December 13, 1862
After the battle at Antietam, Lee pulled back over the Potomac and began to refit his army. As usual, McClellan was slow to conduct an advance, so on November 7, 1862, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Burnside had little faith in his ability to lead the army and only accepted the job when he was told his arch enemy Joe Hooker was the second choice.
Lee's two corps were widely separated, with Jackson in
the Shenandoah and Longstreet at Culpeper. Burnside developed a very
workable plan to march on Fredericksburg and cross the Rappahannock River
before Lee could respond. The pontoon bridges were a week late, but
Burnside still had the opportunity to strike Longstreet before Jackson arrived.
The delays continued, and when Burnside's army did cross the river on
December 12th, it faced Lee's whole army in a good defensive position.
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