Born May 23, 1824
Liberty, Indiana
Died September 13, 1881
Bristol, Rhode Island

Union general
Best known for his decisive defeat at the Battle of
Fredericksburg and his unsuccessful "Crater"
attack during the siege of Petersburg

"It can hardly be in human nature for men to show more valor or generals to manifest less judgement."

Newspaper account of Burnside's involvement in the Battle of Fredericksburg

Ambrose Burnside. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Ambrose Burnside is best known for his disastrous command of the Union's Army of the Potomac from November 1862 to January 1863. During the course of this three-month period, Burnside's army suffered a major defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the hands of Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry). Burnside then tried to rally his army by launching an offensive across Virginia's Rappahannock River, but the Union march fell apart when bad weather reduced the army's route to a...