Civil war
...antages. First, they had half as many people than the Union. Second, the Confederates had less ammunition than the Union. This disadvantage made General Robert E. Lee’s army weaker in battle than the Union. Despite these disadvantages, the Confederate Army used careful planning to overcome the lack of people and supplies. The Confederates were very strategic when they first arrived at Fredericksburg. The Confederate army beat the Union to Fredericksburg because the Union was held up trying to cross the Rappahannock River. The pontoon bridges that General Burnside was counting on arrived seventeen days late. The army fortified their carefully selected positions. The Confederate soldiers built a road to give themselves access to two side-by-side hilltops. Those hills were called Willis and Marye’s Hills, also known as Marye’s Heights. Captain Charles W. Squires of the Louisiana unit posted two 3-inch rifled cannons atop Marye’s Heights; one was right in front of the Willis Cemetery and the other beside brick structures on the crest of the hill. The Confederates hid their horses and ammunition behind a brick wall that surrounded the cemetery. Also, they used a nearby house as a hospital. The well-prepared confederates on the Heights dominated the city of Fredericksburg. General Burnside’s forces attacked the well-prepared city of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. The Union attempted many unsuccessful and bloody assaults on the southern positions on Marye’s Heights. The Confederate artillery along the Heights mowed down the Union troops. The Union tried desperately to blast the Confederate gunners from their position, but it did not work. The Confederate artillerymen continued to fire into the on coming Union attackers. A solider that fought there stated, “ Who were able were speedily working our guns with all our souls and bodies”. During the battle, the Confederates moved across the storm swept-plain on the crest of Willis Hill. When they advanced, a portion of their force joined troops already at the sunken road and the stonewall at the foot of the hills. Fresh troops moved in to take their place. Then General Joseph B. Kershaw led some Confederate soldiers up the backside of Willis Hill by the road they built though the ravine. When his troops reached the crest by the cemetery, they ran to get shelter behind the brick wall. The Confederate troops were exposed by some of the heaviest shelling ever. They suffered terribly in their positions. Then more ...