The Mud March was an unsuccessful attempt at the Winter Offensive of the Potomac Army in January 1863 during the American Civil War . Commander-in-Chief Ambrose Burnside , defeated by General Lee near Frederiksberg , decided to retry the offensive and cross the Rappahanock River west of Frederiksberg. A start was planned for December 30, 1862, but political divisions postponed the start of the offensive on January 20. However, rains that started that day thwarted the offensive, which ultimately led to Burnside's resignation.
| Mud march | |||
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| Main Conflict: American Civil War | |||
 Alfred Wad, Winter Campaign, January 21 | |||
| date | January 20 - 22, 1863 | ||
| A place | Fredericksburg (Virginia) | ||
| Total | draw | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Forces of the parties | |||
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Content
Preparation
After the rout near Frederiksberg, General Burnside needed to urgently restore his reputation and somehow raise the morale of the Potomac Army. Immediately after Christmas, he began planning a new offensive. The original plan involved a deceptive maneuver west of Frederiksberg, while the main army would cross Rappahanock south of the city. In addition, Burnside developed a plan for a deep cavalry raid by 1,500 horsemen - this was to be the first raid of its kind in the Eastern Theater of War. 500 cavalrymen had to make a distracting raid in the direction of Culpeper, and the remaining 1000 - to cross the river at Kelly Ford and head south and west and eventually go to Suffolk, where to join the army of John Peck. From there they were supposed to return by sea to Falmouth [1] .
This plan had already begun to be carried out, and the cavalry was already on the ford when Burnside received a telegram from the president demanding that no serious maneuvers be carried out without the consent of the White House.
The president’s telegram was the result of a conspiracy of disgruntled officers who had given Lincoln Burnside's plans. Active participants in the conspiracy were Brigadier General John Newton and Brigadier General John Cochrane from Corps VI . In early January, they took leave and went to Washington, where Cochrane, a former congressman, managed to take advantage of the connections and meet with Secretary of State Seward, who arranged for them to meet with President Lincoln. Newton said that the army is in very poor condition and a new offensive could be fatal for her. However, he failed to speak convincingly enough.
After receiving a telegram from the president, Burnside personally went to the White House. The president told him that the two generals were complaining about the state of the army, which Burnside demanded to find them and put before the tribunal.
Returning to Falmouth, Burnside revised his plan. According to his new version, Sumner’s grand division was supposed to stay with Frederiksberg, and Hooker and Franklin’s grand divisions had to go west, go Rappahanok upstream relative to Frederiksberg (across the United States Ford) and go to the flank of the North Virginia Army . The beginning of the offensive was scheduled for January 18 or 19, 1863. The journalist for the New York Times wrote: “The plan is beautiful. Each military condemned the method of attack that was elected last time. And every military man approves of the method chosen now ” [2] .
March
Burnside was ready to launch the offensive on January 18, but he wanted to be sure that the enemy did not manage to take countermeasures. At the same time, intelligence reported on the movement of the enemy and the appearance of his infantry at the Ford United States Ford. Burnside decided to relocate and cross the Rappahanok across Banks Ford. All three commanders of his "grand division" were skeptical of this plan. William Franklin proposed postponing the beginning of the march for another couple of days, secretly hoping that the march would be canceled altogether [3] .
The march began on January 20, 1863 at 11:00. The day was generally good, and by nightfall the two grand divisions had camped a few miles from the crossings. At 19:00 it started to rain, while it was still shallow, but it intensified every hour and at night turned into a powerful downpour. One pensioner soldier then wrote: “Lilo, as if the end of the world had come” [4] . The temperature fell all night, rain from time to time turned into snow.
On the morning of January 21, the rain continued, the sun did not come out. The roads got wet and became completely impassable. Sometimes it was necessary to use 28 horses at once to drag a single gun. The case of draft cattle began. To establish one crossing, 20 pontoons were required, but by the end of the day only 15 were delivered to the ford, despite the fact that at least two crossings were required. When night fell, the army was scattered along the entire road from the first camp to the crossings. The weather did not allow making fires, so there was nothing to even cook food on.
The displacement of the northerners was noticed by the intelligence of the South, and General Lee sent George Pickett's division to Banks ford. The division took advantage of the improved Orange-Turnpike road, so it quickly and without hindrance reached the target and began to dig earthen fortifications.
On the morning of January 22, the rain stopped, but the continuation of the offensive was not possible. Pickett’s division was firmly entrenched in Banks-Fordy, and the Virginians built a poster that read: “Burnside Stuck in the Mud!” [Burnside was stuck in the mud!) [5] In this situation, Burnside ordered Hooker and Franklin to stop the attack and return to Fredericksberg camps however, this order at that time was impossible to fulfill, so the army spent another night in the mud. Burnside reported what was happening in Washington and offered to report there on his own, but Henry Halek warned him that he was ready to resign.
Consequences
Burnside returned to Washington, where he met Lincoln on the morning of January 24th . He filed a letter of resignation, and at the same time ordered the dismissal of several officers of the Potomac Army. The letter of resignation included George Hooker , William Franklin , William Smith , John Cochrane, Samuel Sturgis and Edmund Ferrero.
On the morning of January 25th, a new meeting followed, during which Lincoln approved the resignation of Burnside and informed him that he was appointing Hooker as new commander in chief. From the dismissal order, he approved the resignation of Sumner and Franklin. Burnside was decided to send to North Carolina.
Notes
- ↑ Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: McKay, 1988 S. 573
- ↑ Burnside's Mud March
- ↑ Bad News For Burnside - Good News For Everyone Else Archived October 14, 2013 on the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Burnside Sees Hand of God in His Coming Flank Attack Archived October 14, 2013 on Wayback Machine
- ↑ To Hell With Burnside Stuck in the Mud! Archived October 14, 2013 on Wayback Machine
Literature
- Brooks, Victor. The Fredericksburg Campaign: October 1862-January 1863. - Da Capo Press, 2000 .-- 256 p. - ISBN 1580970338 .
- Stackpole, Edward J. The Fredericksburg Campaign: Drama on the Rappahannock. - Stackpole Books, 1991 .-- 336 p. - ISBN 0811723372 .