Ambrose E. Burnside was born in Indiana on May 23 of 1824, and he died in 1881.

Burnside’s parents were famers and clerks. Burnside worked as a tailor in his yearly years. In
1843, his father sent him to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in
1847 as 18th out of 38 in his class.
Eventually, he became an artillery officer in 1846. He fought during the Mexican-
American War. In 1853, he created a carbine rifle that initially failed on the market but was
widely used during the Civil War. By 1861 Burnside had created a militia that joined the Civil
War action. He fought when the union lost the Battle of Bull Run. In 1861, Burnside was in
charge of a force in North Carolina. He succeeded and was promoted to major general of
volunteers. In 1862, Burnside was a corps commander. He was ineffective at helping his troops
cross a bridge. This resulted in a delayed Union attack. That same year Burnside took charge of
the Army of Potomac. He failed to assemble and at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Burnside’s
forces made failed attacks. This resulted in the Confederacy winning the battle, and 13,000
Union soldiers died. Burnside also made another plan called the Mud March. This plan failed
due to the excessive rain. Burnside blamed other generals and told Lincoln to either replace
them or remove him from command. Lincoln decided to remove him as general. In 1864,
Burnside poorly managed a plan to dig a mine under the Confederates. This resulted in 3,800
union deaths.
Burnside takes the spot in the hall of fame for his many failures as a general. His failure
to properly execute his planes resulted in many casualties. He also couldn’t take responsibly for
his own mistakes, so Lincoln replaced him. Overall, he failed more the accomplished during his
time as a general.