The Union lost the Battle of Fredericksburg because Burnside was unable to adapt to changing circumstances.
Explanation:
The Battle of Fredericksburg, which took place in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, from December 11 to 15, 1862, between the Northern Virginia Army of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of the Potomac commanded by the Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, is remembered as one of the most unequal battles of the American Civil War. The Union Army suffered terrible losses in useless frontal assaults on December 13 against the well entrenched and barricaded Confederate defenders in the hills behind the city, bringing an early end and serious defeat for the army of the Potomac and for the Unionist campaign against Richmond, the capital of the Confederation.
Burnside was unable to adapt to changing circumstances
Explanation:
The Battle of Fredericksburg took place between December 11-15, 1862 near the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia. It pitted Union Army troops led by general Ambrose Burnside against Confederate Army forces led by Robert E. Lee. General Burnside attempted to cross the Rappahanock River and push for the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. The Union had superior numbers (122,000 vs. 72,000), but the Confederate troops were fighting from prepared positions. When Burnside forced the crossing, he clashed against the Confederate defensive lines. While he managed to break the first line, his forces were repulsed. Burnside threw in his forces against the Confederate defensive positions, hoping to break them by sheer force, but after several days when he gained no ground and sustained major casualties, Union forces were forced to retreat. <u>Burnside was unable to adapt to the changing circumstances, as shown by his numerous frontal assaults against prepared defenses</u>, and the Battle of Fredericksburg is remembered as a "butchery", with the Union Army sustaining twelve thousand casualties to the Confederates' five thousand.
