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It was a daring reconnaissance – and an immeasurable
risk. On December 12, 1862, as the massive Northern Army of the
Potomac under General Ambrose E. Burnside prepared to assault
the Southern lines at Fredericksburg, General Robert E. Lee concluded
that he needed additional reconnaissance of the enemy –
and decided to do it himself. As a young officer in the Mexican
War, Lee had distinguished himself with a foray behind enemy
lines, and he apparently had no qualms about reconnoitering close
to the Union position this time. Accompanied by his “right
arm” – General Stonewall Jackson – and Major Johann
Heros von Borcke, Lee moved cautiously through the snow toward
Northern lines.
Closer and closer, the high-ranking observers moved –
until they were within approximately four-hundred yards of the
Federal advance line. Despite the danger, Lee studied the enemy
in front of him until he could tarry no more. The next day, the
giant Northern army he had observed so carefully would come forward
in an attempt to destroy Lee’s army. They held numerical
superiority – Lee was assured of that; but he was also confident
of his superior defensive position and of the ability of his
troops: the Army of Northern Virginia. The battle that followed
was one of the bloodiest of the war – and one of the greatest
disasters to befall the Union army. So one-sided were the Northern
losses, that Lee – watching wave after wave of courageous
Federal troops crushed and repelled – remarked to those
around him: “It is good that war is so terrible, else we
should grow too fond of it.” |