb's men stood and unleashed a volley which rocked the line as it closed within 150-200 yards of the stone wall. Canister from artillery raked them, leaving huge gaps in the formation. Men of the Irish Brigade fell as they had advanced, in orderly rows. They approached within seventy-five yards of the wall when a blast of withering fire decimated their ranks so that bodies fell row upon row. Try as they might, they could not close with the wall. Survivors bent forward as if struggling into the face of a fearful nor'easter while they waded through the hail of gunfire. Reaching the fence, Colonels Nugent and Kelly began tearing away the boards so men could pass through. Another Confederate volley rippled, knocking down what seemed to be every third man. Wounded and staggering, Adjutant J.R. Young and Major William Horgan of the 88th made it nearly 30 yards further before collapsing. There their bodies lay until the next day.
Sergeant Chambers carried the colors of the 63rd New York. During the advance, the flag was shredded and the flagstaff broken into splinters by Confederate fire. After the battle, examination of his coat revealed it was honeycombed with shot from canister and rifle bullets, but he was unwounded. The color sergeant of the 69th was not so lucky, for during the battle he was hit and their colors disappeared, but the next day he was found sitting upright against a tree trunk, dead. When his friends moved him, they discovered he had wrapped the flag around his body to hide it before he died.
In the 116th Pennsylvania, Sgt. William H. Tyrell carried the colors to the fence line. Wounded in the leg, he fell to his knees, standard upright. Five additional shots shook him, and another shattered the flagstaff, making him drop the colors. Tyrell dropped. Survivors fell back, seeking any shelter from the rain of death. Realizing the colors were still at the wooden fence, Lt. Francis T. Quinlan left the shelter of the ditch, ran to where Tyrell lay and rescued them. Returning, he ran, stumbled, and rolled to the ditch as Confederate bullets dusted the ground around him. Later, the shot-up Tyrell recovered despite multiple wounds.
Valiantly the Irish Brigade tried to recover its momentum and take the wall but subsequent volleys staggered them. Thirty yards from the stone wall the brigade ground to a halt and its survivors returned a volley. Then in a bizarre and poignant incident the Confederate soldiers who moments earlier had been pouring exacting fire into them cheered their bravery. Then, after another murderous Southern volley, Irishmen began to withdraw toward the depression in small groups.
Stunned, they knew their assault had failed. Harried by fire, some tried to withdraw and were cut down, and others huddled in the depression, fearful of moving because the slightest motion brought on a fusillade. Some remained because although they could not advance, they had not received orders to withdraw.
Following the Irish Brigade, Caldwell's men thought they could not be stopped. Charging, they were slapped down by canister and devastating Confederate small arms fire, withdrawing to safety. Hancock's shattered men fell back to join French's troops in the depression. Dead and injured dotted the ground between the depression and an area fifty yards in front of the stone wall, forming an additional obstacle for future attacking troops. Hancock's losses were 2032 men killed, wounded and missing.
General Sturgis' and General Howard's units were to attack Marye's Heights in tandem. Trying to hit the stone wall with two groups from two different directions at once, they were raked by enfilading fire. General Howard's Division fared as poorly as earlier ones. Sturgis lost 1,002 men killed, wounded or missing; Howard, 914. Again, the Union attack stopped cold and units were scattered in disarray. Gradually survivors began to slip back to Union lines, careful to keep their heads down.
The Confederates realized how fiercely this battle was being waged and sent Kemper to reinforce the 24th North Carolina as Kershaw closed behind Cooke and Cobb's now-combined lines.
Brigadier Charles Griffin's Division was ordered forward. No finesse, no subtlety, no feints: they went straight at the wall. Confederate offensive fire drove Union soldiers back a few steps. "The loss of this division was 66 killed, 752 wounded." When his assault ended, the ground was covered with a mass of quivering, thrashing wounded and dead who dropped in their tracks. The fourth assault had failed.
Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys' Division attacked uphill from an angle, starting between George and Charlotte Streets and then angling southwest. When it was over Humphreys' " . . . loss . . . was heavy, exceeding 1,000 killed and wounded."
Getty's men made it within 50 yards of the wall before a thunderous volley shattered their ranks. Getty's damage was: " . . . 1 officer killed . . . .; 7 commissioned officers wounded; 12 enlisted men killed; 200 enlisted men wounded; 64 enlisted men missing. Total, 284."
Hancock noted in his after-action report, "The Irish Brigade . . . held the entire day (where they had advanced until stopped by fire) and until relieved, . . . some . . . regiments not coming off the field until 10 o'clock the following morning."
By nightfall, the Brigade's survivors had found their way back to Union lines. Losses were severe. Of nearly 1,200 men, 545 were wounded, killed or missing - a 45% casualty rate. Of these, the 69th New York lost almost half its strength. Considering Porter's words, they attempted the impossible and failed. The failure was not because of their lack of bravery, or their immediate leadership, but because of Burnside's ill-conceived frontal assault.
The next day Burnside proposed that he lead a mass assault which his commanders thought insane. They convinced him to withdraw from town. Later his famous Mud March was a winter failure. Lincoln replaced Burnside with the boastful Major General Joseph Hooker who fared equally poorly over much of this same ground at the battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. In that battle, Federal troops captured Marye's Heights from Barksdale's men. At Fredericksburg at the close of 1862, the Irish Brigade failed, but though their ranks were shattered, their esprit de corps was undimmed as would be evidenced later at Gettysburg's Wheatfield in 1863.
by Carl Smith
Further reading
Katcher, Philip, Men-at-Arms 37: The Army of Northern Virginia (Osprey, 1975)
Katcher, Philip, Men-at-Arms 170: American Civil War Armies (1) Confederate Troops (Osprey, 1986)
Katcher, Philip, Men-at-Arms 177: American Civil War Armies (2) Union Troops (Osprey, 1986)
Konstam, Angus, Campaign 133: Seven Days Battles 1862 - Lee's defense of Richmond (Osprey, 2004)
Stevens, Norman, Campaign 32: Antietam 1862 - The Civil War's Bloodiest Day (Osprey, 1994)
Smith, Carl, Campaign 52: Gettysburg 1863 - High tide of the Confederacy (Osprey, 1998)
Smith, Carl, Campaign 55: Chancellorsville 1863 - Jackson's Lightning Strike (Osprey, 1998)
Smith, Carl, Campaign 63: Fredericksburg 1862 - 'Clear the Way' (Osprey, 1999)