| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Arcadia — E-31 — Jerrell’s Mill |
| | Here, on May 9, 1864, Sheridan was attacked by Wickham’s cavalry. Nearby, on May 22, 1864, Warren’s (Fifth) Corps, moving to the North Anna, fought Rosser's cavalry. — Map (db m3320) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Arcadia — E-30 — Turn in Sheridan’s Raid |
| | At this point in his Richmond raid, Gen. Sheridan, after a fight with Confederate cavalry commanded by General Williams C. Wickham, turned off the Telegraph Road to Beaver Dam, May 9, 1864. This change of route caused Sheridan to approach Richmond from the northwest instead of the north. — Map (db m3316) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — Chancellorsville Campaign — Lee’s Greatest Victory |
| | After the Union defeat at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln replaced Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside in January 1863 with the aggressive Gen. Joseph Hooker. At the end of April, Hooker sent most of the Army of the Potomac westward, leaving two corps in Fredericksburg under Gen. John Sedgwick. Hooker intended to crush Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia between two Federal wings. Lee detected Hooker's maneuver and shifted most of his army westward to . . . — Map (db m3634) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — Chancellorsville Campaign — Hooker vs. Lee |
| | "May God have mercy on General Lee for I will have none." -Gen. Joseph Hooker, U.S. Army On May 1, 1863, the head of Union Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac arrived on these fields, apparently completing one of the most successful and elaborate maneuvers of the war. A column that eventually numbered 80,000 men had crossed two rivers, pushed through the tangled Wilderness of Spotsylvania County, and now stood poised to descend on the left flank and rear of Confederate Gen. Robert . . . — Map (db m11418) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — Pivot Point of a Campaign |
| | "The battle of Chancellorsville was lost right there." - Union Staff Officer. Here, in a few hours on the afternoon of May 1, 1863, the Chancellorsville Campaign took a dramatic turn. Just a day earlier, Union Gen. Joseph Hooker had congratulated his army on a successful campaign. As Hooker's army stood on Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's left flank, he boasted, "Our enemy must either ingloriously fly or ... give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." On . . . — Map (db m11419) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — Not Just Armies |
| | "On the first day of the Chancellorsville fight...[our] farm was between our and the enemy's lines of battle." -James H. Leitch, farmer. The Battle of Chancellorsville started here - amid the homes of families living along the Orange Turnpike. On the morning of May 1, Ann Lewis, whose house stood on the rise in front of you, found Union cavalrymen lounging in her yard. After she saw masses of Confederate troops approaching from the east, Lewis called a Union trooper into her house to . . . — Map (db m11420) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — The Union Attack |
| | "The advance was irresistible... in a few minutes the brigade occupied the crest of the hill." -Union brigade commander Col. Sidney Burbank You now stand at the farthest point of the Union infantry advance on May 1. From here, Federal troops poured a murderous fire into the disorganized Confederate line. But the Southerners, under Gen. William Mahone, soon regrouped for battle on the ridge in front of you. One Union officer recalled that his men advanced "steadily and with a will, . . . — Map (db m11421) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — The Confederate Flank Attack |
| | The enemy were in force in my immediate front... the country was favorable for a flank attack." - Gen. Lafayette McLaws "Flanked!" one of the most feared words in any army. It meant that the enemy positioned upon the end of your line could fire down its length while only a few of your troops could fire back. From where you now stand, Confederate forces under Gen. Lafayette McLaws poured a devastating fire into the Union troops. McLaws's job was to hold the Federals in his front while . . . — Map (db m11425) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — Difficult Country |
| | "We were in a perfect jungle of rank vines and undergrowth." - Col. A. J. McBride, 10th Georgia Infantry, CSA Few Civil War sites evoke such indelible, mental images as the Wilderness. Densely forested and dark, fighting in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania County was a nightmare. Hooker wanted to avoid fighting in the Wilderness at all, but Lee forced his hand by confronting him here. The few clearings such as this one along the Orange Turnpike became natural battlefields by default. . . . — Map (db m11427) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — The Enemy Within |
| | "If possible before the battle I will try to be better posted about the rebble armey." - Local spy Isaac Silver Both armies employed soldiers as spies or scouts, but some of the most valuable information came from local civilians. The Chancellorsville Campaign literally swung on the intelligence of Unionists within Confederate lines. Preceding the Battle of Chancellorsville, local loyalists Ebenezer McGee and Isaac Silver employed tactics of astonishing simplicity. Silver was somehow . . . — Map (db m11429) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — First Day at Chancellorsville — Retreat Over Mott's Run |
| | "The road, the woods, and fields on either side, over which the enemy retired, were strewn with knapsacks, blankets, overcoats, and many other valuable articles." - Gen. Paul Semmes, CSA Union Gen. George Sykes, simultaneously flanked out of his position and ordered by Gen. Joseph Hooker to withdraw to Chancellorsville, called for a retreat. One soldier described the movement over the little brook in front of you then known as Mott's Run, but today called Lick Run: "At this moment . . . — Map (db m11431) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellor — The First Day at Chancellorsville — Lee Seizes the Initiative |
| | You are standing where the Battle of Chancellorsville began. On May 1, 1863, Union Gen. Joseph Hooker ordered three columns to advance eastward on three roads: the River Road a mile to your left, the Plank Road a mile to your right, and the Orange Turnpike (present-day Route 3) to your immediate right. His goal was to move out of the Wilderness - a cut-over tangle of scrub trees and dense undergrowth that sometimes limited visibility to a few feet - and unite the columns on the open high . . . — Map (db m3633) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — 154th New York State Volunteer Infantry |
| | (front): 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 11th Corps "The Hardtack Regiment" Anchor of the Buschbeck Line Near Dowdall's Tavern Battle of Chancellorsville May 2, 1863 (back): 590 present for duty 240 killed, wounded, and captured Dedicated to the memory of the regiment by its descendants May 1996 — Map (db m5460) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — A Bold Plan |
