Cecily Zander

The Confederates barely lose a single soldier, and the Union army is scarred by this.

I mean, they remember Fredericksburg for eons.

And it's the fighting at Fredericksburg as Robert E. Lee kind of rides the heights and observes what is happening to the Union forces, to his enemy, that prompts Lee to observe his famous aphorism, it is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it.

That's in response to what his men are doing to Burnside's sort of tactical decisions, Burnside's effort to send just waves of men against this impenetrable position.

Where he does okay.

I mean, he does okay when he's not the guy at the top.

And I think this is an example, too, of military organizations needing to know the strengths and weaknesses of their soldiers.

Not every general needs to be a commanding general.

And Burnside is one of those cases.

He was great as a subordinate.

He should never have been put in the position to command an army.

Yeah.

Well, he comes from Wyoming, of all places.

So he was born at a place called Fort D.A.

Russell, which is now the major sort of army fort outside of Cheyenne still today.

His dad was in the U.S.

Army, so he's the son of a soldier.

He grows up at the very end of the frontier era of American history, sort of on one of the last true frontiers of the American nation.

He grew up with his dad having served in the Spanish-American War.

And he pursues a West Point education.