US soldier, born in Liberty, Indiana, USA. Recognized more for his famous side whiskers than his generalship, he trained at West Point (1847), served on the frontier, then resigned from the army to manufacture a breech-loading rifle of his own design. He returned to service in 1861, became the second commander of the Army of the Potomac (Nov 1862), and precipitated the Union disaster at Fredericksburg (Dec 1862), the most one-sided of the major battles of the Civil War. Relieved in January 1863, he led the small army that took Knoxville, TN (1863) before returning E to command a corps in Meade's army. He left on leave after the failure of his assault in the Battle of the Crater (1864) and was not recalled. After the war he became governor of Rhode Island and a US senator from that state (187581).
| Ambrose Burnside | |
|---|---|
| May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881 | |
|
Portrait of Ambrose Burnside by Mathew Brady, ca. 1860 |
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| Place of birth | Liberty, Indiana |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Army of the Potomac |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican-American War American Civil War -Battle of Fredericksburg |
Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was a railroad executive, an industrialist, and a politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator.
Early life and career
Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana.
At the close of the war Lieutenant Burnside was detailed for duty against the Apaches in the New Mexico Territory, and served some two years in frontier warfare. In 1853, he resigned his commission in the Regular Army, although maintaining a position in the state militia, and devoted his time and energy to the manufacture of the famous rifle that bears his name, the Burnside Breechloading Carbine. Floyd, contracted with the Burnside Arms Company to equip a large portion of the army with his carbine, and induced him to establish extensive factories for its manufacture. Burnside had run for one of the Congressional seats in Rhode Island in 1858 and was defeated in a landslide.
Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Burnside was a brigadier general in the Rhode Island Militia.
Burnside commanded the North Carolina Expeditionary Corps, which formed the nucleus for his future IX Corps, and the Department of North Carolina, from September 1861 until July 1862. McClellan's failure in the Peninsula Campaign, Burnside was offered command of the Army of the Potomac. Again offered command following the debacle of Second Bull Run in that campaign, Burnside again declined.
Antietam
Burnside was given command of the "Right Wing" of the Army of the Potomac (the I and IX Corps) during the Maryland Campaign. He nonetheless remained in wing command over the IX Corps—a cumbersome arrangement that may explain his slowness in attacking and crossing what is now called "Burnside Bridge".
Fredericksburg
McClellan was removed after failing to pursue Lee's retreat from Antietam and Burnside was assigned to command the Army of the Potomac on November 7, 1862. President Abraham Lincoln pressured Burnside to take aggressive action and on November 14, approved his plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. Upset by the failure of his plan and by the enormous casualties of his repeated, futile frontal assaults, Burnside declared that he himself would lead an assault by his old corps.
In January 1863, Burnside launched a second offensive against Lee, but it bogged down in winter rains before it accomplished anything and has been derisively called the Mud March.
Tennessee and the Overland Campaign
Lincoln was unwilling to lose Burnside from the Army and assigned him to command the Department of the Ohio and his old IX Corps. He advanced to Knoxville, Tennessee, but after the Union defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, Burnside found the tables turned and he was besieged in Knoxville by James Longstreet. Grant at Chattanooga, troops under William Tecumseh Sherman marched to Burnside's aid, but the siege had already been lifted after the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Fort Sanders.
Burnside was then ordered to take the IX Corps back to Virginia, where he fought in the Overland Campaign directly under Grant; (This cumbersome arrangement was rectified during the Battle of North Anna on May 25, 1864, when Burnside agreed to waive his precedence of rank and was placed under Meade's direct command.)
Burnside fought at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, where he performed in a mediocre manner, appearing reluctant to commit his troops to frontal assaults after the Fredericksburg experience.
The Crater
In July 1864, Burnside agreed to a plan suggested by a regiment of Pennsylvania coal miners in his corps: dig a mine under a fort in the Confederate entrenchments and ignite explosives there. But because of interference from Meade, Burnside was ordered not to use his division of black troops (specially trained for this mission) and had to use untrained white troops instead.
Post-bellum career
After his resignation, Burnside was employed in numerous railroad and industrial directorships, including the presidencies of the Cincinnati and Martinsville Railroad, the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railroad, and the Rhode Locomotive Works.
During a visit to Europe in 1870, Burnside attempted to mediate between the French and the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870–71. During that time, Burnside, who had been a Democrat before the war, served as a Republican, playing a prominent role in military affairs as well as foreign ones.
In popular media
Burnside was portrayed on film in Ronald F.
Assessment
Personally, Burnside was always very popular—both in the army and in politics—but he was out of his depth as a senior army commander, a fact no one knew better than Burnside himself.
Burnside's sideburns
Burnside was noted for his unusual facial hair, joining strips of hair in front of his ears to his mustache, but with chin clean-shaven;
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