A Winter Campaign Ends in Union Disaster

A Winter Campaign Ends in Union Disaster. December 11-15, 1862. , Faced with a populace divided over the upcoming Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln prodded his army and its commander, Ambrose Burnside, into a rare wintertime campaign. Lincoln hoped military victory would heal political divisions., Robert E. Lee's Confederate army met the Union assaults from high ground on both ends of a seven-mile-long line. More than 1,500 Union soldiers perished on the open fields west and south of town, along with Lincoln's and Burnside's hopes for a decisive victory., [Captions:] , Deadly Fields , This 1864 image looks toward Marye's Heights from the edge of Fredericksburg. It shows the open ground that on December 13, 1862, became a vast killing field., Lay of the Land , Before the battle Union troops occupied Stafford Heights, overlooking the Rappahannock River and the town of Fredericksburg. The Confederates held the high ground west and south of the town, including Marye's Heights and the Sunken Road, where fighting would be heaviest.