General Robert E. Lee, Lt. General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (who had just received news about the birth of his daughter, Julia), and Maj. General J.E.B. Stuart — along with an unknown flagbearer, possibly Brig. General James Henry Lane — stop near Hamilton’s Crossing in Fredericksburg, Virginia for a word with God on December 12, 1862.

Later that day, as he observed the massacre of the Southern counterattack from a position that now bears his name, General Lee famously said, “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”

Outnumbered by over 43,000 men, the Army of Northern Virginia claimed the improbable victory on December 15.

Painting by John Paul Strain