"We can not dedicate we can not consecrate we can not hallow this ground the brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract." The State of New Jersey merely marks the surrounding twenty . . . — — Map (db m4970) HM
(Front): 1861-1865 15th Reg't N.J. Vol's. Erected by the State of New Jersey to mark the portion of the Confederate line held by the 14th Georgia Regiment. and assaulted May 12, 1864, by the 15th Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, . . . — — Map (db m181511) HM
The first combat in the Civil War between United
States Colored Troops and Confederates north of
the James River occurred near here. On 15 May
1864, Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Rosser pushed
forward a cavalry detachment along Catharpin
Road . . . — — Map (db m75706) HM
3rd Brigade, 1st Div., 12th Corps Held this position from 7 p.m. May 2nd to 9 a.m. May 3rd, 1863. Present for duty 300 Killed 36, Wounded 114 ——— Mustered in Aug. 1861, Mustered out Sept. 1864 Total enrollment 1,101. Killed 172. ——— Brown S. History . . . — — Map (db m159501) HM
(Front): 49th N.Y. Inf'y 3rd Brig. 2d Div. 6th Corps. Held this position May 12, 1864. (Left):The muffled drums sad roll has beat. The soldiers last tattoo. No more on life's parade shall meet that brave and fallen few. On fame's . . . — — Map (db m10312) HM
(West Side): Dedicated to the memory of the gallant 126th Reg't O.V.I. commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Smith and Lieut. Colonel Aaron W. Ebright 2nd Brigade 3rd Division 6th Army Corps. Army of the Potomac (North Side):Ohio's . . . — — Map (db m10314) 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 . . . — — Map (db m3583) HM
Despite heavy damage from the war, the Courthouse was repaired and continued to serve the local citizens. In 1876, a belfrey and bell were added. By 1900, the Courthouse was in a serious state of disrepair. The Commissioners undertook repairs . . . — — Map (db m216695) HM
At 2 a.m. on May 13, 1864, General Lee declared a new line of works a half mile behind you ready, and the Confederate troops in the trenches here quietly withdrew. They had bought the Confederacy what it most needed that day: time. But every . . . — — Map (db m66230) HM
Berea Church was initially used as a field hospital during the battles for Spotsylvania Court House as fighting raged on the Brock Road on May 8th. On May 11th, the church became the headquarters of General Jubal Early. On May 13th, the area came . . . — — Map (db m293974) HM
A short distance southeast is the site of the George Arnold House where Bishop Francis Asbury died, March 31, 1816. Asbury, born in England in 1745, came to America in 1771 and labored here until his death. He was ordained one of the first two . . . — — Map (db m1723) HM
Here lies Edgar and Ann Harrison along with the daughters Ellen and Maria. Edgar was born in 1829 in King and Queen, Virginia. He married Ann Marie Smith Goodwin in Fredericksburg in 1851. Edgar was a farmer by occupation. In 1858 with the help . . . — — Map (db m148422) HM
Like Lee, General Ulysses S. Grant recognized the Muleshoe’s weakness and made plans to exploit it. On May 12, just after dawn, 20,000 men of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps stormed across the field in front of you—from left to . . . — — Map (db m66223) HM
In 1834, an organization known as the Reforming Congregation of Disciples built a church between the old Spotsylvania Courthouse and the Block House.
The group was part of the broader Restoration Movement, which emphasized a return to . . . — — Map (db m294154) HM
Softball and baseball were played by Spotsylvania’s African American children, teens and young adults in back yards, on church grounds and in open fields. Some, such as Layton Fairchild, Sr. (right), grew up playing baseball and were . . . — — Map (db m84599) HM
From May 8-18, 1864, Union troops battered Gen. Robert E. Lee's lines at Spotsylvania Court House. Unable to defeat the Confederates by direct assault, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant determined to head south, drawing Lee out of his Spotsylvania . . . — — Map (db m294139) HM
May 12 - 18, 1864, between the armies of Lee and Grant is unmatched for its display of unyielding heroism and devotion to duty and principle. Here thousands of valorous men, fighting with bayonets and clubbed muskets, wrote their imperishable . . . — — Map (db m3665) HM
"Nothing in history equals this contest. Desperate, long and deadly, it still goes on. From morn till night, nor ends the carnage there -- all night it goes on too. I cannot tell you any of the particulars. You could not understand it. I do not . . . — — Map (db m10708) HM
The ground before you was hotly contested for two full weeks during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. From May 8 to May 21, 1864, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sought to drive the Confederates from their earthworks and cripple Gen. Robert E. . . . — — Map (db m78955) HM
In 1864, the field in front of you was partially forested. On May 8, Union cavalry galloped across this land to attack Spotsylvania Court House itself but soon came scrambling back in retreat.
