Gibbon had been promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in May 1862 from his Battery B, 4th U. “Our regiment has been more than a year in service, and in soldierly bearing, perfection in drill, and discipline, we do not yield the palm to the regulars in any service.” Part of that “perfection” in drill was due to the advent of John Gibbon as the brigade’s new commander during its stay in Fredericksburg. “Of course, we feel eager to be something more than ornamental file-closers,” a frustrated Wisconsin officer wrote home. The brigade had been together since mid-summer of the previous year and-except for the 2nd Wisconsin, which fought at First Bull Run-saw only scattered and limited engagements with the enemy over the past months. McDowell’s men had been sent to the colonial town, which a member of the 7th Wisconsin called the “greatest old foggy place I ever saw,” and placed in a position so they could either reinforce the Army of the Potomac’s Peninsula Campaign, or rush back to Washington, D.C., and protect the capital if necessary. Irvin McDowell’s Department of the Rappahannock.
The western soldiers had marched into the Fredericksburg area in mid April, first passing through Falmouth on the north bank of the Rappahannock as some of the 20,000 troops in Maj. It was the only infantry unit composed of regiments from the frontier West serving in the East, and was part of a force being held at Fredericksburg to protect central Virginia. The two soldiers were part of a brigade that included the 2nd, 6th, 7th Wisconsin, and 19th Indiana along with Battery B of the 4th U.S.
The fact is somebody has got to stay here in case of a reverse to McClellan the rebels could march on to Washington without opposition.” We have been expecting that we would be taken down to reinforced McClellan but at present it looks as if we were elected to stay where we are for some time to come. Of the current military situation, he wrote: “We are still laying on the north bank of the Rappahannock having an easy time of it. John Gibbon gave the Midwestern regiments a good dose of discipline as well as their distinctive look of dress coats and hats, and the disliked white leggings. Party Like it's 1862: The Black Hat Brigade's Raucous Party Along the Rappahannock Close
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