Offered is an
image of General Ambrose Everett Burnside. 
This is an image of Burnside as a brigadier general which would be
before March, 1862.  The image does not
have a back mark.  Written in pencil
under the photograph is “Burnside”.

Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881) was a general in the United States Army during
the American Civil War. He had a mixed record, enjoying substantial success in
Carolina and Tennessee but suffering such severe defeats in two later battles
that gave him a reputation for incompetence. After the war, he became a civil
engineer and politician, rising to be a U.S. senator.

Early Life

Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana, into a large family which eventually
included eight siblings. He went to school at Liberty Seminary, but when his
mother died in 1841, he dropped out of school and became a tailor’s apprentice.
Rather than continue in this trade, Burnside used the political connections his
father enjoyed to gain entry to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Here,
he was a competent but unexceptional student, graduating almost exactly halfway
up his class.

On his graduation, he was sent as a brevet second lieutenant to the 2nd U.S.
Artillery. He was assigned to participate in the Mexican-American War at Vera
Cruz but, by the time his unit arrived, the war had ended and so they were
given garrison duties in Mexico City. On his return to the U.S., Burnside was
placed under the command of Braxton
Bragg – then a captain – on the Western Frontier. In this role, Burnside
suffered a neck wound at the hands of the Apaches in New Mexico.

Out of the Army

In 1852, Burnside was sent to Fort Adams, Rhode Island, but in April of that
year he married to Mary Bishop of Providence, and a year later he resigned his
commission. He set up the Burnside Arms Company, which gained a contract to
supply this gun to the U.S. Army. However, John B. Floyd, the Secretary of War,
was bribed by another manufacturer and the contract was not honored. Burnside’s
factory suffered a severe fire, and combined with the cost of his unsuccessful
attempt to be elected a Congressman, this destroyed him financially.

Civil War

On the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Burnside was working as a railroad
treasurer in Illinois, but once hostilities had begun, he went back to Rhode
Island, raising a volunteer infantry regiment in that state; he was quickly
named as its colonel. In that role, he took his men to Washington, D.C., and
before long he had been appointed to command a brigade in northeast Virginia.
He was a commander at the unsuccessful First Battle of Bull Run in July, but he
endured criticism for the piecemeal way in which he had committed his troops.

After this reverse, the regiment Burnside had created was removed from
service, with Burnside himself given a new role as brigadier general of
volunteers. He underwent a period of training with the Army of the Potomac, and
then set sail for North Carolina at the start of 1862. Burnside was more
successful in this capacity, proving victorious at both Roanoke Island and New
Bern. These victories brought him promotion to major general, and then – after
McClellan’s Peninsula
Campaign had failed – he was offered command of the Army of the Potomac by
President Abraham Lincoln.

Army of the Potomac

Burnside, however, rejected the offer on the grounds that he felt he was too
inexperienced for such a role. He again declined command of the Army after the Union‘s second loss at Bull Run
in August. This time, his IX Corps was sent to the Army of the Potomac itself,
with Burnside commanding both his own and I Corps. Under the overall command of
McClellan, Burnside and his men participated in both the Battle of South
Mountain and the bloody Battle of Antietam.

At Antietam, Burnside was told to capture a bridge, but he was slow to react
to events and did not think to look for other suitable crossings across the
river, and this resulted in his forces suffering at the bridge itself. The
slowness of Burnside’s reactions meant that the taking of the bridge was a
protracted affair. Although it was eventually captured, by then it was too late
for Burnside’s men to break out from the containment tactics practiced by Major
General A.P. Hill.

Fredericksburg and Ohio

In early November, Lincoln persuaded Burnside to accept control of the army
in place of McClellan, who had been removed after Antietam. Burnside’s idea to
capture Richmond by circling around Lee via a quick push to Fredericksburg in
Virginia was supported by Lincoln: the plan almost worked, but the late arrival
of pontoon bridges meant that a river crossing was delayed. Instead, Burnside
waited so long that Lee’s men arrived, and he suffered defeat in the Battle of
Fredericksburg. After a first, unsuccessful attempt to resign, he was relieved
of his command in January 1863.

The President, however, wished to retain Burnside and once again placed him
in command of IX Corps, this time in Ohio. Burnside courted controversy in
April after issuing an order making opposing the war a crime. As summer wore
on, Burnside’s troops were closely involved in capturing rebel Confederate
Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan. Later, Burnside’s offensive tactics won
victories at Knoxville, Tennessee and Chickamauga.

Back to the East

After a successful engagement outside Knoxville in November 1863, Burnside
was instrumental in the Union victory at Chattanooga. The early months of 1864
saw his IX Corps taken back east in order to help with the Overland Campaign of
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, in which role Burnside at first reported
directly to the general. Burnside’s troops took part in the Battles at
Wilderness and Spotsylvania, but he tended to be overly cautious when
committing his men and, overall, his actions lacked distinction.

The IX Corps later joined the siege at Petersburg, which had reached a
stalemate. Burnside approved a plan by infantrymen of his IX Corps, in which
they would dig beneath the Confederate lines and plant a huge bomb. This, on
exploding, would produce a gap sufficiently wide to allow Union forces to
attack. Burnside had intended to use specialist black troops but he was forced
at short notice to replace them with whites. The Battle of the Crater in August
turned out to be a terrible defeat, and Burnside was stripped of his command.

Aftermath

Burnside was put on leave and was never allowed to command troops again, his
army days ending in April 1865. His legacy is of a man who was personally
popular, both with his soldiers and with the common people, but an excessively
promoted leader – a view shared by Burnside himself – who was often both
incompetent and indecisive. When he returned to civilian life, he spent time in
railroad management, then later enjoyed a distinguished political career as
senator and governor. The distinctive style of facial hair known as sideburns
is named in Burnside’s honor.