| 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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) |
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