Mud March
Burnside gave the order which read in part: "the great and auspicious moment has arrived to strike a great and mortal blow to the rebellion, and to gain that decisive victory which is due to the country." At dawn on January 21, the plan called for five pontoon bridges to be assembled at the river's edge allowing two "grand divisions" (two corps each) to cross the river in four hours. The night before, it began raining. By the morning of the 21st, the roads were rapidly becoming too muddy to use. The five pontoons and 150 supporting pieces of artillery that were supposed to be in place had not arrived. The pontoons that did manage to arrive were not enough to make even one bridge. Double and triple teams of horses were hitched to each pontoon wagon. In some cases 150 soldiers would try to help the horses move one boat. They could only move a few feet before horses and men were exhausted.