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| Velorus C Merrick |
Between the families, they had five sons in the War of the Rebellion on October 9, 1862 (here). The next day grandpa Joseph's older brother, Velorous C Merrick, died of typhoid fever; two months after he enlisted. He was our family's first fatality of the American Civil War. He's buried in Soldier Fields Cemetery, Washington DC.
Change of Command
The 'Army of the Potomac' pushed back a rebel incursion into the north in the battle of Antietam, The victory came at a high cost. Both sides were ravaged by the deadliest one day battle in history. They remained at a standstill. Lincoln pressed his commander, George McClellan, to push forward into the southern territory before the Confederates had time to strengthen. From McClellan, he got excuses, and his orders were ignored.
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| Ambrose Burnside |
On November 5, 1862, Lincoln replaced McLellan with General Ambrose Burnside. The president asked for the new commander's campaign plans.
Battle of Fredericksburg
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| Fredericksburg, Va. 1862 |
Gen. Burnside had a plan ready. He would take Fredericksburg, Virginia, halfway between the Confederate capital and Washington, DC, on the way to Richmond. The town was. His plans relied on speed and surprise. He rightly concluded Gen. Lee had few men guarding Fredericksburg. The entire Army of the Potomac would approach on the opposite side of the Rappahannock River. Engineers and materials to build pontoon bridges across the watercourse were sent ahead. Lincoln approved. Burnside moved quickly.
Initially, Gen. Robert E Lee pulled his small 500-1,000 troops in Fredericksburg out of the city to a defensive line at some distance from the city. When he saw the delay, he called for reinforcement and moved back into the city.
The Union's 135,000 troops spent three weeks of bone-chilling winter weather in tents beside the Rappahannock at the end of 1861. Across the river, they watched the Confederate forces building to 78,000. At night, 'Johnny Reb' would taunt them across the water.
Most the day was spent supplying targets for the sharpshooters (in the form of engineers) or waging a shock-and-awe, overwhelming cannon attack. Every time the shelling stopped, the snipers left the cover of the rubble and picked off more bridge builders. Then the Union launched the first US water crossing under fire, pre-dating D-Day of World War II by eighty years. It worked. They held off the snipers from a beachhead long enough to finish the bridges. The Yankee troops crossed over.
Lee conceded the city and pulled his troops back to Marye Heights. But he left a small contingent - spread down parallel streets - to hold off the charge. As one lane was taken, the survivors fell back and fought with fresh troops on the next road.
Urban street fighting was rare in the Civil War. Many of the soldiers - who later fought at Gettysburg and Petersburg - remembered this as their most horrifying battle. It was over by evening, and the soldiers were angry.
*Note: Relationships, such as grandmother, 2nd great, etc., are expressed from the perspective of the grandchildren of Leon Arthur and Anna Grace (Fuller) Merrick.
Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.
Arriving at Fredericksburg
Camp Falmouth facing Fredericksburg
"The Union Army began marching on November 15, and the first elements arrived in (Camp) Falmouth on November 17. Burnside's plan quickly went awry—he had ordered pontoon bridges to be sent to the front and assembled for his quick crossing of the Rappahannock, but because of administrative bungling, the bridges did not arrive on time."
Read more: Wikipedia
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| Winter 1861-2 |
The Union's 135,000 troops spent three weeks of bone-chilling winter weather in tents beside the Rappahannock at the end of 1861. Across the river, they watched the Confederate forces building to 78,000. At night, 'Johnny Reb' would taunt them across the water.
"Hey, boys, watcha want hyere?", someone yells.
"Fredericksburg.", comes back the reply.
"Cm'on over. We got a six by two foot plot of land fer ya."As the confidence of the southern boys grew day by day, the morale of the northern boys sunk. Burnside told the Committee on the Conduct of the War:
“I deem it my duty to say that I cannot make the promise of probable success with the faith that I did.”Lincoln would have no more delays. He demanded Burnside continue his campaign.
Crossing the Rappahannock
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| River Crossing |
"Union engineers began to assemble six pontoon bridges before dawn on December 11...(and) came under punishing fire from Confederate sharpshooters."
Read more: Wikipedia
Most the day was spent supplying targets for the sharpshooters (in the form of engineers) or waging a shock-and-awe, overwhelming cannon attack. Every time the shelling stopped, the snipers left the cover of the rubble and picked off more bridge builders. Then the Union launched the first US water crossing under fire, pre-dating D-Day of World War II by eighty years. It worked. They held off the snipers from a beachhead long enough to finish the bridges. The Yankee troops crossed over.
Taking the Town
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| Inside Fredericksburg |
Lee conceded the city and pulled his troops back to Marye Heights. But he left a small contingent - spread down parallel streets - to hold off the charge. As one lane was taken, the survivors fell back and fought with fresh troops on the next road.
Urban street fighting was rare in the Civil War. Many of the soldiers - who later fought at Gettysburg and Petersburg - remembered this as their most horrifying battle. It was over by evening, and the soldiers were angry.
"By nightfall, four brigades of Union troops occupied the town, which they looted with a fury that had not been seen in the war up to that point."
Read more: WikipediaBurnside didn't move the rest of his troops over until the next morning. The military commanders spent the next day planning their attack while their troops crossed over.
Battle at the Stone Wall
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| Stone Wall |
The Marye Heights' attack on Lee's forces behind the stone wall Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, was a bloodbath. Wave after wave of 'Blues' was mowed down. By the third attack, wounded soldiers were grabbing the legs of men in the advancing line, warning them it was hopeless. No union soldier got within 100 feet of the wall. Union forces lost 8,000 men; Confederate forces, 1,000. Looking over the battlefield afterward, Gen. Lee remarked:
"It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."
This is the most famous engagement of the battle at Fredericksburg. But it isn't our family story. All the Merrick boys were fighting on the southern end, against a different stone wall; Stonewall Jackson. That story, next post.
Battle of Fredericksburg: Overview
Joseph S Merrick: The Fredericksburg Campaign - Winter of 1862
Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.
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