At 4:35 A.M. on May 12, while almost 20,000 Union . . . — — Map (db m73749) HM
The images displayed are those of soldiers killed in Spotsylvania, identified, and buried here. They were of different ages, regionally from other states, and of diverse rank. All met their fate on the field of battle. To learn more, choose a name . . . — — Map (db m183692) HM
In 1832 the process of starting a new church began when an organization known as the Reforming Congregation of Disciples chose a group of trustees to select a site. The group chose Berea Christian Church as the new name after Berea, an ancient . . . — — Map (db m293973) 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 m295270) HM
Fighting at the Muleshoe Salient focused on a slight turn in the Confederate earthworks, to your right-front, known as the “Bloody Angle.” The Angle occupied a small knoll that commanded adjacent parts of the Confederate line. Whoever . . . — — Map (db m66224) 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 . . . — — Map (db m295258) 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 . . . — — Map (db m3579) HM
To the Glory of God
and
In loving memory of
The Rev. Arthur E. Booth
by whose devoted and untiring efforts
this Parish House was erected — — Map (db m3947) HM
Before dawn on May 12, 1864, 20,000 Union troops of General Winfield Hancock's Second Corps slogged into position at the Brown House, one-half mile to your left, preparatory to making an attack on the Confederate-held Muleshoe Salient. Tired from . . . — — Map (db m52965) HM
Samuel Alsop Jr., a wealthy builder and enslaver, acquired the "Locust Inn" tavern near the current Spotsylvania Courthouse in 1813.
When Alsop bought the business, it was already a popular stopping point for travelers. Dining and entertainment . . . — — Map (db m294080) HM
Once owned by renowned builder Samuel Alsop Jr., this site is the final resting place for many of his family members, as well as members and friends of Berea Christian Church. Among those buried here are:
Samuel Alsop Jr.
March 1776 - Oct. . . . — — Map (db m294088) HM
At battle's end, more than 2,000 Union dead lay scattered through the Wilderness. The first major effort to bury the dead came more than a year later, when a Union regiment received orders to proceed to the Wilderness and inter those Union . . . — — Map (db m155886) HM
"The county jail is now nearly completed, and ready for the reception of ...boarders...Persons taking quarters will be able to resist all attacks of burglars, and as far as burglars are concerned, may enjoy their slumbers in the . . . — — Map (db m148417) 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 m295275) HM
On December 31, 1855, Joseph Sanford and his wife Agnes sold the tract of land across from the Courthouse and the Spotswood Inn (also owned by Sanford) to Dr. J. Edgar Chancellor. The deed had restrictions; Sanford was to have the use and . . . — — Map (db m294069) 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
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
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 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. 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 . . . — — Map (db m295205) 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, . . . — — Map (db m295206) 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 m295217) 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 . . . — — Map (db m295221) 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. . . . — — Map (db m295222) 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 m295223) 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 m295224) 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 . . . — — Map (db m295261) 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 m295263) 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 . . . — — Map (db m295277) 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 . . . — — Map (db m295278) 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 m295280) 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 . . . — — Map (db m295281) 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 m296480) HM
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 shattered left arm was amputated here early on May 3. He was then . . . — — Map (db m295216) 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 m295195) HM
On the ridge ahead of you stood the Chewning house, an important landmark on the Wilderness Battlefield. Sixty-nine-year-old William V. Chewning scratched out a living on this 150-acre farm during the war with the help of his wife Permelia and their . . . — — Map (db m7454) HM
The gentle mounds that meander through Spotsylvania Court House battlefield once looked like the reconstructed earthwork in front of you. The armies built more than 12 miles of trenches here, using whatever tools they could find. Lee's last line, . . . — — Map (db m10282) HM
This cemetery is the final resting place for six Civil War veterans. Only three of the six have military style headstones.
