signment of
leading generals. Franklin was placed in command of the Third Grand
Division, consisting of the First Corps under General Reynolds, and the
Sixth Corps under General Smith. In the abortive Fredericksburg
campaign which followed, these corps had the extreme left of the Union
line, but it should have been evident from the start that with the
opposing armies separated by a broad river occupying a deep valley,
from three-quarters of a mile to a mile and a half between the opposite
crests, the movement which was to bring on the battle must necessarily
be fought under extraordinary disadvantages to the attacking army. In
the mind of those who were to carry out the details of the movements,
success must have seemed hopeless from the first. Burnside was from the
beginning of the campaign overcome by the weight of his
responsibilities, and between tears at one time and lack of sleep at
another, his fatuous mind failed to evolve for itself, or to accept
from others a definite and comprehensive plan of operations. He seemed
at successive times to have had hopes of surprising Lee, of breaking
his center and overwhelming his left, of seizing two important points
in his main line of defence and completely turning his left, but withal
it is certain that he gave to none of these operations sufficient
attention to justify the slightest hope that it could be successfully
carried into effect.

On the other hand, Lee was on the alert with his army of 78,000 men,
well and compactly posted in a commanding and almost impregnable
position along the wooded heights which overlooked Fredericksburg and
the valley of the Rappahannock from the south. Burnside had 113,000 men
of all arms, well supplied and thoroughly organized, commanded by the
ablest generals in the service. His preponderance of force was
therefore close to fifty per cent., but unfortunately that was not
enough to outweigh the natural and artificial obstacles, the heights,
stone walls, entrenchments, open fields and river to be overcome by the
advancing army. The task was a hopeless one from the start, and to make
matters worse, Burnside, who at best had but a vague and uncertain
comprehension of the work before him, seems to have lost what little
head he was endowed with before his operations were fully under way.

The result was unfortunate in the extreme. Two Grand Divisions
succeeded in crossing the river without material opposition, but at
once found themselves co