| | Here, on the evening of May 1, 1863, Generals Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson hatched one of the boldest schemes in military history. Hunched over maps beside a small fire, the two generals plotted how to destroy the Union army, now entrenched around Chancellorsville, a mile to your left. The solution came when Confederate cavalryman General J.E.B. Stuart reported that the Union right flank (three miles behind you) lay unprotected. During the night, with the help of local residents, Lee . . . — Map (db m3579) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — A Fatal Reconnaissance |
| | When "Stonewall" Jackson reached this point at about 9 p.m. on May 2, 1863, he stood at the peak of his military career. Four hundred yards in front of you, a shaken Union army hastily built earthworks to halt the Confederate tide. One hundred yards behind you, Jackson's troops formed along the Bullock Road for what Jackson hoped would be the final and climactic night attack against the faltering Federals. While the Confederates prepared, the general and a small group of attendants rode . . . — Map (db m3980) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — A Midnight Conference |
| | After being driven from the Chancellorsville crossroads by Lee on May 3, 1863, Hooker retreated to a new line of defenses covering U.S. Ford, 3.5 miles to your rear. For two days, Hooker strengthened his defenses and awaited attack. Lee took advantage of Hooker's passiveness to reinforce Confederate troops fighting John Sedgwick at Salem Church. When Sedgwick retreated across the Rappahannock on May 4, Lee again turned his attention to Hooker. But "Fighting Joe" had had enough. In a council of . . . — Map (db m12857) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — A Missed Opportunity — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | The morning of May 3d found the Confederate army heavily outnumbered and dangerously divided. "Stonewall" Jackson's flank attack the evening before had staggered the Union army but had not irretrievably damaged it. As the day broke, Jackson's corps, now under J.E.B. Stuart, lay one-half mile to your left; the rest of the army, personally led by Lee, was one mile to your right. Between them lay this large, open plateau known as Hazel Grove. Hazel Grove was the key to the battlefield. Had Hooker . . . — Map (db m19165) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — A Very Hot Place |
| | At Hazel Grove, Lee's artillerists enjoyed perhaps their greatest success of the war. No sooner had the Union army evacuated the ridge than Southern cannon appeared - first four pieces, then eight, twelve, sixteen. Within an hour more than thirty guns crowned this ridge. Eager hands rammed home charges and sent shot and shell screeching toward the center of the Union line at Fairview, 1200 yards away. The concussion of the cannon blasts deafened some of the artillerists and caused the noses . . . — Map (db m3618) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — About a mile in the distance... |
| | About a mile in the distance, beyond the vista cut through the trees, you can see modern buildings on high ground which at the time of the battle of Chancellorsville was called Hazel Grove. When "Stonewall" Jackson began his famous flank march early on May 2, 1863, the Hazel Grove clearing was occupied by Federal infantry and artillery. As the Confederate column moved along the road here, it was spotted by Federal observers perched in tree tops. Smoke billowed from Yankee cannon on Hazel . . . — Map (db m3583) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Apex of Hooker’s Last Line |
| | Earthworks to your right rear mark the apex of Hooker's last line of defense. The Federals retreated to this position late in the morning of May 3, guarding the roads to Ely's and United States Fords. The defensive minded Union commander sat virtually idle in his stronghold while Lee dispatched reinforcements to outgunned Confederates at Salem Church, seven miles east. Early on the afternoon of May 4, Union general Amiel W. Whipple fell mortally wounded while inspecting earthworks on the skirmish line in a field in front of this spot. — Map (db m3695) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Artillery Duel |
| | On the morning of May 3, 1863, Union artillery at Fairview suffered the most intense artillery bombardment of the battle. More than 40 Confederate guns at Hazel Grove (visible 1,200 yards in front of you) concentrated their fire on 34 Union cannon here at Fairview. After five hours of fighting, the Union guns withdrew, and the Union infantry slowly fell back into the Chancellorsville clearing. They left behind stunning carnage. We...reached the brow of the hill where...our own cannon had . . . — Map (db m3638) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — J-40 — Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | Hooker reached this point, April 30, 1863; Next day he entrenched, with his left wing on the river and his right wing on this road several miles west. That wing was surprised by Jackson and driven back here, May 2. The Confederates stormed the position here, May 3. The Union army withdrew northward, May 5-6, 1863. — Map (db m3511) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | On May 2-3, 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee defeated the Army of the Potomac under Hooker on this field. “Stonewall” Jackson, Lee’s great lieutenant was mortally wounded in the flank attack on Hooker’s right which resulted in victory for the southern army. Erected by the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Chapters U.D.C., 1927. — Map (db m14514) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Birthplace of Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | This jumble of bricks and stones tucked deep within Spotsylvania's Wilderness marks the birthplace of Matthew Fontaine Maury, the "Pathfinder of the Seas." All but forgotten now, Maury was a legend during his lifetime. While superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory, he compiled information on winds, weather, and ocean currents gleaned from the logbooks of thousands of ships. The result was The Physical Geography of the Seas (1855), the first modern study of oceanography. Maury's . . . — Map (db m21934) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Bivouac — Lee and Jackson |
| | Bivouac Lee and Jackson Night of May 1, 1863. — Map (db m3581) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Brig. Gen. E. F. Paxton, C.S.A. |
| | In this vicinity Brig. Gen. E. F. Paxton, C.S.A. Aged 35 years, of Rockbridge County, VA. Was killed on the morning of May 3, 1863 While leading his command, the Stonewall Brigade in the attack on Fairview — Map (db m3607) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellor Cemetery |
