FREDERICKSBURG

The Confederate invasion of the north had been repulsed in Maryland by the Army of the Potomac. President Abraham Lincoln now urged his military to seize the initiative and crush the Confederates in the east and capture their capital Richmond. It would culminate in another catastrophic defeat

- IAIN MACGREGOR

By early November 1862, anxious that his administration was rapidly losing public support in the north, an impatient President Abraham Lincoln had grown weary of the Army of the Potomac's popular commander - Major General George B McClellan - and installed his subordinate and close friend Major General Ambrose Burnside as his reluctant successor. Though a capable corps-level commander, Burnside himself admitted he was not capable of commanding an army in the field. The daunting figure of General Robert E Lee and his victorious Army of Northern Virginia only added to his lack of confidence. Yet Burnside was damned if he would step aside to allow his fellow corps commander, and political intriguer, Brigadier General Joe Hooker, to be given the promotion instead. Against his better judgement, Burnside acquiesced to Lincoln's request.