Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 - September 13, 1881) is an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and Senator of the United States. As General of the Union Army in the American Civil War, he conducted successful campaigns in North Carolina and East Tennessee, as well as against the attack of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, but suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of the Crater. His typical facial hair style is known as sideburns, derived from his last name. He is also the first president of the National Rifle Association.
Video Ambrose Burnside
Early life and career
Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana and is the fourth child of nine children Edghill and Pamela (or Pamilia) Brown Burnside, a Scottish family. His great-great grandfather Robert Burnside (1725-1775) was born in Scotland and settled in the Province of South Carolina. His father was a native of South Carolina; he was the slave owner who freed his slave when he moved to Indiana. Ambrose attended Seminary Liberty as a boy, but his education was disrupted when his mother died in 1841; he apprenticed to a local tailor, eventually becoming a partner in the business.
As a young officer before the Civil War, Burnside was engaged to Charlotte's "Lottie" Moon, who left him at the altar. When the minister asks if he thinks of her as her husband, Moon is rumored to have shouted, "No siree Bob!" and run out of the church. The moon was famous for its espionage for Confederate during the Civil War. Then, Burnside captures Moon, his sister Virginia "Ginnie" Moon, and their mother. He held them under house arrest for months but never charged them with espionage.
He obtained appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1843 through his father's political connections and his own interests in military affairs; Caleb Blood Smith tells Burnside's insolent application to the military academy. He graduated in 1847, ranked 18th in the 47th grade, and was commissioned as second lieutenant in US Artillery 2nd. He traveled to Veracruz for the Mexican-American War, but he arrived after hostilities had stopped and performed most of the garrison duties around Mexico City.
At the end of the war, Lieutenant Burnside served two years on the western frontier under Captain Braxton Bragg at the 3rd US Artillery, a light artillery unit that had been converted into cavalry duties, protecting Western mail routes through Nevada to California. In 1849, he was injured by an arrow at his neck during a small battle against Apaches in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He was promoted to lieutenant 1 on December 12, 1851.
In 1852, he was assigned to Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island, and he married Mary Richmond Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island on 27 April of that year. The marriage lasted until Mary's death in 1876, but had no children.
In October 1853, Burnside withdrew from his commission in the United States Army, and was appointed commander of the Rhode Island state militia with the rank of a great general. He held this position for two years.
After leaving the Regular Army, Burnside devotes his time and energy to the well-known firearm that bears his name: the Burnside carbine. Buchanan President War Secretary John B. Floyd contracted the Burnside Arms Company to equip most of the Army with his carbine, mostly riding, and encouraged him to set up vast factories for his manufacture. Bristol Rifle Works was not finished soon than any other arms maker allegedly bribing Floyd to break the $ 100,000 contract with Burnside.
Burnside ran as Democrat for one of the Congressional seats in Rhode Island in 1858 and was defeated in a landslide. The burden of the campaign and the devastation by his factory fire contributed to his financial collapse, and he was forced to assign his firearm to others. He then went west to find a job and was a treasurer at the Illinois Central Railroad, where he worked and became friendly with George B. McClellan, who later became one of his commanding officers.
Maps Ambrose Burnside
Civil War
First Bull Run
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Burnside was a colonel in the Rhode Island Militia. He picked up the First Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was appointed colonel on May 2, 1861. The two regimental companies were later armed with Burnside Carbines.
Within a month, he boarded a commando brigade in the northeastern Virginia Department. He ordered the brigade without distinction at the First Battle of Bull Run in July, and took over the interim divisional command for the wounded Brigadier. General David Hunter. The 90-day regiment was deployed on August 2; he was promoted to brigadier general volunteer on 6 August and was assigned to train a temporary brigade in the Potomac Army.
North Carolina
Burnside led the Coast Expeditionary Force or North Carolina from September 1861 to July 1862, three brigades assembled in Annapolis, Maryland that form the core for the future of IX Corps. He conducted a successful amphibious campaign that covered more than 80% of the North Carolina coastline into Confederate shipments for the rest of the war. These included the Battle of the City of Elizabeth, fought on February 10, 1862 on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Participants were boats from the US Naval Naval Block Squadron opposed by the ships of the Confederate Navy's Mosquito Fleet; the latter supported by a four-gun battery at Cobb's Point (now named Cobb Point) near the southeast border of the city. The battle was part of a campaign in North Carolina led by Burnside and known as the Burnside Expedition. The result was a Union victory, with Elizabeth City and their nearest waters and a Confederate fleet captured, drowned, or scattered.
