Fredericksburg Battlefield
Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Marker Inscription
Site of the December 1862 battle where Union assaults on Marye's Heights were repulsed with heavy losses, one of the Civil War's most lopsided Confederate victories.
Erected by National Park Service
The Story
Union troops crossed the Rappahannock and charged a stone wall held by entrenched Confederates below Marye's Heights. Wave after wave fell; nearly 13,000 Union casualties resulted.
Why it matters
Fredericksburg laid bare the cost of frontal assaults against fortified positions — a grim lesson of the war's middle years.
Related events
- · Battle of Fredericksburg
Themes & tags
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