Ambrose Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a United States Senator. He led successful campaigns in North Carolina and East Tennessee, as well as countering the raids of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. He also suffered significant defeats at the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of the Crater. He was known for his sideburns.
Early Life
- Ambrose Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana, to Edghill and Pamela Brown Burnside.
- He was the fourth of nine children
- Burnside had southern roots, although he was a northerner. His great-great-grandfather Robert Burnside settled in South Carolina Colony
- His father was a wealthy planter and slave owner. However, he freed his slaves when they moved to Indiana.
- His mother died in 1841
- He was engaged to Charlotte "Lottie" Moon, who left him at the altar. Moon is best known for her work as a Confederate Spy. During the Civil War, Burnside would arrest his former fiance, her sister, and their mother. He kept them under house arrest but never charged them with espionage.
- He graduated 18th in a class of 47 from the United States Military Academy.
- He traveled to Veracruz for the Mexican–American War, but he arrived after hostilities had ceased and performed mostly garrison duty around Mexico City.
- He served with Captain Braxton Bragg on the western frontier and protected mail routes through Nevada and California.
- In 1849, an Apache warrior wounded Burnside with an arrow to his neck.
- He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 12, 1851.
- In 1852, Ambrose Burnside was assigned to Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island.
- He married Mary Richmond Bishop. The two never had children
- In October 1853, Burnside resigned his commission in the United States Army and was appointed the commander of the Rhode Island state militia with the rank of major general. He held this position for two years.
- After leaving the Regular Army, Burnside devoted his time and energy to the manufacture of the famous firearm that bears his name: the Burnside carbine.
- Burnside ran as a Democrat for one of the Congressional seats in Rhode Island in 1858 and was defeated in a landslide.
- The burdens of the campaign and the destruction by fire of his factory contributed to his financial ruin, and he was forced to assign his firearm patents to others.
- He then went west in search of employment and became treasurer of the Illinois Central Railroad, where he worked for and became friendly with George B. McClellan.
The Civil War
- He raised the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was appointed its colonel on May 2, 1861. Two companies of this regiment were then armed with Burnside Carbines.
- He served at the First Battle of Bull Run without distinction.
- Burnside was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers on August 6 and was assigned to train provisional brigades in the Army of the Potomac
- Burnside was promoted to major general of volunteers on March 18, 1862, in recognition of his successes at the battles of Roanoke Island and New Bern, the first significant Union victories in the Eastern Theater. In July, his forces were transported north to Newport News, Virginia, and became the IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac.
- Burnside was offered command of the Army of the Potomac following Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's failure in the Peninsula Campaign. He refused this opportunity because of his loyalty to McClellan and the fact that he understood his own lack of military experience.
- In the Battle of Antietam, he and his men fought bravely, but he reacted too slowly. The battle ended in a tactical stalemate.
- Lincoln removed McClellan and replaced him with Burnside.
- At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Burnside met Robert E. Lee and was badly defeated. Lincoln replaced him with General Joseph Hooker.
- Burnside offered to resign from the Union Army, but Lincoln refused and sent him to East Tennessee.
- Burnside would find success in East Tennessee and repel the John Hunt Morgan raid.
- Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans was defeated at the Battle of Chickamauga, and Burnside was pursued by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, against whose troops he had battled at Marye's Heights.
- Burnside skillfully outmaneuvered Longstreet at the Battle of Campbell's Station and was able to reach his entrenchments and safety in Knoxville, where he was briefly besieged until the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Fort Sanders outside the city. Tying down Longstreet's corps at Knoxville contributed to Gen. Braxton Bragg's defeat by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Chattanooga. Troops under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman marched to Burnside's aid, but the siege had already been lifted; Longstreet withdrew, eventually returning to Virginia.
- Burnside was ordered to take the IX Corps back to the Eastern Theater, where he built it up to a strength of over 21,000 in Annapolis, Maryland.
- Burnside fought at the battles of Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, where he did not perform in a distinguished manner, attacking piecemeal and appearing reluctant to commit his troops to the frontal assaults that characterized these battles.
- After North Anna and Cold Harbor, he took his place in the siege lines at Petersburg.
- He was part of the debacle in the Battle of the Craters when his subordinate commander ended up drunk behind lines, and his men ended up taking heavy casualties.
- 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, the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, and the Rhode Island Locomotive Works.
- He was elected to three one-year terms as Governor of Rhode Island, serving from May 29, 1866, to May 25, 1869.
- He became the first president of the National Rifle Association
- Burnside died suddenly of "neuralgia of the heart" (Angina pectoris) at Bristol, Rhode Island, and is buried in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island.