Burnside was promoted to major volunteer general on 18 March 1862 in recognition of his success in combat on Roanoke Island and New Bern, the first significant Union victory at the East Theater. In July, his troops were transported north to Newport News, Virginia and became the Potomac Army IX Corps.
Burnside was offered the command of the Potomac Army after the failure of Major General George B. McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign. He rejected this opportunity because of his loyalty to McClellan and the fact that he understood his own lack of military experience, and released part of his corps to support Major General John Pope Army of Virginia in the Northern Virginia Campaign. He received the current telegram from Major General Fitz John Porter who was very critical of the Pope's ability as commander, and he passed on to his boss simultaneously. This episode then played an important role in the military court-Porter, where Burnside emerged as a star witness.
Burnside again refused orders after the Pope's disaster at Second Bull Run.
Antietam
Burnside was given the command of the Right Army Wing of Potomac (Corps I and Corps IX of his own) at the start of the Maryland Campaign for the Battle of the South Mountain, but McClellan separated the two corps at the Battle of Antietam, placing them at the ends of the Union battle line and restoring Burnside to command only Corps IX. Burnside implicitly refused to renounce his authority, and acted as if the commander of the first corps was Major General Jesse L. Reno (killed on the South Mountain) and then Brig. General Jacob D. Cox, directing orders through them to the corps. This complicated arrangement contributed to his slowness in attacking and crossing what is now called Burnside Bridge on the south side of the Union line.
Burnside did not conduct adequate surveillance in the area, and he did not take advantage of some easily accessible sites out of reach of the enemy; his forces were forced to carry out repeated attacks on a narrow bridge dominated by Confederate snipers in the highlands. By noon, McClellan lost patience. He sent a courier succession to motivate Burnside to move forward. He orders one aide, "Tell him if it costs 10,000 people, he should leave now." He increased the pressure by sending the inspector general to face Burnside, who reacted angrily: "McClellan seems to think I'm not trying my best to carry this bridge; you are the third or fourth person who has been with me this morning with the same order." The IX finally broke through, but the delay allowed the Confederation Major General AP Hill to come from Harpers Ferry and dismiss the Union breakthrough. McClellan rejected Burnside's request for reinforcements and the battle ended in a tactical deadlock.
Fredericksburg
McClellan was removed after failing to overtake General Robert E. Lee of Antietam, and Burnside was assigned to lead the Potomac Army on November 7, 1862. He reluctantly obeyed this command, the third as in his short career, partly because the messenger told him that, he refused, the command would go to Major General Joseph Hooker, whom Burnside did not like. President Abraham Lincoln pressed Burnside to take aggressive action and approved his plan on November 14 to capture the Confederate capital in Richmond, Virginia. This plan caused an embarrassing and costly Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December. His progress on Fredericksburg was fast, but the attack was delayed because of his plan to hack the pontoon bridge over the Rappahannock River, and his own reluctance. to deploy part of his troops at crossing points. This allowed General Lee to concentrate along Marye's Heights in the west of the city and easily repelled the Union attack.
The attack to the south of the city was also mismanaged, which should have been the main road of attack, and the initial breakthrough of the Union was not supported. Burnside was annoyed by the failure of his plan and by the many victims of repeated attacks that were in vain, and he stated that he would personally lead the corps IX attack. The commander of his corps persuaded him out of it, but the tense relationship between the commander and his subordinates. Receiving a complete mistake, he offered to retire from the US Army, but this was rejected. Burnside opponents call him the "Fredericksburg Butcher".
In January 1863, Burnside launched a second attack on Lee, but it was stuck in the rainy season before achieving anything and was mockingly called Mud March. Behind him, he asked several officers who were openly ineligible to be released from military duties and tribunals; he also offered to resign. Lincoln chose the last option on January 26 and replaced it with Major General Joseph Hooker, one of the officers who conspired against Burnside.
