How did the terrain affect the battle of Fredricksburg?

Answer 1

US President had selected Major General Ambrose Burnside to lead the Army of the Potomac, replacing General George B. McClellan. Lincoln's desire was to quickly capture the Southern capital, Richmond, Virginia. That was his goal but he had to first defeat the Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Robert E. Lee. Both sides squared off in Fredericksburg Virginia. There Lee had already had dug in and fortified his position. The terrain favored the South in that Lee positioned his forces in a most favorable position. That was using Mary's Heights as his main defensive position. Burnside's assaults against the Confederates was a disaster as the hills in which the South placed their artillery and soldiers cut the Union army apart, forcing a hasty retreat. Burnside had a notion to return and try again, but it was not to be. His own staff cautioned him not to attack in the first place.