Ugly Guy
Posts: 274
Joined: 3/31/2011 Status: offline
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Battle of Fredericksburg: End Summary: Slaughter. That is the only way to describe this battle. Even that devil Lincoln wondered if there was enough fields left in which to bury the bodies. The Yankees came in extraordinary numbers, trying their best to break the backbone of the ANV before the onset of winter. Wave after wave of Union troops were thrown against the Rebel entrenchments and wave after wave were sent to the afterlife. But the boys in blue continued to come and slowly the toll began to tell on the defenders. Many fell from frostbite, from the unusually cold November, and many more from sheer exhaustion, in addition to the combat dead. The battle raged over five days, as the Yankees attacked with dogged determination. But in the end, the Rebels held on, if only by a thread and the encouraging shouts of their generals. Many estimated that the carnage was incalculable, but someone found the Grim Reaper's left behind ledger. 17,994 Union soldiers were destined to never set foot in their homeland again, including the captured U.S. 69th infantry, and 9,265 Confederate soldiers paid the price to repel the aggression. Counted in the Confederate casualties were 6 generals. Gen. W.N. Pendleton paid the ultimate price for his country, and Gens. Trimble, Anderson, Slaughter, Jones, and Preston are among the wounded. The Union generals made out much better, mainly due to their cowardly propensity to let their men bear the sacrifice. They counted only one among their dead, E.H. Hobson. Also gained from the battle were five brigades of firearms, including three Springfields, a Minie, and a musket.
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