East Tennessee
Burnside offered to resign altogether, but Lincoln refused, stating that there was still room for him in the army. Thus, he was placed back in the head of Corps IX and sent to lead the Ohio Department, covering the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. It is a quiet area with little activity, and the President reasoned that Burnside could not make himself too much trouble there. However, anti-war sentiment is rising high in Western countries because they traditionally trade big with the South, and there is little in the way of abolitionist sentiments there or a desire to fight for the purpose of ending slavery. Burnside was completely distracted by this tendency and issued a series of orders that prohibited the "expression of public sentiment against war or the Administration" in his department; this finally reaches a climax with General Command no. 38, stating that "anyone found guilty of treason will be tried by a military court and imprisoned or thrown into the enemy line".
On May 1, 1863, Ohio Congress Clement L. Vallandigham, a major opponent of the war, held a large rally in Mount Vernon, Ohio where he denounced President Lincoln as a "tyrant" who sought to abolish the Constitution and organize a dictatorship. Burnside had sent several agents to a rally that recorded and brought back their "proof" to the general, who then stated that it was reason enough to capture Vallandigham for treason. The military court tried him and found him guilty of violating General Orders no. 38, despite his protests that he merely expressed his opinion in public. Vallandigham was sentenced to prison during the war, and turned into a martyr by anti-war Democrats. Burnside subsequently turned his attention to Illinois, where Chicago's Chicago Times has printed anti-war editorials for months. The general sent a squadron of troops to the newspaper office and ordered them to stop printing.
Lincoln has not been asked or notified about Vallandigham's capture or the closure of the Chicago Times . He remembers part of General Order No. 38 stating that the offender will be thrown into the enemy line and ultimately decides that it is a good idea; so Vallandigham was released from prison and sent into Confederate hands. Meanwhile, Lincoln ordered the Chicago Times to reopen and announced that Burnside had exceeded its authority in both cases. The president then issued a warning that the generals would not arrest civilians or close the paper again without the White House permission.
Burnside also dealt with Confederate raiders such as John Hunt Morgan.
In the Knoxville Campaign, Burnside advanced to Knoxville, Tennessee, first passing the Confederate-dominated Cumberland Gap and eventually occupied Knoxville without a fight; He then sends troops back to the Cumberland Gap. Commander of the Confederate Brig. General John W. Frazer refused to surrender in the presence of two Union brigades, but Burnside arrived with a third, forcing the handover of Frazer and 2,300 Confederates.
Union Major General William S. Rosecrans was defeated at the Battle of Chickamauga, and Burnside was chased by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, against whom he opposed forces at Marye's Heights. Burnside skillfully defeated Longstreet at Battle of Campbell's Station and was able to reach his defense and security in Knoxville, where he was surrounded until the defeat of the Confederate at the Battle of Fort Sanders outside the city. Tying Longstreet corps in Knoxville led to the defeat of General Braxton Bragg by Major General Ulysses S. Grant in Chattanooga. The army under Major General William T. Sherman marched toward Burnside's help, but the siege had been lifted; Longstreet resigned, eventually returning to Virginia.
Overland Campaign
Burnside was ordered to bring the IX Corps back to the East Theater, where he built it with a strength of over 21,000 in Annapolis, Maryland. Corps IX fought in the Overland Campaign in May 1864 as an independent commander, who initially reported Grant; his corps was not assigned to the Potomac Army because Burnside surpassed his commander Major General George G. Meade, who had been commander of the division under Burnside in Fredericksburg. This elaborate arrangement was fixed on May 24 just before the Battle of Northern Anna, when Burnside agreed to disregard his rank and be placed under Meade's direct command.
Burnside fought at the Battle of Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, where he did not do different things, attacking little by little and seemed reluctant to carry his troops into the frontal attack marked by this battle. After Anna North and Cold Harbor, she took her place in the siege of Petersburg.
Crater
When both soldiers faced the deadlock of a trench warfare in Petersburg in July 1864, Burnside approved the plan suggested by a former coal miner regiment in his 48th Pennsylvania corps: digging a mine beneath a fortress named Elliot's Salient in the Confederate stronghold and lighting the explosives there to achieve a staggering breakthrough. The fort was destroyed on July 30 in what is known as the Crater Battle. Due to the interruption of Meade, Burnside was ordered, just hours before the infantry attack, not to use his specially trained black troopers for this mission. He was forced to use an untrained white army. He could not decide which division would be chosen as a substitute, so he told his three subordinate commanders to attract a lot.
