Ambrose Burnside Facts
Ambrose Burnside Facts
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| Interesting Ambrose Burnside Facts: |
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| Upon graduating from West Point, Ambrose was sent to fight in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) in 1847, but the hostilities had ceased and he saw no action. |
| In 1855, Burnside invented the "Burnside Carbine," which was one of the first breach loaded rifles used in the Civil War. |
| Burnside worker as a treasurer for the Illinois Central Railroad between the Mexican-American and Civil Wars. |
| He was left at the altar by Charlotte Moon before the war, but he would have the last laugh as he had her arrested and held for espionage for several months. |
| When the Civil War began, Burnside was a colonel with the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment. |
| Despite the Union loss at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, Burnside led his men with distinction and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on August 6, |
| Burnside led a successful campaign in coastal North Carolina in early 1862 that effectively closed down Confederate shipping in the Atlantic for most of the war, which earned him a promotion to major general of volunteers on March 18, 1862. |
| Burnside had a personal rivalry with General John Hooker, which eventually led to his dismissal from the army. |
| At the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 11-15, 1862), Union forces led by Burnside were severely routed by General Lee's Confederate forces, which led to his losing command of the Army of the Potomac to Hooker. |
| After the debacle at Fredericksburg, Burnside redeemed himself in the Western Theater of operation in Tennessee. |
| Burnside was permanently relieved of command on August 14, 1864 after one of his subordinate officers failed to follow his command, sending many men to their death at the Battle of the Crater. |
| The United States Congress later exonerated Burnside for the incident at Petersburg, placing the blame instead on General Meade, who refused to allow Burnside to use specially trained black soldiers to tunnel under the crater. |
| He was a Democrat before the Civil War but a Republican after, until his death. |
| Burnside was the governor of Rhode Island from 1866 to 1869. |
| He served as a United States Senator for Rhode Island from 1875 until his death in 1881. |
| Burnside was known for his distinct facial hair: sideburns that connected to his moustache. The term "sideburn" is derived from Ambrose Burnside's hairstyle. |
| Burnside died of angina in Bristol, Rhode Island at the age of fifty-seven on September 13, 1881. |
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