Near Fredericksburg in Spotsylvania County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
First Day at Chancellorsville
Absalom McGee House
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, August 3, 2014
1. First Day at Chancellorsville Marker
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 this rise. McGee's family took shelter in the cellar as Union wounded filled the rest of the house. The medical team tore down McGee's stair rail to better reach the upper rooms, and removed his doors and used them as operating tables.
Before and after the Battle of Chancellorsville, Absalom McGee's Unionist stance was a burden for his family. He regularly hid in the woods and stealthily slipped into his house at night, but Absalom was still imprisoned by Southerners on three occasions. According to his wife, Frances, "The rebels first took Mr. McGee in the night when I had just given birth to a child. They threatened to kill my husband at the time they took him which so excited me that I came very near dying and my child died in consequence."
(captions)
(lower left) Surgeon John Shaw Billings managed the Federal field hospitals here. After the war he assembled the library that would become the National Library of Medicine. Courtesy National Library of Medicine
(right) Zouave soldiers were photographed staging an ambulance drill in Virginia.
this page online
Erected by Virginia Civil War Trails, Civil War Trust.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Science & Medicine • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Civil War Trails series list. A significant day of the year for for this entry is May 1.
Location. 38° 18.066′ N, 77° 36.781′ W. Marker is near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in Spotsylvania County. It can be reached from Plank Road (Virginia Route 3) 0.8 miles west of Corter Avenue, on the right when traveling west. Located along the Lick Run Battlefield trail. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6161 Plank Road, Fredericksburg VA 22407, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area, in Northern Virginia, and in the Piedmont. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A different marker also named First Day at Chancellorsville (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named First Day at Chancellorsville (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Chancellorsville Campaign (about 800 feet away); a different marker also named First Day at Chancellorsville (approx. 0.3 miles away); McLaws Trail (approx. 0.3 miles away); a different
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, August 3, 2014
2. First Day at Chancellorsville Marker
Also see . . . Chancellorsville. American Battlefield Trust (Submitted on August 4, 2014.)
Photographed by Bill Coughlin, April 19, 2023
3. First Day at Chancellorsville Marker
Photographed by Brady, circa 1863
4. John Shaw Billings
Photographed by William Frank Browne, circa 1863
5. Ambulance Corps. Method of removing wounded from the field
Library of Congress [LC-DIG-cwpb-01327]
Credits. This page was last revised on April 24, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 4, 2014, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 786 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 4, 2014, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. 3. submitted on April 22, 2023, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. 4, 5. submitted on August 4, 2014, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.