The division chosen by chance is what Brig. General James H. Ledlie, who failed to explain to people what was expected of them and reported during the battle to drink far behind the line, gave no leadership. The Ledlies entered a large crater instead of circling it, trapped, and subjected to heavy firing from the Confederate around the rim, resulting in high casualties.
Burnside was released from command on August 14 and sent on "extended leave" by Grant. Burnside was never called on duty for the rest of the war. The inquiry court then puts the blame for Crater's failure at Burnside and his subordinates. In December, Burnside met with President Lincoln and General Grant about his future. He was considering resignation, but Lincoln and Grant requested that he stay in the Army. At the end of the interview, Burnside wrote, "I was not informed of any obligations that were my duty." He eventually withdrew from the commission on April 15, 1865, after Lee surrendered in Appomattox.
The Joint Committee of the United States Congress on War Behavior subsequently liberated Burnside, and put the blame for the United defeat at the Meade General Crater as it required USCT troops trained specifically for withdrawal.
Postbellum career
Following his resignation, Burnside was employed in various railroads and industry directors, including the Cincinnati and Martinsville Railroad, Indianapolis and Vincennes, Cairo and Vincennes Railway, and Rhode Island Trainees departments.
He was elected for three years a year as Governor of Rhode Island, serving from May 29, 1866, until May 25, 1869.
Burnside is a Massachusetts Commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a military community of Union officers and their descendants, and served as Deputy Junior Commander of the Massachusetts Command in 1869. He was the commander-in-trust of the veteran association of the Republican Great Army (GAR) from 1871 to 1872, and also served as Commander of the Department of Rhode Island in GAR. At its inception in 1871, the National Rifle Association voted him first president.
During a visit to Europe in 1870, Burnside sought to mediate between France and Germany in the Franco-Prussian War.
In 1876, Burnside was elected Commander of the New England Battalion of the Centennial Legion, a collection of 13 militia units from 13 states, participating in a march in Philadelphia on July 4, 1876, to mark the centenary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In 1874 Burnside was chosen by Rhode Island Senate as US Senator from Rhode Island, re-elected in 1880, and served until his death in 1881. During that time, Burnside, who had been a prewar Democrat, ran as a Republican, played a pivotal role in military affairs and served as chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations in 1881.
Burnside suddenly died of "heart neuralgia" (Angina pectoris) in Bristol, Rhode Island, and was buried at Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island. The horse-drawn statue in his honor was established at the end of the 19th century at Burnside Park in Providence.
Assessment and inheritance
Personally, Burnside has always been very popular, both in the military and in politics. He made friends easily, smiled a lot, and remembered everyone's name. His professional military reputation, however, was less positive, and he was known to be stubborn, unimaginative, and unsuitable, both intellectually and emotionally for high command. Grant stated that he was "unfit" for army command and that no one knew this better than Burnside himself. Knowing his abilities, he twice rejected the command of the Potomac Army, accepting only a third time when the courier informed him that otherwise orders would go to Joseph Hooker. Jeffry D. Wert described Burnside's help after Fredericksburg in a passage that sums up his military career:
He was the most unfortunate army commander, a general who had been cursed by replacing the most popular leader and a man who believed he was unfit for the post. His tenure is marked by the bitter hostility between his subordinates and the daunting sacrifices of life, if not unnecessarily. As a steadfast patriot, he lacks the power of personality and will to direct obedient generals. He has been willing to fight the enemy, but a terrible slope before Marye Heights stands as his inheritance.
Bruce Catton merangkum Burnside:
... Burnside has repeatedly pointed out that it was a military tragedy to give him a higher rank than the colonel. One of the reasons is, with all its flaws, Burnside never has his own viewpoint to play; he is a simple, honest, faithful soldier, doing his best even if the best is not very good, never cheating or conspiring or slandering. Also, he is simple; in an army that many generals are prima donnas unbearable, Burnside never thought of himself as Napoleon. He was physically impressive: tall, just a little fat, wearing what might be the most artistic and wondrous mustache collection in all the chaotic Army. He was especially wearing a tall hat with full-belled bells and a double-breasted fur coat, knees at the waist - a costume that, unfortunately, was perfect for hitting modern eyes as very much as the fat city police of the 1880s.
Sideburns
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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