Hi, this is Ranger Pete from Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Welcome to the Civil War 160th in 60. We are overlooking the city Fredericksburg,
Virginia, site of the December 1862 battle renowned as a lopsided, Confederate victory.
The commander of the Union Army of the Potomac here was Major General Ambrose Burnside.
He'd been appointed in November 1862, due to a solid track record and the fact that he was held
in high regard by members of the United States Army and the Lincoln Administration. However,
the defeat at Fredericksburg lowered Burnside standing in some circles, including members of his
own army. A steadfastly honest man, Burnside wrote a letter to the press accepting accountability
for his actions here. This brought him much criticism, even among his own subordinates,
but undeterred Burnside attempted another campaign to cross the Rappahannock River in January of
1863. However, bad weather intervened resulting in a failure, known forever after as the "Mud March."
Frustrated by these setbacks and the perceived lack of support from his own subordinates,
Burnside went to the president with an ultimatum-- either remove eight generals
in the Army of the Potomac that Burnside felt were disloyal, or removed Burnside himself.
Effectively unable to do the former, Lincoln chose the latter. However, contrary to the
popular belief of many, Burnside was not dismissed from the Army after Fredericksburg but instead
reassigned. In March of 1863, he was placed in command of the Department of the Ohio, a district
that included the states of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Kentucky. It
was in that capacity that Burnside ordered the establishment of Camp Nelson in April 1863.