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Mud March: More Endurance than Glory The following
article appeared in the |
Erik Nelson, Civil War Corner
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Mort Künstler's painting, called "The Mud March," depicts the struggle of men against impossible odds. The weather and deteriorating roads actually stopped the powerful Army of the Potocam in its tracks in Stafford County in January 1863, following the Battle of Fredericksburg. |
Following the Battle of Fredericksburg, in December 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee fully expected the Union army to renew its offensive. He dispatched his cavalry to Dumfries and Fairfax, to try to learn where and when a winter campaign might be renewed. At possible crossing points along the Rappahannock River, her ordered fortifications to be dug.
Confederate vigilance acknowledged that the Union army remained a threat. Only a portion of the Federal force, after all, had been decisively defeated at Fredericksburg. In the fields south of town (where a farm called Slaughter Pen is being preserved), the Federal assault columns had closed with the defenders and fought hand to hand. The Federals had withdrawn, but as the weeks passed, the Union commander Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside considered several alternatives for another attack.
He eventually chose to launch his army upriver, to cross at Bank's Ford (four miles upstream) as well as at United States Ford (10 miles upstream). Confederate activity at United States Ford, however, convinced him to concentrate on Bank's.
Renewal of the winter campaign began just five weeks after the retreat from Fredericksburg. The troops who once again moved forward had long since developed the hard-bitten attitude of veterans who know that warfare is more about endurance than glory. Still, conditions appeared favorable for a new offensive. The weather was cold, but had been clear and even sunny, drying out the roads that would need to be traveled by tens of thousands of infantrymen and hundreds of cannons and supply wagons.
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Conditions can change very quickly, though, especially in January. The Union army broke camp on Jan. 20, 1863, under cloudy skies, with a cold wind blowing from the east. The marching columns moved out and, by evening, Burnside had moved his headquarters to a farm near England Run in Stafford County.
The Federal commander busied himself with the details of the upcoming river crossing. His experience at Fredericksburg obviously weighed heavily on his mind as he tried to personally coordinate the arrival of pontoon-bridging equipment, bring up units that would provide suppressing fire for the bridge builders and determine where batteries of artillery should be placed.
The Confederate army became the least of his worries, however, when the sky opened up later that night and began to drop rain. The troops were without shelter and one soldier remembered, "It was a dismal night; one of those sleepless nights when everything has a funeral aspect, in which the enthusiasm is extinguished; in which the courage is worn out, the will enfeebled, and the mind stupified."
A huge storm had moved in, its details recorded by the weather station in Georgetown, just 40 miles away. The meticulous notes from the Georgetown observers reveal what happened next with great precision. During the three days prior to Burnside's march, the temperature at 7 a.m. on Jan. 17, 18 and 19 had dropped to 21, 13 and 22 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.
On Jan. 20, the morning temperature was 29 degrees Fahrenheit at 7 a.m. and rose to 36 during the day. One and a quarter inches of rain fell that night (according to the Georgetown records), and the temperature did not drop appreciably. This slight warming trend, combined with the steady rain, thawed the frozen ground.
For an army on the move, the weather was bad enough, but the soils in that part of Stafford County added another horrible dimension. The approach to Bank' Ford consists of a deep subsoil of fine sandy loam. Once the wagon wheels broke up the hard crust of clay, the subsoil became a deep, soupy mud. A Union soldier described how the rain caused "the very bottom to drop out of the roads . . .. "
The army's movement toward Bank's Ford became a nightmare. Infantrymen found it increasingly difficult to pick up their feet as mud globbed up on their shoes. Many had the shoes sucked right off their feet as each step sank deeper and deeper into the quagmire. Their rain soaked backpacks and blankets became steadily heavier.
Wagons and cannons sank up to their axles and needed to be dragged out. At first, double teams of horses could break them free, but as the day progressed, tired horses proved inadequate to the task. The troops began to attach long ropes to the wagons and guns so soldiers could haul them as well. When movement occurred at all, it was only for a few yards until the wheels sank again and the laborious process had to be repeated.
Animals and men became exhausted from the relentless exertion, and the columns simply quit moving. Hundreds of animals fell dead in their harnesses. Some of the troops dropped their equipment and walked away, their spirit obviously broken. Confederate troops on the south side of the Rappahannock saw the struggling army and taunted the miserable Yankees. The Southerners were clearly in no danger.
The rain continued on Jan. 22 and Burnside eventually had to admit that the march could not continue. He ordered the army back to its camps around Falmouth, but the return trip proved every bit as difficult. Union troops would straggle back into their camps for days.
The Union Army of the Potomac, which endured defeat at Fredericksburg in December and horrendous mud in January, refitted for new campaigns. In May 1863, it would fight their adversary at Chancellorsville, lose that battle, and then confront the triumphant Confederates at Gettysburg, in July. That summer, the Federals would finally claim victory.
The Mud March is a footnote to larger campaigns, but portions of the route can be traveled today, within the local development known as Celebrate Virginia North. The Confederate earthworks on the south side of the Rappahannock River, from with the Rebels shouted across to the muddy Federals, are still in place on the easement property associated with Celebrate Virginia South. Bank's Ford is owned by the city of Fredericksburg.
The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is working to acquire 205 acres on the southern part of the Fredericksburg battlefield, called the Slaughter Pen, in partnership with the Civil War Preservation Trust. This latest purchase is the last opportunity to preserve ground where the Fredericksburg battle hung in the balance.
Artist Mort Künstler has painted a dramatic rendition of the Mud March and he will be on hand at Fredericksburg Historical Prints today to sign prints. Fredericksburg Historical Prints will donate a portion of the sale proceeds to CVBT, to help acquire the Slaughter Pen farm.
