Fredericksburg Campaign, The - Winter War on the Rappahannock

In November 1862, just four days after his promotion to commander of the Army of the Potomac, Ambrose Burnside moved his army to Fredericksburg, Virginia, en route to Richmond. Confederate commander Robert E. Lee responded by placing the Army of Northern Virginia directly across the Rappahannock River on Marye's Heights and Prospect Hill. The ensuing engagement climaxing on December 13, stretched for miles, involved hundreds of thousands of men, produced staggering unequal casualties (13,000 Federal soldiers compared to 4,500 Confederates), ruined the career of Burnside, embarrassed Abraham Lincoln, and distinguished Lee as one of the greatest military strategists of his era.
The Fredericksburg Campaign, by Francis O'Reilly, is the definitive military study of this controversial operation. O'Reilly describes the gruesome struggle's tactical movements in vivid detail, integrating eyewitness accounts from the highest-ranking officials to the lowest private soldier to produce a seamless narrative. Woven within the broader military and political events are gripping stories from civilians trapped between the opposing armies.
Drawing upon his close familiarity with the battlefield, the author discusses the unprecedented nature of Fredericksburg's warfare. It saw the first purposeful bombardment of an American city, the first urban street fighting in North America, and the first bridgehead landing under fire in U.S. military history. O'Reilly analyzes the strategy of the commanders, the difficulty in logistics and delay in pontoon bridging, and the political pressure from Lincoln for a victory, which overrode practical considerations.