Originally aired on December 12, 1997 - In part 172 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson profiles the career of Ambrose E. Burnside culminating with his elevation and dismissal from the head of the Army of the Potomac.
#172 – Ambrose E. Burnside
Six different generals led the North’s major military force, the Army of the Potomac. Only one of them was man enough to confess his incompetency and to admit that Abraham Lincoln was justified in removing him from command. This came after that general had driven that army to the most stunning defeat it ever saw.
Ambrose Burnside was a likeable fellow. Born in an Indiana log cabin in 1824, he managed to get a West Point education, but served little time in the army. His pre-Civil War years were spent mostly in that railroad business.
Burnside was living in Rhode Island when war came. His command of a regiment at the opening battle was indistinguishable, but it somehow brought him promotion to brigadier general. Early in 1862, Burnside led an amphibious force that captured Roanoke Island in New Bern, North Carolina.
Little opposition was the key to his success. Elevated to major general his lack of aggressive action at Antietam in September cost the Union army a clear-cut victory. Six weeks later, however, he was named to head the Army of the Potomac.
In appearance Burnside was a large man. He compensated for his pre-mature baldness with a fantastic set of whiskers that made a double parabola from in front of his ears, down over his jaws, and up across his mouth. The whiskers were so unique that the syllables of Burnside’s name were reversed and the fashion thereafter called “sideburns”.
While one general described Burnside’s personality as, “a hearty and jovial manner with a good humid cordiality toward everybody”. Another Union officer said of him, “few officers have risen so high upon so slight a foundation”.
Burnside’s military career quickly climaxed. In December, 1862, he unleashed a frontal attack against Robert E. Lee’s army at Fredericksburg. Burnside failed to secure information about the terrain and the enemy’s position. He failed to make use of his cavalry. From start to end Burnside displayed no imagination. He simply hurled division after division at Lee’s unbreakable lines.
Thirteen times the Union army attacked. Thirteen times it fell back in bloody repulse. The massacre cost the North 13,000 casualties. The hapless general was then exiled to command of the Department of the Ohio. His only accomplishment in those nine months was to defeat General James Longstreet’s inept movements at Knoxville, Tennessee.
Burnside returned to the Army of the Potomac, but displayed no improvement in generalship. In the summer of 1864, he was sent home to await orders that never came. His post-war years were surprisingly positive. Three one-year terms as Governor of Rhode Island led to two elections to the U. S. Senate. Burnside died before completing his second term.
Today on the capital grounds in Providence, the usual equestrian statue is that of Burnside. He had often been dammed for being indifferent to the lives of his men. That is not so. Burnside’s fatal weaknesses were his inability to see a situation clearly and an honest belief that perseverance alone could win battles. What happened at Fredericksburg in December, 1862, will forever be a monument to how lacking in judgment Ambrose Burnside actually was.
