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16 Chapter 2 officers also began learning, by necessity, the ardors of caring for their men as cold, disease, and poor sanitation began to create serious problems. Measles, diarrhea, and dysentery quickly became camp nightmares.26 Morale became a problem. Unfortunately, the rather recent excitement and eager anticipation of the state volunteers gave way to despair and depression. Winter weather did not help spirits either. As both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia began a relatively slow march to the southeast , with the Union army on the east side of the Blue Ridge and the Confederates on the west, a heavy snow fell on November 7. As the Federals approached Warrenton, they lay in camp for a week amid the mud and drizzling rain.When the 20th Maine finally reached Stoneman’s Switch and encamped for picket duty, four inches of snow fell; in the bitter cold, two of the Maine men froze to death.27 Besides the weather, camp talk was abuzz with discussion about army leadership . A change of command had occurred as the army had moved to the vicinity of Fredericksburg. President Lincoln had removed the popular General McClellan. Although the men of the 20th Maine had not been in the Army of the Potomac long enough to develop a deep sense of admiration for McClellan as had other troops, they nevertheless were much aware of the troubling concern of many as McClellan took his leave of the army. There was now wonder about the capabilities of the new commander, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside. The 20th Maine, in camp near the Rappahannock River, soon discovered that Burnside planned to cross the river at Fredericksburg in a drive straight toward Richmond. The crossing would require pontoon bridges, but these had not arrived on schedule. This delay allowed Lee to move his forces to Fredericksburg on the opposite side of the river and then to fortify the heights west of the city. On December 10, Union orders stated, “Get ready to move with three days’ rations and 20 extra rounds of ammunition per man.” The 20th Maine and the rest of the V Corps marched out on December 11 at daybreak as the army started its forced crossing of the Rappahannock. The men, wearing overcoats because of the December cold, had their knapsack, cartridge boxes, blanket rolls, and other gear loading them. About a mile from the river, the 20th Maine and theV Corps halted and massed on a field near a place called Phillips House. Again, the V Corps appeared to be held in reserve, this time in a field of mud.28 The regiment had heard, as the Battle of Fredericksburg unfolded, that efforts to put the pontoon bridges in place had been gravely hampered by Confederate sharpshooters and that Burnside had directed a fierce artillery bombardment of the city to quell sharpshooter fire. Better news followed that a boat crossing had been more successful in squelching the fire. But by then nightfall had come, and the 20th Maine moved a mile to the rear. The men anxiously considered what the next day of battle might be like, particularly with Lee’s strong defensive position looming ahead. Civil War Experience 17 Considering Lee’s entrenched works on the high ground, Burnside could have considered a different strategy but rather stubbornly pushed ahead with an overall frontal attack. As CivilWar historian Bruce Catton has commented, “Lee had both Jackson and Longstreet in position on the opposite shore—75,000 veteran fighters of high morale, ably led, ready for the kind of defensive battle in which they were all but unbeatable.”29 Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was to lead his two corps downriver to turn Lee’s right flank while Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner would send his men out of the city in a frontal attack on the western heights. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, withV Corps troops and the 20th Maine Regiment, would move farther downriver from Fredericksburg to another crossing , but this more southerly force would still act as a reserve. As the Maine men moved to their position, they became sickened with scenes of the blue-clad troops littering the fields and ominous gaps occurring in the attacking lines. Late in the afternoon, theV Corps was committed to get and hold as much ground as possible around Fredericksburg while sending some brigades to bolster units from the preceding charges. As the 20th Maine crossed a pontoon bridge...

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