Ambrose burnside fredericksburg

December An engineer regiment begins to assemble the pontoon bridges opposite the town in the foggy pre-dawn hours. Confederate riflemen, hiding in buildings along the riverbank, harass the engineers and slow their work. Senior Union commanders confer as the bridging process grinds to a halt. Burnside approves a plan to shell the town and drive out the Confederate snipers. Late that morning, over Federal guns arrayed on Stafford Heights bombard the Fredericksburg, blasting scores of buildings and terrifying the civilians, many of whom cower in their cellars. After four hours of shelling, the engineers return to their bridgework and the riflemen resume their shooting.

Another option is desperately needed. Burnside meets with his officers and approves a plan to send a landing party across the river to hunt down the Confederate snipers and secure a bridgehead in the town. Colonel Norman Hall, a brigade commander in the nearby Second Corps, volunteers his brigade to row across the r

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