Defeating Lee: A History of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac

3 Defeat The Fredericksburg Campaign

65 3 Defeat T h e F r eder ick sbu rg Ca m pa ign Few soldiers in the Second Corps were without opinion when President Lincoln removed General McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac in early November 1862. To lead the Federal forces, now encamped around Warrenton, Virginia, Lincoln appointed General Ambrose Burnside, the commander of the Ninth Corps. Lincoln made the command change because he believed McClellan too slow and cautious to ever bring Lee to bay.1 Corporal William Myers of the 106th Pennsylvania worried that partisan politics rather than military strategy now drove the Union war effort. Myers fumed, “It was nothing but the nigar lovers of the North who took [McClellan] from us.” Yet more soldiers accepted Lincoln’s decision, if not applauding it. Private Joseph Law wished McClellan still in command of the army, but promised to fight just as hard for Burnside. Lieutenant Ephraim Brown of the 64th New York acknowledged that McClellan was a “great commander.” But Brown had helped to storm the Sunken Road at Antietam, where his regiment had suffered heavily. Brown was unforgiving that McClellan had seemingly done nothing to exploit the Union breakthrough. All the loss of life, and the Confederate army still was intact and in the field.2 Against the Stone Wall Couch’s men did not have long to sit and stew at Warrenton because Burnside quickly put his stamp upon the Army of the Potomac. Burnside started by reshuffling the army’s organization. The new army commander allowed the Twelfth Corps to remain put near Harpers Ferry 66 defeating lee to help guard Washington. He made good these losses by recalling the Third Corps from the defense of the nation’s capital in mid-November, raising the strength of the army to 110,000 men.3 Next, to better streamline command over the army, Burnside formed his six army corps into threegranddivisions.Burnsidegavecommandofeachgranddivisionto the senior-ranking officer. He grouped the First Corps and Sixth Corps into the Left Grand Division, under Major General William Franklin; the Third Corps and Fifth Corps into the Center Grand Division, under Major General Joseph Hooker; and the Second Corps and Ninth Corps into the Right Grand Division, under Sumner, recently returned from leave.4 In creating the Right Grand Division, Burnside may have wanted his former soldiers of the Ninth Corps to fight alongside the proven veterans of the Second Corps. Burnside never said so, and a combination of several other factors likely influenced his thinking. One reason why Burnside grouped the Ninth Corps with the Second Corps was that he hadmorereasontotrustSumnerthantheothertwogranddivisioncommanders . Sumner was free of the politics and intrigue that often swirled about the high command of the Army of the Potomac. By comparison, Hooker was none too subtly angling to one day assume command of the army, while Franklin was suspect because of his close relationship with McClellan.5 The other reason why Burnside grouped together the Ninth Corps and the Second Corps was their geographic proximity in camp. Both commands were stationed near Waterloo, Virginia, just to the north of Warrenton. That Burnside paired the various army corps where he found them also is suggested by the unequal manpower of the three grand divisions. The Left Grand Division fielded 43,800 men, the Center Grand Division fielded 36,295 men, and the Right Grand Division fielded 29,908 men.6 The leadership of the Second Corps was little affected by Burnside’s reshuffling, giving it a greater continuity than most of the rest of the army. This was rather remarkable in itself, since Couch had assumed command only in the aftermath of the Maryland Campaign. Still, four out of the other five corps commanders at Warrenton were new. In the Ninth Corps, Brigadier General Orlando Wilcox filled the command opening after the advancement of Burnside. The same happened in Defeat 67 the Sixth Corps, with Major General William “Baldy” Smith replacing Franklin. In the Fifth Corps, Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield assumedcommand.ButterfieldreplacedPorter,whosoonwastoundergo a controversial court-martial for disobeying orders during the fighting at Second Bull Run. Brigadier General George Stoneman assumed commandoftheThirdCorps.ThespotneededfillingbecauseHeintzelman , the original commander, had received appointment to command the Union defense of Washington during the Confederate invasion of Maryland. Brigadier General John Reynolds of the First Corps was the only Union commander other than Couch to have held his position since the end of the...