Charles Chewning, 9th VA. Cavalry. Private Chewning received a sabre wound to his left thigh at Second Manassas in . . . — — Map (db m155962) HM
This cemetery is the final resting place for six Civil War veterans. Only three of the six have military-style headstones.
Charles Chewning, 9th Virginia Cavalry. Private Chewning received a sabre wound to his left thigh at Second Manassas . . . — — Map (db m216685) HM
The Battle of the Wilderness climaxed here in the twilight of May 6, 1864. After a day of seesaw fighting in the woods behind you, the Confederates mounted a final effort to take the Plank Road-Brock Road intersection, 100 yards to your left. . . . — — Map (db m7529) HM
Erected to mark the line of battle of the 114th Reg't. Pennsylvania Vol's. on the memorable 3rd day of May 1863, where it lost 3 officers and 35 enlisted men killed
List of Killed
Major Joseph S. Chandler • Captain Frank Eliot, Co. F. • . . . — — Map (db m295219) WM
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 m295213) HM
Confederate General Richard S. Ewell responded quickly to Upton’s breakthrough at Dole’s Salient. Wading into the melee, he shouted to the outnumbered defenders: “Don’t run, boys. I will have enough men here in five minutes to eat up every . . . — — Map (db m66232) HM
These modest mounds are all that remain of the Muleshoe Salient’s once-formidable earthworks. Begun by the Confederates on the night of May 8, the works were four feet high, with a two-foot-deep trench. Dirt from the trench was thrown against the . . . — — Map (db m66229) HM
The landscape in front of you bears vivid testimony to the nature of fighting here in May 1864. At Spotsylvania, not only did soldiers build stout dirt and log works to protect them from fire in front, but they also built shorter trenches called . . . — — Map (db m10404) HM
Erected and dedicated May 12, 1918, by the Spotsylvania Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, Confederated Southern Memorial Association and citizens of Spotsylvania County, to commemorate and perpetuate the valor and patriotism of the . . . — — Map (db m10436) WM
The trenches in front of you belonged to General James H. Lane’s North Carolina brigade. Shortly after dawn, May 12, Union forces captured the East Angle, one-half mile behind you, and bore down on Lane’s men in this part of the Muleshoe Salient. . . . — — Map (db m66233) HM
In March of 1909, George W. Perry acquired the corner store. George was born in Spotsylvania in 1857. He was the son of John M. Perry and Martha Virginia Chewning. In 1885, he married Martha Thompkins in Richmond. She died two years later and he . . . — — Map (db m148380) HM
The site that houses Spotsylvania's sprawling courthouse complex didn't always serve as county seat.
In 1838, a fire destroyed the county's courthouse along the Po River, about 2½ miles west of here. Enter Lewis Rawlings, the enterprising owner . . . — — Map (db m294081) HM
In 1924, tragedy stuck the Powell family. Peter Powell's brother, Dr. Robert Powell was shot to death by his neighbor, Charles Kendall, who was arrested and charged with with first degree murder. During the trial, it was revealed that Kendall's . . . — — Map (db m293966) HM
Here on the morning of May 6, 1864, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army faced perhaps their greatest crisis. Soon after dawn, hundreds of disorganized Confederates tumbled from the woods to your left, driven by a powerful Union . . . — — Map (db m6058) HM
In the dank, pre-dawn light of May 12, 1864, Confederates huddled along these muddy works could hear the rumble of Union troops coming toward them. Moments later the first of 20,000 Union soldiers poured over the works like a wave, engaging . . . — — Map (db m66227) HM
Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Corps, was one of the most popular senior officers in the Army of the Potomac. On the morning of May 9, 1864, Sedgwick arrived here to direct some minor redeployment of his troops. Ignoring warnings . . . — — Map (db m181509) HM
Sedgwick was essentially a soldier. He had never married; the camp was his home, and the members of his staff were his family. He was always spoken of familiarly as “Uncle John,” and the news of his death fell upon his comrades with a sense of . . . — — Map (db m66217) HM
A Different Kind of War With the 1864 Overland Campaign, the war in Virginia changed. The old pattern of fight, retreat, and rest yielded to Ulysses S. Grant's relentless maneuvering and fighting. Attacked in superior force by an incessant foe, . . . — — Map (db m10716) HM
In December 1855, Courthouse-area tavern owner Joseph Sanford sold a tract across from the courthouse to Dr. James Edgar Chancellor, a Spotsylvania County native who had studied at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and Jefferson Medical . . . — — Map (db m294067) HM
These gentile mounds are all that remain of the formidable earthworks held by George Doles' Georgia Brigade. The trenches running perpendicular to the main line are called traverses and made these works appear like a series of three-sided roofless . . . — — Map (db m300074) HM
Once schoolmates, friends, and neighbors, they came here as soldiers from Yorkville, South Carolina; Pen Yan, New York; Clarksville, Virginia; Barre, Vermont; and a hundred other towns, North and South. Their deaths in these woods on May 5 and 6, . . . — — Map (db m155885) HM
Education was the responsibility of parents and churches until after the Civil War. Wealthier families hired tutors or sent their children to private schools. Poor children often learned a trade and received a basic education as apprentices.
