In December 1862 the Wellford family fled Fredericksburg to escape the ravages of battle. Five months later war found them again - here, in a commodious brick home that stood in the field in front of you. On April 30, Union troops arrived. "About . . . — — Map (db m3919) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m155612) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3511) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m14514) HM
In 1816, an innkeeper named George Chancellor announced that his “large and commodious” roadside inn, named Chancellorsville, was open. By the 1860’s the inn had gone out of operation, as central Virginia became a vast battleground. Headquarters for . . . — — Map (db m159169) HM
Following “Stonewall Jackson’s” successful flank attack and his subsequent wounding on the night of May 2nd, Lee appointed Major General “Jeb” Stuart to command Jackson’s Corps. Faced with an imminent threat from the direction of . . . — — Map (db m79637) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m159157) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m159158) HM
Early on May 3, 1863, elements of Howard's battered XI Corps retired to this vicinity. As the battle swirled around the Chancellorsville crossroads, one mile to the southwest. Howard's men hastily dug and constructed lines of rifle pits and . . . — — Map (db m126607) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m181506) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m181507) HM
Federal earthworks we’re erected here along the Mineral Spring Road on May 2, 1863. They anchored on the Rappahannock River to the northeast and extended to the southwest apex on Ely’s Ford Road. This line was backed up by a second and third line of . . . — — Map (db m192277) HM
By May 5, 1863, Union General Joseph Hooker knew that he had lost the Battle of Chancellorsville and faced the necessity of retreating across the Rappahannock. Troops of the Federal Fifth Corps dug trenches that stretched a mile on either side of . . . — — Map (db m192279) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3559) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3785) HM
In the spring of 1863, Chancellorsville was the home of Mrs. Sanford Chancellor and seven of her children. The old inn hosted a steady flow of Southern military men as soldiers and officers from Lee’s army stopped to pay their compliments to Mrs. . . . — — Map (db m159165) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m158926) HM
Among the Union troops facing the closing grip of Confederate forces were the experienced veterans of the 5th New York Infantry and the novice soldiers of the 146th New York Infantry. The Confederates, however, did not discriminate between “green” . . . — — Map (db m158939) HM
The Civil War in Spotsylvania County is steeped in McGee family history. Reuben McGee, the patriarch, lived behind you on the opposite side of Lick Run. Among Reuben McGee's five sons were one ardent Confederate (Reuben McGee, Jr.), two Southern . . . — — Map (db m75954) HM
The shell(s) fell pretty thick around me at first but that soon stopped and I went on operating." — Surgeon John Shaw Billings
As the Union army fell back, the structures atop this ridge made convenient targets for Confederate . . . — — Map (db m75955) HM
They tore up five of our sheets and about 12 dresses and undergarments into strips for bandage. — Harriet McGee
Union Surgeon John Shaw Billings moved his field hospital to the relative safety of Absalom McGee's house, which stood on . . . — — Map (db m75956) HM
The Rebel Band plays in the distance a triumphant air, as if to mock the sorrow of my heart. — Friedrich Emil Grossman, USA
As the sun dipped below the horizon in front of them, Confederate generals disagreed on whether to advance to . . . — — Map (db m75957) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m158884) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m158920) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m11419) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m11421) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m11425) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m11431) HM
While General Robert E. Lee engaged the Union army at Chancellorsville, Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early confronted a smaller Union force led by Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick at Fredericksburg. On 3 May 1863, Sedgwick overran Early’s lines at Marye’s . . . — — Map (db m137175) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3800) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3633) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3645) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3646) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3599) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3606) HM
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. . . . — — Map (db m3517) HM
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. . . . — — Map (db m3552) HM
Jackson's marching soldiers filled this narrow road from shoulder to shoulder making it slow and tedious work for any mounted officer to pass along the column. One of Stonewall's aides, Captain James Power Smith, attempted to catch up to the General . . . — — Map (db m3920) HM
Jackson's most direct route toward the enemy's flank lay in the right turn onto the Brock Road here. Instead of following that route he turned left, or southward, proceeded a quarter of a mile, and then turned right into a parallel woods road. This . . . — — Map (db m3921) HM
May 2, 1863. Deluding the enemy was the secret of Jackson's success. Since his troops had been observed from Federal signal stations as they marched across the front of Hooker's army, he turned them south on the Brock Road to create the impression . . . — — Map (db m3927) HM
If a balloonist had been high overhead, Jackson's column might have resembled a huge serpent as it wound through the forest. Closer up, it became thousands of marchers in worn battle dress. From this point, they stretched back about six miles to the . . . — — Map (db m3929) HM
May 2, 1863. Hour by hour, the long gray columns of Jackson's Corps splashed through the shallow ford here, which was not stone-paved then, stirring the crossing into a mud hole. Before the water of this branch of Poplar Run ran clear again in its . . . — — Map (db m3931) HM
"Stonewall" Jackson's way here was a woodland road west of and parallel to the Brock Road. This park trail approximates the old appearance. No tar, asphalt, or cement highway existed in the 1860's. Even the best of that time, the stone turnpikes and . . . — — Map (db m3932) HM
May 2, 1863. The head of Jackson's column reached this point about 12:30 p.m. Eight miles away, the rear , under fire of Federal guns, was closing up near the Catharine Furnace. Jackson planned to turn the column right onto the Plank Road (1 mile . . . — — Map (db m3934) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3906) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3954) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m14681) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m15151) HM
May 3-6, 1863. About noon on May 3, Hooker’s army fell back to a new position covering the roads to Ely’s and United States fords. With the center here, the right of his line rested on the Rapidan and the left on the Rappahannock. On May 4, Hooker’s . . . — — Map (db m155623) HM
May 3-6, 1863. The Confederate trench remains crossing the Bullock Road at this point mark a line held by “Stonewall” Jackson’s Corps after the severe fighting of May 3. Jackson’s forces, now commanded by “Jeb” Stuart, held Hooker’s army within its . . . — — Map (db m93585) HM
[Marker is a map of the battlefield. Captions are below:]
While A.P. Hill's Division moved up to take over Jackson's front line, Rodes' and Colston's divisions, intermingled by their rapid advance, fell back to regroup.
