The sulfurous smoke of battle had cleared, carrying into eternity the souls of
those who would never again feel the familiar soil of home. With the surviving men in blue once more
safely across the Rappahannock River, the Union's reluctant commanding general completed his
account of the fighting at Fredericksburg. In response to
Major General
Burnside's official report in which he nobly shouldered the blame for the failure at
Fredericksburg, President Abraham Lincoln wrote the Grand Army of the Potomac a conciliatory
letter to be read to the troops.
Executive Mansion,
Washington
December 22, 1862.
To the Army of the Potomac:
I have just read your commanding general's report of the battle of Fredericksburg. Although you were
not successful, the attempt was not an error, nor the failure other than accident. The courage with
which you, in an open field, maintained the contest against an intrenched foe, and the consummate
skill and success with which you crossed and recrossed the river, in the face of the enemy, show that
you possess all the qualities of a great army, which will yet give victory to the cause of the
country and of popular government.
Condoling with the mourners for the dead, and sympathizing with the severely wounded, I
congratulate you that the number of both is comparatively so small.
I tender to you, officers and soldiers, the thanks of the nation.
A. Lincoln.
Revised casualty figures for the Battle of Fredericksburg reveal the degree of Union loss during
that cold December of 1862 which Lincoln had judged "comparatively small".
Grand total of casualties for the Union Army of the Potomac:
Officers Killed- 124
Men Killed - 1,160
Officers Wounded - 654
Men Wounded - 8,946
Officers Missing - 20
Men Missing - 1,749
Total casualties - 12,653
[5]
Total Confederate casualties (killed, wounded, and captured/missing) are estimated at about 4,576, a
difference of 8,077. [C]