In . . . — — Map (db m3710) HM
On 19 May 1864 Confederate forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell attacked Brig. Gen. Robert O. Tyler's heavy artillery division on the Union right flank near the Harris farm, Bloomsbury, about one-quarter mile northwest. Newly arrived from . . . — — Map (db m3656) HM
Before the creation of cemetery corporations, the remains of Spotsylvania's early citizens were buried according to location and/or their wishes. If the Church permitted, they could be buried in the church graveyard or if the male head of the family . . . — — Map (db m230685) HM
On May 12, 1864, the pastures, potato patches, and crop-lots of Willis Landram's farm would become North America's most notorious killing field. Just before dawn, 20,000 Union soldiers swarmed past the Landram house toward the main Confederate . . . — — Map (db m10317) HM
The sharp turn in the Confederate works here is called the “East Angle.” It marks the apex of the Muleshoe Salient and was one of the most vulnerable points on Lee’s line. Lee fortified the place heavily and placed upwards of 30 cannon . . . — — Map (db m66226) 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 m295210) HM
On the night of May 2, 1863, Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (top right) was severely wounded by accidental friendly fire near Chancellorsville. After Jackson's left arm was amputated at an Army hospital near Wilderness Church, the . . . — — Map (db m293950) HM
Throughout May 12, Confederates here waged a battle for critical minutes and hours. When Union troops swarmed over the east face of the Muleshoe Salient before dawn, Robert E. Lee knew instantly that the position – even if regained . . . — — Map (db m23847) HM
After Lt. General Thomas Johnson "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded at Chancellorsville on May 2nd, 1863, he was taken to an Army hospital near Wilderness Church where his left arm was amputated. Fearing his capture, Lee ordered his move south to . . . — — Map (db m293953) 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
The site chosen for the Confederate Cemetery was outside of the earthworks erected by the Confederates as part of their defensive line protecting the crossroads and Courthouse at Spotsylvania. The burial ground contains the remains of approximately . . . — — Map (db m183682) HM
In commemoration of the deeds of the First Regiment Heavy Artillery Massachusetts Volunteers (Armed as Infantry) Three hundred and ninety eight of whose members fell within an hour around this spot during an action fought May 13, 1864 Between a . . . — — Map (db m155952) HM
On May 4, 1864, Union Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero, leader of the all-Black 4th Division, Ninth Army Corps, was ordered by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to defend the supply train crossing the Rapidan River at Germanna Ford ahead of the Battle of the . . . — — Map (db m297209) HM
As the Great Depression plunged the United States into financial devastation, the Ladies Memorial Association of Spotsylvania dug in their heels and resolved to continue their mission. On February 26, 1929, Congress authorized legislation that the . . . — — Map (db m183694) HM
Like his father before him, Samuel Powell became involved in politics. In 1906, he served as a Representative on the Republican Committee and in that same year, lost his run for chairman to R.C. Blaydes. In 1910, he lost to Blaydes again. Powell . . . — — Map (db m216694) HM
These woods saw some of the heaviest fighting of the Battle of the Wilderness. On May 5, then again on May 6, 1864 ragged Union and Confederate battle lines surged back and forth on both sides of the Orange Plank Road. The stalemate here finally . . . — — Map (db m5390) 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 m288328) HM
In memory of
Sophia M. Silva 1980 - 1996
Kathryn "Kati" N. Lisk 1984 - 1997
Kristen M. Lisk 1982 - 1997
they were taken from us too soon. — — Map (db m3671) HM
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