| | This is the Chancellor family cemetery. In the first half of the 19th century the Chancellors dominated this section of Spotsylvania County. Fairview was the original family seat, but branches of the family eventually lived at Chancellorsville, Hazel Grove, Forest Hall, and Dowdall's Tavern. Residents of all those places are likely buried here. Not buried here are the family's slaves. The location of their graves is not known. The earliest known grave in the cemetery dates to 1812. By 1860 . . . — Map (db m3642) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | The Civil War had entered its third year, and the Army of the Potomac was again on the march. Led by its new commander, "Fighting Joe" Hooker, the 134,000-man Union juggernaut crossed the Rappahannock River beyond Lee's left flank on April 28, 1863, and descended upon a former country inn known as Chancellorsville. Although reduced to just 60,000 men, Lee responded with his accustomed audacity, attacking Hooker here in the gloomy thickets of the Wilderness. Four days of pitched battle . . . — Map (db m10703) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | April 27-May 6, 1863. Leaving a large detachment under Sedgwick in front of Fredericksburg, Hooker marched a flanking column around and behind the Confederates. Lee then left a small unit to face Sedgwick and advanced westward to meet Hooker. Thereupon, Hooker dropped the initiative and entrenched at Chancellorsville. Lee again divided his army, sending Jackson, May 2, to flank Hooker's right. That attack and severe fighting on May 3 drove Hooker to a rear position. Meanwhile, Sedgwick broke . . . — Map (db m3517) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | Just ahead is the crossing of the Orange Plank Road, a mid-nineteenth century trade route from the mountains to the navigable Rappahannock at Fredericksburg. Loaded wagons had the right-of-way on the planking, which covered half the roadbed. Successor to the crushed-stone Orange Turnpike, the Plank was likewise a pay road with toll gates. It diverged from the route of the old Pike in places to afford better traction on easier grades. By the time of the Civil War, the growth of railroads had reduced Fredericksburg's western business. — Map (db m3552) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 1-3, 1863. "Our enemy must either ingloriously fly or come out from behind his entrenchments and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." With these words, "Fighting Joe" Hooker, on May 1, started toward the rear of Lee's Fredericksburg lines. Inspired by Hooker's enthusiasm, his confident troops swung briskly along the Turnpike. When resistance was encountered, Hooker ordered the army back to Chancellorsville. May 2, while "Stonewall" Jackson marched to . . . — Map (db m3559) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2, 1863. Shortly after noon, Sickles’ Corps advanced from the Union right-center to attack the "retreating" Confederates. Posey's and Wright's brigades, part of Lee's holding line, met the advance. A rear guard from Jackson's marching column also dropped back to give battle. Units of Howard's XI Corps and Slocum's XII Corps reinforced Sickles, increasing his strength to 20,000 men but weakening the Federal line which Jackson was moving to strike. Fighting continued throughout the day and into the night. — Map (db m3599) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 3, 1863 - Battle cries break the stillness of the dawn as 25,000 Confederate soldiers move up through the dark woods on both sides of the Plank Road to attack the Union position guarding Fairview heights, 800 yards to the east. Leading them in place of the wounded Stonwall Jackson was Lee's 30-year-old cavalry chief, 'Jeb' Stuart. By 10:50 a.m. after a fierce struggle, Fairview had fallen and Hooker's men were pushed back past Chancellorsville to a defensive line from which they would . . . — Map (db m3606) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2-3, 1863. In this vicinity, holding Hooker's original center, Slocum's Corps curved northwestward (reader's right rear) to form an interior line behind Howard's Corps. When Jackson smashed Howard, Slocum's western line fell also. The rest of Slocum's position held, however, and from this area a new Federal right was run northward. Thus, on May 3, Slocum's right fought Jackson's Corps, while his left engaged Lee's holding force to the south. Slocum was driven back toward the Rappahannock during the morning of May 3. — Map (db m3645) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2-3, 1863. Units of Slocum's Federal XII Corps held this line. Its left extended a little beyond the Orange Plank Road (reader's left) where it connected with the right of Couch's II Corps. A mile to the southeast the Orange Plank Road intersected the Confederate line, at the crossing of the Furnace Road. While Lee's holding force there demonstrated against this sector on May 2, "Stonewall" Jackson marched to attack the Federal right flank, three miles west of here. Slocum and Couch abandoned this line in the general retreat of May 3. — Map (db m3646) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | April 10 - May 3, 1863. These Trenches were part of Hooker's original line. On May 2, Couch's II Corps skirmishers, under command of Col. Nelson A. Miles, beat off repeated Confederate attacks launched to draw attention from Jackson's flanking movement. Seriously wounded on May 3, Miles was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for services here. He also distinguished himself at the Wilderness and became famous as an Indian fighter after the War. These trenches were abandoned on May 3 when Hooker fell back toward the Rappahannock. — Map (db m3866) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2, 1863. Having lost the Furnace, the 23rd Georgia Regiment established a new line here in the bed of the Unfinished Railroad. Other troops reinforced the position. During late afternoon, while Jackson's front lines were hitting the Federal right, the rearguard Confederates fell back according to orders. Colonel Best, however, received the word too late. Although he and a few of his men escaped, the bulk of the 23rd Georgia was captured. This railroad then comprised a series of graded . . . — Map (db m3906) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2, 1863. Jackson's two leading lines, battling the tangled undergrowth and the retreating Federal XI Corps, became disorganized. In this vicinity, Jackson halted his successful advance and ordered A.P. Hill's Division to the front. While the change was being made, Jackson rode out with his staff about 9 p.m. to reconnoiter the Federal position. Meeting A.P. Hill, he gave one of his last field commands: "Press them! Cut them off from the United States Ford, Hill! Press them!" A few minutes . . . — Map (db m3954) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 3, 1863. At daylight Hooker ordered the withdrawal of Sickles' troops from this height, called Hazel Grove, key position of Hooker's front after Jackson's flanking movement. Promptly occupying it with Archer's Confederate Brigade, Stuart, now in command of Jackson's Corps, ordered a heavy concentration of artillery here. These guns enfiladed the Federal position at Fairview and a division of Slocum's XII Corps entrenched to the southeast. From this point about 10, a.m. Lee watched the . . . — Map (db m14681) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 1, 1863, Union troops advancing toward Fredericksburg along this road, the Orange Plank, met the Confederates about a mile to your left and retreated to this point. Hooker, not waiting to be attacked, ordered these troops back to Chancellorsville. The Confederates then moved up. That night Lee and Jackson camped here in a pine grove.
