VA-J93 Little Falls

Marker text: LITTLE FALLS

On 11 December 1862, Union engineers began construction of pontoon bridges here so the army to cross the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg. They began in the morning, hidden by fog. Soon the fog lifted, however, and the Confederate sharpshooters drove them off. A heavy Union artillery barrage and amphibious assault finally secured the crossing and the engineers completed the bridges. Two days later, Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin's Left Grand Division, including divisions led by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade and Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday, crossed over the bridges when the Battle of Fredericksburg began. They were defeated by Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's corps.