| 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) |
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