Episode Details

Ambrose Burnside was born in Indiana in 1824, apprenticed as a tailor, and reached West Point through his father's political connections, where he piled up demerits and was court-martialed for beating cadet George Derby. After an Apache arrow wound to the neck in New Mexico, he resigned in 1853 to build the Burnside Carbine with its sealing brass cartridge, only to lose the government contract, his Rhode Island factory, and his patents. A job at the Illinois Central Railroad put him beside George McClellan and the railroad's lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.

Early success on the North Carolina coast made him a Union favorite, and he turned down command of the Army of the Potomac before accepting it to keep it from Joseph Hooker. Delays at Burnside's Bridge, late pontoons at Fredericksburg, and the Mud March followed, and he took full public blame. In Ohio, General Order No. 38 led to the arrest of Clement Vallandigham and the closing of the Chicago Times. At Petersburg, George Meade replaced his specially trained Black division hours before the Crater explosion. He later served three terms as Rhode Island governor and as a senator.

• At his first wedding, bride Charlotte Moon answered the minister with "No siree, Bob" and ran from the church.
• His North Carolina expedition closed about 80 percent of that state's coast to blockade runners.
• At New Bern he employed escaped slaves to build fortifications in exchange for food, shelter and wages.
• When the Crater assault was reassigned, division commanders drew lots and James Ledlie stayed in a bombproof shelter.
• A congressional committee later blamed Meade for the Crater, and Burnside became the first president of the National Rifle Association.