56: The Battle of Fredericksburg and the First Campaign of Vicksburg

“If the world had been searched by Burnside for a location in which his army could be best defeated ... he should have selected this very spot.”

This is the story of leadership turnover in the Union and total war on the field. US President Abraham Lincoln has had his fill of George B. “Little Mac” McClellan. Little Mac is getting fired. He’s being replaced by the general with the best facial-hair game in the army: Ambrose Burnsides.

But Ambrose doesn’t want command. He doesn’t think he’s the man for the job. Still, he’s going to try to be the aggressive general he knows the President wants. Ambrose plans to charge at the Confederate capital with his 120,000-strong Army of the Potomac. But he’ll have to deal with Robert E. Lee first. They’re coming to blows at the little Virginia town George Washington’s mother once called home: Fredericksburg.

Meanwhile, Ulysses S. Grant is facing challenges out west in the Mississippi Valley. Can he out-navigate a politicking general and take the crucial river town of Vicksburg, Mississippi? We’ll find out.

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