Battle of Fredericksburg • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • Armies
Union Breakthrough is Stop Five on the Battle of Fredericksburg Auto Tour. It is on the north side of Lee Drive about 3.75 miles east of Lafayette Boulevard. (see map below)
Union Major General George Meade’s Pennsylvania Reserves Division broke through Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson’s lines at this point before furious Confederate counterattacks forced him back. It was the only place that Union forces broke the Confederate line during the 1862 battle.
Two wayside markers tell the story of the fighting:
The “Union Breakthrough” (left) and “Death of Maxcy Gregg” (right) wayside markers at Stop Five
Union Breakthrough wayside marker
Text from the marker:
Union Breakthrough
At 1:30 p.m., little more than an hour after Union troops began their assaults on Marye’s Heights, Gen. George G. Meade’s division penetrated “Stonewall” Jackson’s line here at Prospect Hill. Meade’s 3,800 Pennsylvanians advanced toward a tongue of trees that extended beyond the railroad, 500 yards in front of you. Because the ground there was marshy and considered impassable, Jackson had covered the area with only a thin line of skirmishers.
Meade’s men sloshed through the lightly defended gap, scattered a Confederate brigade, and seized a military road that ran along the ridgetop. For more than an hour they struggled to maintain their foothold in Jackson’s line. Confederate reserves poured out of the woods behind you, screaming the rebel yell. Disorganized, outnumbered, and unsupported, the Pennsylvanians tumbled back out of the woods, pursued by Jackson’s men. The Union’s best chance for success had failed.
From the caption to the background painting:
This painting portrays the fighting beyond the railroad, as Meade’s men fall back after their failed asault. Union troops under Gen. John C. Robinson (pinned under his horse) struggle to stem the Confederate counterattack.
Death of Maxcy Gregg wayside marker
Text from the marker:
Death of Maxcy Gregg
General Maxcy Gregg fell mortally wounded near this spot on December 13, 1862. Fiery and uncompromising on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, the South Carolina lawyer had been an early and ardent proponent of secession. When war came, Gregg, like many pre-war politicians, sought a place at the head of his state’s troops. Having voted to take his state out of the Union, he was willing to fight – and die – to keep it out.
When, at midday on December 13, Union troops broke into the woods in front of you, Gregg at first misidentified them as Confederate pickets. He ordered his South Carolinians, atop this ridge, to hold their fire – a fatal mistake. A union bullet struck Gregg in the side, piercing his spine. Two days later he died, having assured the governor of his state, “I yield my life cheerfully, fighting for the independence of South Carolina.”
From the caption to the map:
To reach Gregg’s lines, Union troops plunged through a swampy gap in the low ground before you. The Union breakthrough not only took Gregg’s life, it imperiled Jackson’s entire position.
Location of Stop Five
Stop Five is 3.25 miles south of Stop Four on the Auto Tour. (38°15’13.8″N 77°26’52.6″W)
Directions to the final stop on the Auto Tour:
To reach Stop Six continue southeast about 0.75 mile to the end of Lee Drive. After about 0.5 miles you will pass the pull-off for the Meade Pyramid and its wayside marker, which are not a numbered Tour Stop.