Scouts reported that Hooker's 7 - mile line about Chancellorsville was impregnable from east and south, but that his western flank was "in the air". The . . . — Map (db m15151) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Chancellorsville Clearing |
| | Vicious fighting surged back and forth across this large clearing on the morning of May 3. From here, you can clearly see the two key Union positions; Fairview, to your right front near the brick wall of the Chancellor Cemetery; and the Chancellorsville Inn site to your left front. The Confederates renewed their advance across the scene of their earlier success while three additional Southern brigades extended the Confederate line across the Turnpike. In this vicinity, the 5th Maine Battery . . . — Map (db m3785) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Civil War Earthworks |
| | Federal soldiers of the 12th Corps built these earthworks on May 1, 1863. "Stonewall" Jackson's flank attack the following day placed them in Confederate hands. At about 6:00 a.m. on May 3, North Carolinians under William Dorsey Pender and Georgians commanded by Edward L. Thomas left the safety of these trenches to attack the Union line about ½ mile east of here, behind you as you face this sign. — Map (db m5457) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Civilians in the Crossfire |
| | In seventy-two hours the Chancellor family's world was turned upside down. A Union soldier described the Chancellor women on April 30: "Upon the upper porch was quite a bevy of ladies in light, dressy, attractive spring costumes. They were not at all abashed or intimidated, scolded audibly and reviled bitterly. They ... stated they had assurances from General Lee, who was just ahead, that he was their anxiously awaiting an opportunity to extend the 'hospitalities of the country.' They had . . . — Map (db m3840) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Climactic Struggle |
| | On the morning of May 3, 1863, more than 17,500 men fell killed or wounded in the woods and fields around you - one man shot every second for five hours. Entrenched Union lines in front of you collapsed, and the Confederates surged forward to seize the Chancellorsville intersection. Some 25 Union cannons in this clearing made a valiant effort to cover the retreat, but they were soon smothered in a Confederate crossfire. Major William H. Stewart of the 61st Virginia Infantry recalled the . . . — Map (db m3801) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Collis Zouaves |
| | Erected to mark the line of battle of the 114th Reg't. Pennsylvania Vol's. on the memorable 3rd day of May 1863, where it lost 3 officers and 35 enlisted men killed List of Killed Major Joseph S. Chandler Captain Frank Eliot, Co. F. Lieu't. George M. Cullen, Co. G. Henry Steelman. Co. A. Serg't. Alfred Tricker. Co. B. John Alqueshouse. Co. B. Albert Holworth. Co. B. John J. Springer. Co. B. Samuel T. Sapp. Co. B. Edward Simms. Co. B. Samuel M. Whitesell. Co. B. George Lutz. Co. C. . . . — Map (db m3639) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Confederate Breakthrough |
| | At about 7:00 a.m. on May 3, a dangerous gap in the Union line opened near the Orange Turnpike, 1/4 mile to your right. Federal troops on your right, led by Hiram Berry, retreated about 1/2 mile and established a new position. The blue-clad soldiers on your left under Brig. Gen. Joseph Revere, grandson of the Massachusetts patriot, did not withdraw in time. Three Confederate brigades swept across the ground in front of you and smashed into Revere's exposed flank. Separated from the rest of the . . . — Map (db m12789) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Confederate Catastrophe |
| | Near this spot around 9:15 p.m. on the night of May 2, 1863, the Confederate cause suffered disaster. As "Stonewall" Jackson and his party returned from their reconnaissance down the Mountain Road, Confederate musketry erupted south of the Plank Road (Route 3). The scattered fire rippled northward, directly across Jackson's path. A Confederate officer yelled, "Cease firing! You are firing into your own men!" Through the darkness, a voice shouted back: "Who gave that order? It's a lie! Pour it . . . — Map (db m3978) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — J 38 — Ely’s Ford |
| | On this hill, May 3, 1863, Confederate General "J.E.B." Stuart was notified that General "Stonewall" Jackson had been wounded at Chancellorsville and that he was to take command of Jackson's Corps. Moments before, Stuart had ordered his 1,000 men from North Carolina and Virginia to attack the 3,400 Pennsylvanians under General A.W. Averell at Ely's Ford. After ordering three volleys of musket fire at the Union troops below, Stuart cancelled the attack and left to assume command at Chancellorsville. — Map (db m3473) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Fairview |
| | Just ahead of you stood a story-and-a-half log house known as Fairview. This was originally a Chancellor home, but during the Civil War James Moxley and his family occupied it. Moxley was overseer of Frances Chancellor's 20 slaves. Moxley likely managed most aspects of physical work on the Chancellors' 800-acre farm - dispatching slaves to daily assignments, maintaining buildings and machines, and ensuring that crops made it to market. Moxley's status as overseer exempted him from service in . . . — Map (db m3641) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Fairview |
| | Formerly a Chancellor farmstead, on May 3, 1863, Fairview became a gory landscape. That morning all the energy and violence of the Battle of Chancellorsville focused here - on the fields and woods around a commonplace log house. Here, the contending armies decided the outcome of the battle. — Map (db m3643) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Final Meeting, Fateful March |
| | To reach the Union army's right flank, Jackson would have to march his corps twelve miles over narrow, unpaved roads. The general hoped to have his men moving by dawn on May 2, but he got an unusually late start. It was past 7 a.m. before his troops left their camps on the Orange Plank Road and passed this point on the first leg of their journey. Jackson rode near the head of the marching column. His face appeared flushed, and his eyes flashed in anticipation of the coming conflict. When he . . . — Map (db m3555) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Flanking of Hays' Brigade |
