At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Battery E &amp; G was placed near Marye's Heights on December 13. Randol was in such close proximity to the stone wall from where the Confederates fired effectively upon waves of futile infantry assaults that he was able to advise Humphreys and other Union generals the following morning of the strength of the defensive position:Early the next morning [December 14] I was called in consultation as to the feasibility of battering down the stone wall behind which it was supposed the enemy was concealed. I reported against it, as I had by accident been near the wall the night before, and knew that what was supposed to be a stone wall bordering the field over which our troops had charged, was in reality a stone retaining wall to Marye's heights, along the base of which ran a long sunken road, in which the enemy was placed, and from which, and the rifle pits in prolongation of the road, he delivered such a deadly fire on our charging columns; that we might batter it down by a concentrated fire, but it would do no good unless the road was filled. A visit to the locality afterward confirmed me in the belief then formed and the opinion given to the council. (Alanson Randol, 1875)At the close of the five-day battle, resulting in a decisive Confederate victory, the Army of the Potomac was so demoralized in defeat that Randol wrote to his uncle, Samuel Fowler Butterworth, that he was contemplating resigning his commission in the Army:I have long contemplated asking your opinion about my resigning… the war has become distasteful to me; I can see no hope of success under our present rulers. What have we gained? I have been in nearly every battle fought in the East and, excepting Malvern and the doubtful victory of Antietam, we have been beaten in every battle! When is this to end? (Alanson Randol to Samuel Butterworth, December 20, 1862)