Jackson's . . . — — Map (db m171420) HM
Hooker Marches
April 27 - May 1, 1863
In late April 1863, the Union army crossed the Rappahannock River, this time above Fredericksburg. Though outnumbered, Confederate General Robert E. Lee met the Union columns in the woods and fields . . . — — Map (db m171421) HM
Maj. Gen. Sedgwick's Sixth Corps 23,000 troops with many wounded and dying in tow. Retreated to this area in the early morning hours on May 5th after several days of fighting elements of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, first at . . . — — Map (db m216710) HM
On January 25, 1863, Union general Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker replaced Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside as the fifth commander of the demoralized eastern armies in less than two years. On taking charge of the Army of the Potomac, Hooker implemented . . . — — Map (db m154485) HM
This photograph was taken shortly after the Confederates in the foreground were killed on May 3, 1863. This graphic depiction of the human debris of battle is one of the most revealing post-battle photos from the Civil War years, because it was . . . — — Map (db m93583) HM
General Lee conferred with some of his officers here at the start of the Chancellorsville Campaign. A few days later, Union soldiers overran Lee’s Hill.
Report on the action at Lee’s Hill by Colonel Henry Coalter Cabell commanding artillery . . . — — Map (db m4182) HM
Here, in the Jones family cemetery, lie the remains of “Stonewall” Jackson’s left arm. The Confederate general lost the limb during the Battle of Chancellorsville, where he was mistakenly shot by his own troops. Surgeons removed the . . . — — Map (db m157352) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m159166) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m7532) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m7530) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3691) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3818) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3697) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m7531) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m7535) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m7533) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m5618) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3690) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3579) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m155613) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m112313) HM
From the time of its earliest settlement, this region was known as "The Wilderness of Spotsylvania" because of its dense thickets and poor soil. Locals called the countryside just west of the Wilderness "The Poison Fields." High concentrations of . . . — — Map (db m3603) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3618) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3638) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m21934) HM
Long after the Civil War, Sergeant Rice Bull of the 123rd New York Volunteers remembered the early morning hours of May 3, 1863. "Never was there a more beautiful sunrise," he wrote, "not a cloud in the sky. It was an ideal Sunday morning, warm and . . . — — Map (db m112311) HM
The stone stack in front of you is all that remains of the Catharine Furnace, built in 1837. Closed a decade later, the furnace was reborn to meet the Confederacy’s wartime need for iron. Union cavalrymen under General George A. Custer destroyed . . . — — Map (db m158840) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m3642) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3978) HM
The monument across the road marks where General Elisha Franklin Paxton, commander of the famed Stonewall Brigade, fell on May 3, 1863. Before the war, Frank Paxton had practiced law in "Stonewall" Jackson's hometown of Lexington, Virginia. When, in . . . — — Map (db m155624) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3641) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3643) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m158943) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3610) HM
This trail leads to Fairview, a key Union position. The fighting that occurred between here and Fairview on May 3, 1863, was some of the most desperate of the war—exceeding, for the time engaged, both Antietam and Gettysburg. Signs along the trail . . . — — Map (db m112316) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3637) HM
"You can go forward then." With those words "Stonewall" Jackson unleashed one of the most famous and successful attacks of the Civil War. On the afternoon of May 2, 1862, Jackson led 30,000 men of his Second Corps to a point just beyond the Union . . . — — Map (db m3941) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3585) HM
Shortly after 8 a.m., May 2, "Stonewall" Jackson's corps marched down the hill behind you and passed Catharine Furnace, bound for the Union Army's right flank. When the Federals spotted Jackson's column, they assumed the Confederates were . . . — — Map (db m3604) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3636) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m3617) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m21933) HM
Civil war combat rarely continued after dark, but on the night of May 2, 1863, desperation and fear filled these gloomy woods. At midnight, about 3,000 Union soldiers of Brigadier General David B. Birney's division moved through these woods, intent . . . — — Map (db m112310) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m3640) HM
That evening, as the fighting subsided, Confederate officers reassembled their commands in the clearing surrounding Wilderness Church, one-half mile in front of you. The attack had taken a heavy toll on the army's organization. Units had become . . . — — Map (db m3938) HM
The target of Jackson's attack was General Oliver O. Howard's Eleventh Corps, which extended for more than a mile along the Orange Turnpike. The Eleventh Corps was relatively new to the Army of the Potomac. Its 11,000 men included a large . . . — — Map (db m3939) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m21931) HM