| | On this ridge, the Union brigade of Brig. Gen. William Hays, supported by artillery, temporarily stopped the Confederate advance across the ground below you. A member of the 12th New Jersey described what happened next: "We were in open sight, without earthworks or protection of any kind, except a few trees...when an unfortunate break to the rear of the regiment on our right left a vast hole in our line, through which the Rebels, unseen by us, got in our flank and rear and rolled our line up . . . — Map (db m12794) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Hazel Grove |
| | On the morning of May 3, this large, open plateau, known as "Hazel Grove," was the key to the Union position. "Stonewall" Jackson's flank attack the evening before had staggered the Union army but had not seriously damaged it. As the new day dawned, the Confederate army found itself divided, with Hooker holding the high ground - Hazel Grove - in between. Had Hooker strongly defended the plateau, he could have kept the Confederate army separated and defeated it one piece at a time. But the . . . — Map (db m3610) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — High Drama, Human Tragedy |
| | The climactic fighting of the Battle of Chancellorsville took place in the woods and fields around Fairview. Here on the morning of May 3, 1863, Union troops struggled to maintain their position long enough to allow General Hooker time to establish a new line a mile to the north. The Confederates fought desperately to reunite the two wings of Lee's command and to finish what Jackson had begun the night before - the destruction of Hooker's army. The Confederates drove the Federals from . . . — Map (db m3637) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Hooker's Final Bastion |
| | The low earthworks opposite are the apex of the final Union line at Chancellorsville. After suffering defeat in the massive fighting on May 3, Hooker's army started digging. The result: a powerful, U-shaped line six miles long supported by 100 cannons, and made of "logs, knapsacks, dead horses, limber-chests and whatever came to hand." For two days Federal troops quietly held these works. Despite the strength of the Union line, and despite having just 35,000 men on hand for action, Lee decided . . . — Map (db m3691) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Jackson |
| | (South Face): On this Spot fell mortally wounded Thomas J. Jackson Lt. Gen. C.S.A. May 2nd 1863 (East Face): There is Jackson standing like a stone wall Bee at Manassas. (North Face): Could I have directed events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your stead. I congratulate you upon the victory, which is due to your skill and energy! - R. E. Lee, General (West Face): Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees. . . . — Map (db m3975) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Jackson Monuments |
| | The effort to erect a monument at the site of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's mortal wounding began in February 1887, when Fredericksburg newspaper editor Rufus Merchant founded the Stonewall Jackson Monument Association. On June 13, 1888, a crowd of more than 5,000 spectators attended dedication ceremonies at the monument. Guests included the former Confederate cavalry general, Governor Fitzhugh Lee, whose vigilant scouting activities during the Battle of Chancellorsville contributed to Jackson's . . . — Map (db m3977) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Jackson on the Move |
| | About 10 a.m. on May 2, 1863, Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's flanking column approached this then-cleared ridge on the Furnace Road. Union infantrymen perched in trees at Hazel Grove, three-quarters of a mile to the northwest, spotted the Confederates. Federal artillery opened fire, compelling Jackson's troops to hurry past this exposed spot. The general ordered his artillery and wagon trains to take a safer road, further south. The harassing Union fire did little to . . . — Map (db m3585) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — J-37 — Jackson’s Amputation |
| | Near here stood the hospital tent to which the wounded "Stonewall" Jackson was brought during the Battle of Chancellorsville. In that tent his left arm was amputated on May 3, 1863. He died seven days later at Guinea. — Map (db m3515) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Jackson's Impact |
| | Around you is tangible and dramatic evidence of the impact "Stonewall" Jackson's flank attack had on the Union army. The artillery emplacements (lunettes) in front of you were constructed at a fairly leisurely rate on May 1 and 2, 1863. They face South, toward the expected direction of any Confederate attack. The lunettes to your left were dug by frantic Union artillerymen during the night of May 2-3, 1863. They face west - in the direction of Jackson's surprise assault against the Union right . . . — Map (db m3636) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Junction of Earthworks |
| | Maj. Gen. Hiram G. Berry's division formed the front of the Union defense north of the Orange Turnpike on the morning of May 3. Although virtually all of Berry's entrenchments have disappeared, this small segment of works on the right marks the location of Berry's line. Confederates constructed the intersecting trenches later on May 3 to face the final Federal position. — Map (db m12785) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Lee Renews the Attack |
| | Confederate artillery here supported one of the largest infantry attacks of the Civil War. At dawn "Stonewall" Jackson's corps, now led by J.E.B. Stuart, struck the Union line from the west, in the woods to your left-front. At the same time, Lee's forces converged on Hooker from the south and east. The Union army found itself beset on all sides. For nearly five hours the battle ranged fiercely in the woods around you, as opposing troops attacked, retreated, and attacked again through the . . . — Map (db m3617) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Lee's Greatest Triumph |
| | As Union resistance around the Chancellor house dissolved, Robert E. Lee rode into the clearing behind his victorious battalions. Though badly outnumbered, Lee in three days had stopped the initial Union advance, brazenly split his own army to launch the most successful flank attack of the war, and, on May 3, driven the Federals from their entrenched positions around Chancellorsville. The battle was perhaps the greatest of his career. Thousands of Confederate troops raised their hats and . . . — Map (db m3818) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Lives Transformed |
