Second Corps Departs from Falmouth

Monday, June 15, 1863

The Second Corps, as rear guard of the Union Army, was the last to leave Falmouth on the march north to pursue the Confederates. The Twentieth Massachusetts, along with the Second Corps, departed from Falmouth today and marched through Stafford Court House, which was in flames, en route to Acquia Creek for evening camp. The temperatures were extremely warm and the regiment suffered several cases of heat stroke and exhaustion. This was the first day of the most grueling march in the history of the regiment. ¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 262-3.

Union and Confederate Troop Movements around Fredericksburg

Wednesday, November 19, 1862

The units of the Army of the Potomac began deployment around Fredericksburg. The Left Grand Division under General William Franklin arrived at Stafford Court House on Tuesday. Today the Center Grand Division under General Joseph Hooker arrived at Hartwood.

In anticipation of a Union attack on Fredericksburg Confederate General Robert E. Lee deployed divisions under General Lafayette McLaws and General Robert Ransom at Fredericksburg, with General James Longstreet's division to follow. He ordered General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson to remain in the Shenandoah Valley with discretionary authority to move at will.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 183, 186.