The Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry at the Battle of Fredericksburg December 1862

The Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry was organized in the summer of 1862 in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for 300,000 more volunteers following the Union Army's defeat in the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia. The regiment was under the command of Colonel Walter Harriman, a forty-five year old former teacher, clergyman, and politician who, like many Civil War officers in the rapidly expanding army, had no military experience. The regiment departed New Hampshire for Washington, DC in September, and soon after joined the Union Army's Ninth Corps near Pleasant Valley, Maryland. The Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry was assigned to the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Ninth Corps, Army of the Potomac.

The March to Fredericksburg, Virginia

Major General Ambrose E. Burnside replaced Major General George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac in early November. Burnside quickly planned a new campaign. He would march his army southeast across northern Virginia, cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, and push on to the Confederate capitol at Richmond. Burnside also reorganized the army into three "Grand Divisions" of two army corps each--designated as Left, Center, and Right--plus a brigade or division of cavalry. The Ninth Corps was placed in the Right Grand Division, commanded by Major General Edwin V. Sumner. Burnside assembled his forces at Warrenton, Virginia and, after receiving approval from the Lincoln Administration, marched his Grand Divisions towards Fredericksburg. The Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry arrived at Falmouth, Virginia, across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg on November 19th.

Burnside's plan for the capture of Fredericksburg relied on the timely arrival of pontoon bridges so the river could be crossed before the Confederate army could arrive and contest the crossing. But the pontoons were late, and while the Eleventh New Hampshire and the rest of the Federals waited the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Robert E. Lee arrived in force.

The pontoons finally arrived and despite the presence of Lee's army, Burnside stuck to his plan. On December 11th, engineers managed to position the pontoon bridges while under heavy fire, and on December 12th, the Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry and most of the Right Grand Division crossed the river and entered Fredericksburg.

December 13th, 1862

The next morning the Ninth Corps was deployed between the Second Corps (also of the Right Grand Division) on its right and Major General William B. Franklin's Left Grand Division on its left, with the Eleventh New Hampshire and the rest of the 2nd Division situated next to the Second Corps. At 11:30 A.M., Colonel Harriman was ordered to move The Eleventh New Hampshire into position to attack. The regiment moved down Princess Charlotte Street and formed in line of battle. The regiment was in full view of the Confederate forces and began taking artillery fire as it waited for further orders.

From the Rappahannock River west, the topography at Fredericksburg slopes upward until it reaches some steep sided hills collectively called Marye's Heights. The Washington Artillery of New Orleans occupied the top of the heights. A sunken road worn into the ground over the years wound its way around the base of the heights. A stone wall beside the road on the Fredericksburg side offered excellent cover for Confederate infantry, Georgians and South Carolinians of Major General Lafayette McLaws' Division, of Lieutenant General James Longstreet's Corps. This was what the men of the Eleventh New Hampshire faced as they were ordered forward at 12:30 P.M.

Attack On the Stone Wall

After an attack by the Second Corps was repulsed, the Eleventh New Hampshire and three other regiments were ordered to advance. The Eleventh formed in line of battle with Harriman commanding the right wing and Major Evarts Farr commanding the left. Farr, a veteran of the Second New Hampshire Infantry who had lost his right arm at the Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia earlier in the year, raised his sword with his left arm and shouted "Boys, we've got to get up there, and the sooner we get there the better it will be for us. Come on!"

Off they went, towards the stone wall and Marye's Heights, dodging behind whatever cover they could find along the way. The regimental historian noted that "part of the way up the slope, a Pennsylvania regiment was encountered, running to the rear as fast as their cowardly legs would take them, but on the Eleventh pressed, in the midst of a terrific fire from the enemy's works, which belched forth 'sheeted damnation' in a terrible manner".

The heavy fire took its toll on the advancing Federals. "Great gaps are torn in the ranks; men are falling all around us...we struggle towards that stone wall that is belching out its hail of iron and fire; but all in vain, we cannot reach it" recalled Lieutenant John C. Currier. The regiment advanced to a slight rise in the ground about 400 feet from the stone wall where it halted and fired its first volley. The Eleventh took cover in the slightly lower ground behind the rise, where they poured in musket fire at the wall for the rest of the afternoon, while the hopeless Federal charges against the fortified Confederate positions continued.

Men fired all of their ammunition and then took more from the cartridge boxes of the dead, in some cases firing over 200 rounds that afternoon. Late in the day, with ammunition running low, Harriman ordered the men to fix bayonets in case a charge was made upon their position. Darkness finally ended the fighting, and the Eleventh New Hampshire withdrew back into Fredericksburg.

Retreat

" I had gone only a few steps when I stumbled over a large number of dead and wounded" Private Herman Eaton wrote about the withdrawal from the battlefield. "All over that field lay the ghastly forms that once were men...a fence corner...was packed with the dead and dying; their cries and moans were pitiful to hear; they were all cut to pieces by shot and shell". The Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry lost 40 men killed, 130 wounded, and 25 missing in the Battle of Fredericksburg. The total Federal casualties at Fredericksburg exceeded 12,600, including 1284 killed in action. On the night of December 14th, the Army of the Potomac quietly abandoned Fredericksburg and withdrew across the Rappahannock River.

The Eleventh New Hampshire Infantry had fought well in this, its first battle. In his after action report, Second Brigade commander Brigadier General Edward Ferrero wrote "I must praise particularly the conduct of the Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers, commanded by Col. Walther Harriman, a regiment but a month in service, and never before under fire, that marched up as bravely and fought as valiantly as the veterans of the brigade". The Eleventh would fight in several more important battles in the remaining two and a half years of the Civil War.

Sources

Cleveland, Mather. New Hampshire Fights the Civil War. New Landon, New Hampshire, 1969.

Cogswell, Leander. A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment Volunteer Infantry in the Rebellion War 1861-1965. Concord, New Hampshire: Republican Press Association, 1891.

Currier, John C. "From Concord to Fredericksburg: A Paper Prepared and Read Before the California Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, February 12, 1896". Reprinted in Civil War Papers of the California Commandery and the Oregon Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Wilmington, North Carolina: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1995.

Dyer, Frederick. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, Iowa: Dyer Publishing Company, 1908.

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Paige, Charles C. Story of the Experiences of Charles C. Paige in the Civil War of 1861-5. Franklin, New Hampshire: The Journal-Transcript Press, 1911.

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Waite, Otis F. R. New Hampshire in the Great Rebellion. Claremont, New Hampshire: Tracy, Chase, and Co. 1870.