Advancing toward Fredericksburg

Friday, November 14, 1862

General-In-Chief Henry Halleck returned to Washington, D.C. on Thursday to confer with President Abraham Lincoln about General Ambrose Burnside's plans to attack Fredericksburg as a prelude to an attack on Richmond. President Lincoln approved General Burnside's plan, and General Halleck sent a telegraph of approval to General Burnside at Warrenton. Immediately General Burnside ordered the Army of the Potomac to advance toward Falmouth along the left bank of the Rappahannock River.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 183.

General Halleck meets with General Burnside

Tuesday, November 11, 1862

General-in-Chief Henry Halleck arrived in Warrenton today to discuss General Ambrose Burnside's plan to attack Fredericksburg. General Halleck was not pleased with the details of Burnside's plan and believed a meeting with Burnside was vital before any plan was put into place.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 183.

Burnside Takes Command

Sunday, November 9, 1862

General Ambrose Burnside assumed command of the Army of the Potomac. He planned to concentrate the Army around Warrenton and feint a move toward Culpeper or Gordonsville while driving toward Fredericksburg and Richmond. He communicated his intentions to General-in-Chief Henry Halleck in Washington. General Burnside partioned the Army of the Potomac into three divisions, placing General Edwin "Bull" Sumner in charge of the Right Grand Division, General Joseph Hooker in charge of the Center Grand Division, and General William Franklin in charge of the Left Grand Division.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 181.