burnside comes back with an army of 115,000 men intent on crossing the river, attacking lee and bringing him into battle here in the fredericksburg area. when that takes place, chatham is going to come under the union army's control and it's going to be used once again as a headquarters by several different officers. before the battle it was used by orlando wilcox, the commander of the 9th corps. during the battle itself, it's going to be the headquarters of sumner, burnside's right wing of the army. it's sumner's troops who will cross the river down below us, enter town and attack the confederates at the infamous stone wall where there will be slaughter. during that operation sumner is in this building directing the movement of his troops while they're doing that. after the battle is over, in fact, even before the battle is over, union wounded are going to start pouring back across the river. at this point chatham will become one of many buildings in the area used as a field hospital. there were hundreds of soldiers who passed through here over the course of the next few weeks. so many