Ambrose Burnside

[PaigeBooth]

I came across this article regarding Ambrose Burnside last week. It's kind of brief, but I visited Antietam Battlefield a few months ago and got to see Burnside Bridge, so I found the article interesting and thought it worth sharing.

http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/c...-burnside/

Attached is a picture I took of Burnside Bridge:

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Paige - do you know/can you tell which in your photo the witness tree is?

[Jim Garrett]

Great summary on Burnside. He truly did not want command of the Army of the Potomac, but AL wouldn't take no for an answer. He contemplated leading one of the charges on Marye's Heights as a suicide.

[PaigeBooth]

(01-26-2016 05:44 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Paige - do you know/can you tell which in your photo the witness tree is?

Hi Eva-- Looking at the photo I took, I believe the witness tree is the one located across the water to the left of the bridge. The tree is V shaped. But here is a youtube video I found with lots more information about the witness tree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mlGWCGIWHk

Unfortunately, on the day I visited Antietam, the bridge was undergoing some repairs, so I was not able to walk across the bridge for a better photo.

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(01-26-2016 06:47 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  Great summary on Burnside. He truly did not want command of the Army of the Potomac, but AL wouldn't take no for an answer. He contemplated leading one of the charges on Marye's Heights as a suicide.

Hi Jim-- I completely agree with you. I visited Fredericksburg and walked Marye's Heights. The Union definitely had a strong disadvantage at Fredericksburg; Lee had the high ground. This is just my opinion, but I don't think Lincoln had a good general until Meade came along. John Reynolds would have been a great choice, but he was killed at Gettysburg and did not want the job anyway.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks much, Paige!

[LincolnMan]

Ole Burnie!
Some have said the reason Lincoln tilted his head just before Booth shot him was because he was distracted by looking at Burnside down on the main floor.

[HerbS]

Thanks for the information Lincoln Man,I never knew that!

[Wild Bill]

Be careful about getting all caught up in Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg. Burnsides original plan was to keep Lee and Longstreet pinned at Marye's and have the I and VI Corps defeat Jackson and turn the Confederate position from the south.

Burnside's real fault was that he could not quit when the attack on Jackson failed because of Gen W B Franklin's refusal to really attack there with nothing but Meade's Division. That, and the political pressure he felt from the Lincoln administration for a victory.

Another story about Burnside. He was turned down at the altar when his bride to be answered the "do you take this man. . . ." with a resounding "NO" and waked out of the ceremony.

As Clint Eastwood once said, "a man has to know his limitations." At least Burnside knew his--But he just could not say "no" when he had to. Was it a flashback to his wedding ceremony? Was he a typical politician rather than a general? Maybe. He was elected governor of his home state of Rhode Island 3 times after the war.

[Jim Garrett]

I have heard the "Lincoln looking at Burnside" story over the years and the reality is no one would really have known what Lincoln was or wasn't looking at.

The mud march was Burnside looking for a ford to get across the Rappahannock river. There was a ford in front of my great aunt's home, Fall Hill. Fall Hill was my great aunt's family home and belonged to the parents of Capt. Murray F. Taylor, aide de camp to A.P. Hill and mentioned in "Come Retribution". Gen. Lee had instructed his forces to dig in around Fall Hill. Luckily for the Taylor family, Burnside's scouts did not discover the ford and kept marching. The entrenchments are still on the property today.

Fall Hill passed out of the family about 10 years ago.

[HerbS]

Wild Bill,the alter story of Burnside is very interesting-thanks!

[Wild Bill]

You're welcome. That was seminar paper for my MA in History at Ariz St Univ

[HerbS]

You are the man-Wild Bill!

[Hess1865]

I heard that story about Burnside at the altar too