| | In 1860, Oscar Bullock and his wife, Catharine, lived in a modest two-and-one-half-story white frame house on this site. With them lived their two infant children and Catharine's 16-year-old brother, David Kyle (who would serve as a guide to Stonewall Jackson during the Battle of Chancellorsville). A family of five slaves lived in a house nearby. They worked for the Bullocks, tilling the fields, gathering crops, and tending the livestock. The war brought devastation to the Bullocks - as it did . . . — Map (db m3697) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Matthew Fontaine Maury |
| | Near this spot was born
Matthew Fontaine 1806 Maury 1873
——
Pathfinder of the seas
Author of physical geography of the sea
Founder of the science of meteorology
First to conceive the idea of an Atlantic Cable
Under his direction the first cable was laid 1858
Father of the U.S. Naval Observatory
——
Erected by the
Maury Birthplace Association
J.T. Goolrick, Organizer. — Map (db m3597) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Maury Birthplace |
| | These scattered bricks and this shallow depression are all that remain of Matthew Fontaine Maury's birthplace. Maury's parents purchased this house and 103 acres of land from "Lighthorse Harry" Lee, Robert E. Lee's father, in 1797. The future oceanographer was born here on January 14, 1806, the seventh of nine Maury children. In 1810, the Maurys sold the property and moved to Tennessee where they hoped to fined better fortune than this tobacco farm in the Wilderness had provided them. During . . . — Map (db m3598) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Maury House Trail — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | This short trail leads to the birthplace of Matthew Fontaine Maury, one of America's greatest scientists. By the time of the Civil War, Maury's birthplace was gone, replaced by a simple brick house. Few of the 28,000 Confederate soldiers who marched past on May 2, 1863, knew the significance of the site tucked off the roadside about 200 yards in front of you. Today only a depression remains. — Map (db m21933) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — McLaws Trail — The Battle of Fredericksburg |
| | This trail will take you across the swampy headwaters of Ninemile Run, where for three days Confederate skirmishers of General Lafayette McLaws' division sparred with elements of Joseph Hooker's Union army. McLaws' spirited attacks fixed Hooker's attention on this sector, enabling "Stonewall" Jackson to successfully maneuver around the Union army's right flank, four miles ahead of you. Fliers at Stop #1 will lead you on a self-guided tour of this little-known phase of the Chancellorsville . . . — Map (db m25644) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Memorializing Jackson's Death — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | Of his soldiers he was the idol; of his country he was the hope; of war he was the master. Senator John Warwick Daniel When General "Stonewall" Jackson died eight days after being wounded in these woods, shock waves rippled through the South. Confederates immediately memorialized him in in words. "A greater sense of loss and deeper grief never followed the death of mortal man," wrote one artilleryman. Few felt Jackson's loss more keenly than Robert E. Lee, who confessed "I know not how . . . — Map (db m19166) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Ordeal of the Wounded |
| | After the May 3, 1863, fighting at Chancellorsville, the Confederates gathered up 500 wounded Union soldiers and brought them here to Fairview. For more than a week the helpless men lay in the yard around the house, receiving little medical care, exposed to the wind and the rain, lying in the mud. Wounds festered and became infected. Insects attracted by piles of corpses nearby inflicted painful bites. Dozens of soldiers died; many others prayed that they might be taken too. A team of Union . . . — Map (db m3640) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Stone's Reconnaissance |
| | Union soldiers on the front line probably utilized these rifle pits on May 3-5. Trenches on the other side of the creek possibly served Confederate skirmishers. While the fighting raged near Salem Church, Union Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds believed that the Federal army of 75,000 should attack the 25,000 Confederates facing it here at Chancellorsville. After Hooker refused to assume the offense, Reynolds ordered Col. Roy Stone's brigade on a reconnaissance, hoping this would lead to a general . . . — Map (db m12856) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — The 27th Indiana Infantry |
| | 3rd Brigade, 1st Div., 12th Corps Held this position from 7p.m. May 2nd to 9 a.m. May 3rd, 1863. Present for duty 300 Killed 36, Wounded 114 ——— Mustered in Aug. 1861, Mustered out Sept. 1864 Total enrollment 1,101. Killed 172. ——— Brown S. History 27th Indiana Infantry — Map (db m3644) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — The Chancellor Slaves |
| | Their names are unrecorded, their labors are rarely noted. No images of them survive. But slaves outnumbered Chancellor family members when Frances Chancellor moved into this house in 1861. Likely only a few of the 20 slaves owned by the Chancellors occupied the house itself. Most probably lived in cabins scattered across the Chancellors' 300 acres of farmland. The slaves' overseer James Moxley lived at Fairview, a quarter mile to the southwest. When the Union army arrived at Fredericksburg in . . . — Map (db m5618) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — The Chancellorsville Intersection |
| | The intersection in front of you was the focal point of the Chancellorsville Battlefield. From here roads radiated in five directions. Four of them are visible; the fifth, River Road, lies just beyond the trees to your left. From this intersection on May 1, Union troops advanced eastward (to your left) in a failed attempt to get behind the Confederates at Fredericksburg. Our movements up to the arrival at Chancellorsville were very successful & were well planned. Everything after that went . . . — Map (db m3800) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — The Union Army Escapes |
