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
"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
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
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
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
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
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
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 . . . — — Map (db m3513) 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
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
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
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
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
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
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 . . . — — Map (db m3597) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m158851) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3583) 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
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
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
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
