Burnside actually contemplated a second attempt, but his brigadier generals talked him out of it. Burnside did not lose his head during the Battle of Fredericksburg; the kindest thing that can be said is that he was impervious to the disaster being created. A few days later, the federal troops backed off a few miles, leaving the Confederates in possession of the field. Roughly 12,500 Northern men were killed, wounded, or missing. Confederate losses came to about 5,500.