The 15th New York Engineers took responsibility for laying a pontoon bridge at the Lower Pontoon Crossing two miles below Fredericksburg. The U. S. Regular Army’s Engineer Battalion joined them to construct a second bridge at the site. Their experience proved radically different from the engineers who struggled to span the river opposite the city (the Upper and Middle crossings). Officers of the 15th New York Engineers and the U. S. Engineer Battalion allegedly reconnoitered their bridge site at the Lower crossing prior to moving on December 11, but when they reached the crest of Stafford Heights, overlooking the river, they found they could not shuttle their equipment to the river’s edge. The Regulars wasted several hours hacking a trail to the river and hauling their 1,300-pound pontoons down the bluff along with all of their gear. The New Yorkers surveyed the bank for alternatives and discovered an access to the river 250 yards north of the Lower Pontoon Crossing. They launched their pontoons laden with equipment into the freezing river and floated them down to the construction site.2

Unknown to the engineers, their difficulty had worked to their advantage. The 15th New York Engineers unwittingly had entered the river directly opposite a Confederate sentry post on the Eliza Ferneyhough farm, “Sligo.” Southern Brig. Gen. William Barksdale guarded the river from Fredericksburg south to the mouth of Deep Run. Brig. Gen. Jerome Bonaparte Robertson’s famed Texas Brigade watched the river below Deep Run. Despite darkness and an all-encompassing fog, Col. William Luse’s 18th Mississippi of Barksdale’s Brigade detected the New Yorkers when they entered the water, betrayed by their splashing, and waited for dawn to open fire. Signal guns at 5:00 a.m. summoned the rest of Robert E. Lee’s army to concentrate on the hills encircling Fredericksburg. Fire erupted along the city riverfront as Barksdale’s sharpshooters blistered bridge-builders at the Upper and Middle crossing points. But the 18th Mississippi maintained an uneasy quiet as they waited for a target to loom out of the haze. It never came.

The Federals may have caught Luse’s attention, but they floated away noiselessly to a point south of Deep Run, on Robertson’s front. As dawn approached, Luse discovered to his amazement the river empty in his front. At the same time, Robertson found two Union bridges nearing completion in an arc of the river near the estate of Alfred Bernard, appropriately called “The Bend.” Texas soldiers ignited firebrands and flailed them wildly to signal they had found the Federal crossing. Robertson’s men quickly manned the Richmond Stage Road, but dared not venture any closer to the river because they would draw fire from Yankee cannons glowering from across the river valley. The open fields around The Bend plantation made it impossible for the Confederates to get close enough to harass the Union bridge-builders. Impotently, they watched and waited.

By 10:30 a.m., the Northern engineers had about finished their task. Several detachments even started working on the Confederate side of the river, carving an exit route through the river bank. Robertson sought desperately to sabotage their efforts. A small cadre of Texas soldiers spirited their way through a ravine to the Bernard house, and then they charged the bridges. Engineers abandoned the Confederate side of the river pell-mell and rowed furiously to safety. Other pontooniers evacuated the bridge decks and seized weapons they had stacked on the riverbank. Several regiments of Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade’s Pennsylvania Reserve division joined the engineers in blasting the attackers. Union artillery quickly repelled the sortie, and Robertson’s men limped back to the cover of the Richmond Stage Road. Nothing could stop the Yankees from completing their bridges at the Lower Pontoon Crossing.3

The 15th New York Engineers completed their bridge shortly after the Confederate attack. The U. S. Engineers finished right behind them. The Union Left Grand Division commander, Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, elatedly passed the good news to Burnside, then hurried a guard across the river to protect the bridgehead. Here was an opportunity for the Federals to infiltrate Fredericksburg from the south and drive away the Rebels who held the Yankees at an impasse around the Upper and Middle crossings. No sooner had the Federals shuffled across the Lower Pontoon Crossing, than Burnside rescinded the order. The Union commander realized that a Federal force attacking Fredericksburg from the south would have to cross two major streams—Deep Run and Hazel Run—before they could reach the city. He feared the Confederates might easily trap his men between the two streams, with no means of advancing or escaping. Already General Barksdale had been seen reinforcing Colonel Luse’s Mississippians near Deep Run with Georgians and South Carolinians, from Cobb’s and Kershaw’s brigades. Burnside contented himself with making the Lower Pontoon Crossing secure until he could advance troops across all three crossing points simultaneously. Franklin’s Federals sat passively, gazing at the Rebels around Deep Run and listening to the ongoing Union bombardment of Fredericksburg. The Federals occupied the city after it became too dark to funnel any more troops across the river safely on December 11.

Pontoon crossings can be immense, chaotic affairs. Thousands upon thousands of troops thronged through a bottleneck of two bridges at the Lower crossing and then dispersed into battle lines beyond the river. Strictest discipline kept units from rocking the bridges with their normally cadenced march. Bridge guards also prevented units from cutting each other off, or scattering their men throughout the crush of humanity. This necessary caution created an irritating stop-and-go, jerking march across the river that seemed to take hours to clear. General Franklin ultimately filed 65,000 soldiers through the Lower Pontoon Crossing. It is easy to see why Federal bridge commanders had to wait for daylight on December 12 before starting the crossing in earnest. Even with the best of intentions, snarls ensued and the backlog became intolerable. Engineers returned and erected a third bridge at the site to alleviate some of the congestion. It certainly helped if it did not solve the problem.

Eventually, Maj. Gen. William F. “Baldy” Smith’s VI Corps took position along the Richmond Stage Road guarding the bridgehead around the Lower Pontoon Crossing. His troops straddled Deep Run where the highway crossed the stream. Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds’ I Corps moved to Smith’s left. Reynolds’ three divisions filled a flat plain on Arthur H. H. Bernard’s plantation, “Mannsfield.” Unlike his brother, Alfred, Arthur Bernard remained at home and seemed appalled by the Federals trampling his gardens. He accosted General Reynolds demanding satisfaction. Reynolds had him arrested and removed to Aquia Landing for safekeeping. With Mr. Bernard gone, the Union generals availed themselves of his spacious home to make it their headquarters. General Meade’s men invaded the neighboring plantation, “Smithfield.” Dr. Thomas Pratt had abandoned the house, but left his caretaker behind to protect the property. Pennsylvanians established a picket line across the grounds. The caretaker dutifully locked all of the doors against intruders, but inexplicably left the windows wide open, which allowed the Federals to occupy the house and hustle the caretaker over the river to safety.

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