We did not create blog entries recently because we spent time visiting with family and attending our niece's very cool wedding in southern New Jersey.

Fredericksburg, VA

We visited the National Museum of the Marine Corps.  We spent most of our time in the World War II exhibits looking for information about the battles Jim's father was in.

In the afternoon we went to the Fredericksburg National Battlefield Visitor Center where we were greeted by a friendly kitty.

The Battle of Fredericksburg took place on December 13, 1862, when Union General Ambrose Burnside was confronted by Confederate General Lee.  The Confederates were well situated in a sunken road behind a stone wall on high ground above the city. 

(as it appears today)

Union soldiers were sent across vast open fields up toward the stone wall while being fired upon by Confederate soldiers behind the wall. 

(A small section of the battlefield as it appears today)

The Union army sent seven waves of attackers against the stone wall, including the Irish Brigade of New York.

Men from the same county or local area usually fought together in the same regiment during the Civil War and were permitted to design their own uniforms if they wished.  The colonel in charge of Pennsylvania's 114th styled his regimental uniforms after the French-Algerian Zouaves, an elite fighting force of the time.

In the painting below, this regiment of Pennsylvania Zouaves is shown meeting a Confederate attack at Fredericksburg.

For the first time in U.S. history, instead of using messengers or signal flags, the Union commanding officer was directly in touch with the front line of battle using a new portable telegraph.

As useful as this must have been, it did not overcome the advantage of terrain held by the Confederate army.  None of the Union attacks on the stone wall were successful, resulting in a Confederate victory at Fredericksburg and a total of 14,000 casualties in a single day, most of them Union soldiers.  The importance of protective cover was impressed upon soldiers of both sides, and thus began the use of trenches and earthworks in succeeding confrontations.