How did the confederates win the battle of Fredericksburg?
They won this battle for several reasons: 1. The Union Army was slow to cross the Rappahanock river. Bridging equipment and engineers were not at the front of the column. By the time they’d arrived, Confederate sharpshooters had located in the town and began sniping down engineers as they worked on building bridges across the river. This combination of: icy river, no bridging equipment available quickly, slow process to complete the pontoon bridges dues to snipers meant that it gave Lee’s army time to fortify. 2. Ambrose Burnside (Union commander) was a fool. He should have recognized that he’d lost the initiative and tried a “Plan B”. He should not have tried to carry the Confederate lines at Marye’s Heights. 3. The assault up Marye’s Heights was folly. First, to even reach the height, troops were channeled to a series of small footbridges across a canal. This slowed the advance, made them easy targets and condensed the front. Second, Longstreet’s Corp was hunkered down behind a stone