| | After dark, May 5, 1863, Union soldiers left their trenches and began making their way toward U.S. Ford. A cold rain drenched the soldiers to the skin and turned the woodland roads to mud. At the ford, the Rappahannock River rose five feet in three hours, overflowing its banks. Union engineers hastily dismantled one of the three pontoon bridges in order to lengthen the other two. Hooker's generals advised him to cancel the movement, but still the retreat continued. At dawn, Confederate troops . . . — Map (db m12858) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — The Union Center — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | Upon reaching Chancellorsville on April 30, 1863, General Joseph Hooker deployed the Army of the Potomac in a defensive perimeter around the intersection. General Henry W. Slocum's Twelfth Corps held the center of the Union line. For three days his troops entrenched, creating a sturdy earthwork screened by the line of fallen trees known as an abatis. The trench in front of you is a remnant of that fortified line. At first the Confederates did not test Slocum's position, but on May 3 Lee . . . — Map (db m21931) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — The Wilderness of Spotsylvania County |
| | The armies fought the Battle of Chancellorsville in the heart of a 70-square-mile region of tangled undergrowth known locally as the Wilderness. This inhospitable terrain added a new dimension of horror to the fighting on May 3. Fires erupted from muzzle blasts of rifles and cannon and spread rapidly through the thick woods. Some wounded soldiers, unable to escape the flames, faced a gruesome fate. Union general John C. Caldwell described the scene: "It was pitiful to see the charred bodies . . . — Map (db m5458) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Union Counterattack |
| | On the morning of May 3, Col. Emlen Franklin's Union brigade shifted from south of the Orange Turnpike to this vicinity. Here, they met Pender and Thomas head on. Lt. Col. Jonathan H. Lockwood of the 7th Virginia (Union) remembered what happened when his brigade arrived and attacked the Confederate left flank: "We opened on them a volley of musketry that apparently shook the ground they walked on. We immediately charged them, putting them to flight." The Confederates fell back all the way to . . . — Map (db m12847) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Union Earthworks |
| | Men of Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock's division manned the earthworks which are located just inside this woodline. Hancock's troops confronted two Confederate divisions advancing from the south (from your right front) and east as well as the Rebels attacking from the west. Lee's relentless pressure forced the Union army to withdraw from Chancellorsville about mid-morning and establish a new line protecting the river crossings. Hancock's men in those trenches and in the Chancellorsville clearing covered the Union retreat. — Map (db m3867) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — Union Lifeline |
| | On April 30, 1863, Gen. George G. Meade's Union Fifth Corps advanced along this road toward Chancellorsville. As Meade's troops approached, Confederates on the Bullock Farm briefly resisted them, then disappeared into the woods to spread word of the Union advance. For the next three days the armies would grapple beyond the Chancellorsville crossroads, one mile to your right. Throughout the battle fresh troops arrived along this road, until more than 90,000 Federals crowded the battlefield. On . . . — Map (db m3690) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Chancellorsville — J-39 — Wounding of Jackson |
| | Just 1.7 miles west, on this road (then the Orange Plank Road), Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded by "friendly fire" about 9:30 P.M. on 2 May 1863 during the Battle of Chancellorsville. Having brilliantly executed a flanking maneuver against the Federals, Jackson, with eight aides, was returning from a reconnaissance between the lines. When skirmishing erupted, they were mistaken for Federals in the darkness and fired on by the 18th N.C. Infantry, killing four and wounding . . . — Map (db m3513) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Five Mile Fork — Confederate Defense Turns to Offense — Battle of Chancellorsville - 1863 |
| | Confronted by overwhelming numbers, Confederate forces fell back from Chancellorsville (three and a half miles in front of you) and established a defensive position here on April 30. General Robert E. Lee instructed Richard H. Anderson, who commanded this line, to “…Set your spades to work as vigorously as possible.” Anderson did just that. With 9,100 men, he constructed a line of earthworks along Mine Road, which ran southeast from U.S. Ford, stretched across Orange Turnpike and . . . — Map (db m7532) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Five Mile Fork — Earthworks — Battle of Chancellorsville - 1863 |
| | "We were digging and fortifying all night."
Charles E. DeNoon, Mahone's Brigade
Civil War earthworks, sometimes referred to as breastworks, were built in a fashion much different than modern military trenches. Soldiers started at ground level and built up, using felled trees to build a barricade. Behind the logs, they dug a shallow trench, throwing the dirt over the logs and banking it up against the logs until they had constructed apposition about chest-high.
Confederates . . . — Map (db m7530) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Five Mile Fork — McCarty Farm — Battle of Chancellorsville - 1863 |
| | Behind you, on the Orange Turnpike, stood the home of Frances McCarty. In 1860, Frances lived here with three members of her family. She owned 120 acres, three slaves, and scratched out a living as a farmer. Like so many residents of Sptosylvania County, the McCarty household suffered the intrusion and devastation brought on by the Civil War.
On the evening of April 30, 1863, the McCarty Farm was the scene of intense activity as Confederate soldiers constructed defensive earthworks across . . . — Map (db m7531) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Five Mile Fork — Opening of the Campaign — Battle of Chancellorsville - 1863 |
| | Following its defeat at Fredericksburg in December 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac spent the winter in Stafford County. Across the Rappahannock River, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia kept a defensive position that covered a 25-mile stretch of the river. In January 1863, President Lincoln promoted General Joseph Hooker to command the army opposite Fredericksburg and charged him with the defeat of Robert E. Lee.
On April 27, Hooker sent a force across the river below . . . — Map (db m7535) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Five Mile Fork — Roads Through the Battlefield — Battle of Chancellorsville - 1863 |
| | Today, much like it was in the nineteenth century, Spotsylvania County contains very few east-west roads. The few that exist, such as Route 3 before you, are heavily used and follow the same routes as their antebellum predecessors.
