Burnside Replaced with Hooker

Wednesday, January 28, 1863

By order of President Abraham Lincoln General Ambrose Burnside was removed from command of the Army of Potomac and replaced by General Joseph Hooker. General Edwin "Bull" Sumner, the commander of the Right Grand Division, resigned due to ill health. General William Franklin also resigned his commission due to the change in command.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 226.

Burnside's "Mud March"

Tuesday, January 20, 1863

The Twentieth Massachusetts received orders to march toward Fredericksburg, as General Ambrose Burnside planned to advance upon the city and redeem the failure of the attack on December 13. Generals Joseph Hooker and William Franklin were ordered to march north six miles and cross the Rappahannock River at Banks' Ford in a flanking move on Fredericksburg and General Edwin Sumner was to cross at Falmouth to directly assault the city. As the army began their move rain ensued for several days, and the advance of the army was impeded by heavy rain and mud. After three days the campaign, known as the "Mud March," was halted permanently. General Burnside's fate as commander of the Union Army was likewise sealed.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 225-26.

Letters from the Front - Nathan Hayward

Saturday, December 27, 1862

Doctor Nathan Hayward penned a letter to his father from Fredericksburg, the first letter he was able to compose since the battle. He explained that he was operating on wounded soldiers from morning until after dark every day for nearly two weeks. He worked in concert with other doctors and surgeons, consulting with them for the best course of treatment and operation. He relayed that he is currently the acting surgeon for his brigade.

Doctor Hayward stated that the newspaper reports of the battle at Fredericksburg was laughable and exaggerated. He hoped that the disaster at Fredericksburg will bring about the restoration of General George McClellan. He relayed that the soldiers are dissatisfied and dispirited since the removal of McClellan and that they entered Fredericksburg expecting defeat and slaughter. Hayward spoke highly of McClellan, stating that “no other man can command the confidence of his veterans.” Hayward felt that General Ambrose Burnside is affable and a gentleman, but he remarked that these qualities do not make a great General. “The army knows full well that affectional qualities are not what it requires, but intellect in a special department, and that the only man who has displayed great intellect in this specialty has been most foolishly, almost madly, removed.”¹

References:
¹Nathan Hayward, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 401-403, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.

Cease Fire at Fredericksburg

Sunday, December 14, 1862

During the early hours of the morning the Fourth United States Infantry relieved the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment from their entrenched position along William Street. The exhausted Twentieth withdrew to the city of Fredericksburg. In light of the slaughter of the previous day General Edwin "Bull" Sumner convinced General Ambrose Burnside to abandon additional assaults by all three Grand Divisions. ¹

References:
¹Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 215.

Pontoon Bridges Arrive at Falmouth

Wednesday, December 10, 1862

General Ambrose Burnside ordered a concentration of the army for the following morning in preparation for crossing the Rappahannock River into Fredericksburg. The engineer brigade had finally arrived with the pontoon bridges and had orders to deploy the bridges at three crossing stations along the river: one near the rope-ferry at the upper end of the city; another near the steamboat landing at the lower end of the city; and a third near the mouth of Deep Run a mile south of the second crossing. These three locations would be known respectively as the Upper Pontoon Crossing, the Middle Pontoon Crossing, and the Lower Pontoon Crossing. The Upper Pontoon Crossing had two bridges, while the other two crossings had one bridge each.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 190-195.

General Burnside's Pivotal Decision

Saturday, November 15, 1862

On the same day that General Sumner began his advance toward Falmouth, General Ambrose Burnside received a telegraph from Washington informing him that the pontoon bridges necessary to cross the Rappahannock River from Falmouth to Fredericksburg would not be ready for transport until Sunday or Monday, and that only one pontoon bridge would be sent. Other bridges would be transported at a later time upon request by General Burnside. Although General Burnside realized that his army would arrive at Falmouth before the pontoon bridges would be available, and that the arrival of the Army of the Potomac on the Falmouth side of the Rappahannock River would telegraph his intentions to the Confederate Army, he made a pivotal decision to allow his army to continue their advance to Falmouth.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 185-6.

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.

McClellan Relieved of Command

Friday, November 7, 1862

The beautiful summerlike weather ended abruptly with the arrival of a blinding northeast snowstorm that dropped several inches of snow on Rectortown. In addition to the weather a storm of a different kind reached the camp. General George McClellan received orders from President Abraham Lincoln that relieved him of command of the Army of the Potomac and replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside.¹

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

Battle of Antietam

Wednesday, September 17, 1862

At 7:10 A.M. General Bull Sumner received orders from Union General George McClellan to cross the Antietam Creek and advance westerly across the Cornfield to the West Woods. For the last hour Sumner had watched the advance of Joseph Hooker's First Corps and Joseph Mansfield's Twelfth Corps across the Cornfield and witnessed heavy, brutal fighting which resulted in the death of Twelfth Corps General Joseph Mansfield, who was killed as he prepared his troops for advance. The Second Corps was next in line to cross the Cornfield and drive the Confederates from the West Woods.

General Sumner began the advance with two of his three divisions, leaving General Israel Richardson's division in reserve. As Sumner's troops advanced, they witnessed the carnage from the early morning fight in the Cornfield. Sumner ordered his lines to close and advance quickly across the Cornfield into the West Woods. The close lines would prove to be problematic and would have devastating consequences.

The Twentieth Massachusetts was on the left flank of the second line of battle. As they approached the West Woods, the Thirty-Fourth New York Regiment, immediately in front of the Twentieth, was dispatched south to the Dunker Church for support. The Twentieth now found themselves uncovered in the front and on their left flank.

As the Twentieth entered the West Woods they immediately encountered heavy firing, followed by artillery barrages of grapeshot and canister. As the lines of battle were so close the Twentieth had difficulty returning fire without hitting their own men. The Confederates flanked Sumner's forces on the left, which left the Twentieth exposed to Confederate fire in front as well as on their left. The colors of the Twentieth fell four times within minutes, and Sumner ordered Colonel William Lee to withdraw. In despite of the chaos the Twentieth attempted to withdraw in good order, removing their wounded as they withdrew.

The battle continued for the entire day, with heavy fighting at the Sunken Lane and the bridge across the Antietam Creek later known as the Burnside Bridge. A late arrival by Confederate General A.P. Hill ended the battle, in which neither the Union nor the Confederates could claim a solid victory.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 163-74. Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 169-76. James Spencer, "Record of James Spencer," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 64-65, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.

Journey of the Captives

Monday, January 27, 1862

Charles Peirson left Ligon Prison at 5:00 AM and reached Norfolk before noon, where he reported to Confederate General Benjamin Huger, Commander of Norfolk, before embarking on the ship William Seldon. In the evening he had a disappointing meeting with Union General John Wool, Commander of Fort Monroe, who gave him no encouragement for the release of his comrades in prison. Later in the evening he left for Baltimore. During the trip he met Mr. Sheldon of New York, bearer of dispatches from General Burnside and shared a stateroom with Mr. DeFord of Baltimore, who had just departed from Richmond.¹

References:
¹Charles Lawrence Peirson, "Memorandum of the Battle of Leesburg," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 137, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.