The first improved east-west roadway in Spotsylvania was the Orange Turnpick, which opened in 1813. Constructed by the Swift Run Gap Turnpike Company, it followed an earlier path that stretched the 45 miles from Fredericksburg to Orange Court House. Complete with . . . — Map (db m7533) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Five Mile Fork — J-42 — Spotswood’s Furnace |
| | Four miles north, on this side road, is the site of an ancient iron furnace established about 1716 by Governor Alexander Spotswood, the first fully equipped iron furnace in the colonies. Iron was hauled along this road to the Rappahannock River for shipment. William Byrd visited the furnace in 1732 and described it. — Map (db m1659) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — A Southern Memorial |
| | The cleared vista to the left offers a framed view of a 30-foot square, 23-foot high pyramid. It marks the left of the Northern penetration into Confederate lines on Dec. 13, 1862. Federal troops under Gen. George Meade took advantage of an unprotected marshy woodland 500 yards wide, which jutted beyond the railroad tracks. Although 4500 Federals surged through the defensive line, they were soon driven out, after sustaining 40 percent casualties. R. F. & P. railroadmen used unhewn Virginia . . . — Map (db m4090) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Battle of Fredericksburg — The Slaughter Pen |
| | On December 13, 1862, Union and Confederate troops clashed here, on muddy fields dubbed the "Slaughter Pen." Union Gen. William B. Franklin had 65,000 troops, but employed only two divisions, numbering 8,000 men, under Generals George G. Meade and John Gibbon, to capture Prospect Hill - the key to the Confederate right flank. Meade penetrated a gap in the Confederate line but did not receive reinforcements in time to exploit his gains. After two failed attempts, Gibbon's men reached and . . . — Map (db m21106) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Battle of Fredericksburg — Winter War on the Rappahannock |
| | In November 1862, Union Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside led his 115,000-man army southward toward Richmond, the Confederate capital. Delayed by tardy pontoon boats, Burnside was slow to cross the Rappahannock River, which allowed Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee time to block the Union advance with his 78,000 men near Fredericksburg. On December 13, Burnside launched a two-pronged attack, the first of which was made across these fields. Despite the prospect of success, Union troops ultimately suffered . . . — Map (db m21109) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Bernard's Cabin Trail |
| | This mile-long trail leads to the site of Bernard’s Cabins. On the eve of the Civil War, these cabins (now gone) were home to as many as thirty-five slaves. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Confederates turned the terrain surrounding the cabins into an important artillery position – the focal point of violent combat between dueling cannons. — Map (db m5619) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Bernard's Cabins — The Battle of Fredericksburg |
| | On this knoll stood Bernard's Cabins, a small community that in 1860 was home to about three dozen slaves. The complex consisted of three two-room cabins, a stone-lined well, and perhaps two additional buildings. This was only one of several such clusters of slave housing scattered across the 1,800-acre "Mannsfield" estate. The men and women who lived here helped power the most prosperous plantation in the Fredericksburg area. Arthur Bernard's plantation house, "Mannsfield" (1766), stood about . . . — Map (db m7973) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — E 46 — Colonial Fort |
| | The Virginia General Assembly authorized the construction of a fort built nearby along the Rappahannock River in 1676. It served as a defensive fortification for settlers of European descent on the frontier when periodic conflicts occurred between Virginia Indians and settlers. Maj. Lawrence Smith commanded the fort. Smith had patented 6,300 acres of property with Robert Taliaferro in the region in 1666. Smith later obtained more land nearby. The fort was abandoned about 1682, when the General . . . — Map (db m1655) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Confederate Earthworks — The Battle of Fredericksburg |
| | Twisting through the woods one hundred yards ahead of you are two well-preserved lines of earthworks constructed by Confederate forces in the winter of 1862-1863. General Robert E. Lee had ordered his troops to build the trenches in anticipation of a Union Crossing of the Rappahannock River the following spring. When first built, the works stood two and one-half feet high with a ditch of like depth in the rear, allowing soldiers to stand without exposing themselves to enemy fire.
On the . . . — Map (db m19313) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — E 42 — Cox House |
| | Across the road to the northeast stood the Cox House, also known as the Wiatt House. In December 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws’s division used it as a hospital, and there on 13 December, Brig. Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb died from wounds received during the Battle of Fredericksburg. On 3 May 1863, during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early rallied his Confederate troops at the Cox House after Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick drove them off Marye’s Heights. Early . . . — Map (db m1713) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Dead Horse Hill — The Battle of Fredericksburg |
| | The crescent-shaped earthworks in front of you protected the 14 guns of Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Lindsey Walker's artillery battalion, which held this position on December 13, 1862. Prior to the assault of Union infantry, artillery blanketed this hilltop with a savage fire. So many artillery horses perished in the bombardment that local residents nicknamed this ridge "Dead Horse Hill." During the bombardment, battery commander Captain Willie Pegram struggled to keep his men to their work. . . . — Map (db m21901) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Death of Maxcy Gregg |
| | General Maxcy Gregg fell mortally wounded near this spot on December 13, 1862. Fiery and uncompromising on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, the South Carolina lawyer had been an early and ardent proponent of secession. When war came, Gregg, like many pre-war politicians, sought a place at the head of his state’s troops. Having voted to take his state out of the Union, he was willing to fight – and die – to keep it out.
When, at midday on December 13, Union troops broke . . . — Map (db m4092) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Engines of Destruction — The Battle of Fredericksburg |
| | On December 13, 1862, nine Confederate cannon on this knoll helped repulse one of two major Union attacks against Jackson's front. At noon, Union infantry crashed into the Confederate infantry line to your right-front. Captain Greenlee Davidson's cannoneers fired double rounds of canister at just 300 yards' range. "The Yankees broke ... and you never saw such a stampede in your life," Davidson wrote. Before and after this attack, Davidson's men engaged Union cannon in fierce duels. By day's . . . — Map (db m7975) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — E 84 — Fort Hood |
| | In November 1862, Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood constructed this fort a half mile northeast on the Rappahannock River in an effort to prevent Union gunboats from ascending the river toward Fredericksburg. Four rifled guns of Capt. H.M. Ross’s Georgia Battery briefly occupied the work, but were withdrawn when the Union army crossed the river upstream from here on 11 December. Two days later, during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Union troops of the Iron Brigade captured the . . . — Map (db m4123) |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Fredericksburg — Fredericksburg Campaign |
| | December 13, 1862. Here, on the wood’s edge facing the fields of the Lansdowne Valley, Gen. George Pickett’s 9,000 men, including soldiers from Fredericksburg, held a vital part of Lee’s line. The enemy did not attack Pickett’s Division and the men remained inactive, though elements of the division were later sent to reinforce the defenders of Marye’s Height. A summer’s charge near a little town called Gettysburg lay in the unknown future. — Map (db m4124) |
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