(front): 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 11th Corps "The Hardtack Regiment" Anchor of the Buschbeck Line Near Dowdall's Tavern Battle of Chancellorsville May 2, 1863 (back): 590 present for duty 240 killed, wounded, and captured Dedicated . . . — — Map (db m5460) 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
After being driven from the Chancellorsville crossroads by Lee on May 3, 1863, Hooker retreated to a new line of defenses covering U.S. Ford, 3.5 miles to your rear. For two days, Hooker strengthened his defenses and awaited attack. Lee took . . . — — Map (db m12857) 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
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
Earthworks to your right rear mark the apex of Hooker's last line of defense. The Federals retreated to this position late in the morning of May 3, guarding the roads to Ely's and United States Fords. The defensive minded Union commander sat . . . — — Map (db m3695) 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
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 . . . — — Map (db m14514) 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
In this vicinity Brig. Gen. E. F. Paxton, C.S.A. Aged 35 years, of Rockbridge County, VA. Was killed on the morning of May 3, 1863 While leading his command, the Stonewall Brigade in the attack on Fairview — — Map (db m3607) 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
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 . . . — — Map (db m79637) 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
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. . . . — — Map (db m159169) 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 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
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
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. 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. 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 . . . — — Map (db m93585) 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
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
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
[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
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 m159164) 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
Federal soldiers of the 12th Corps built these earthworks on May 1, 1863. "Stonewall" Jackson's flank attack the following day placed them in Confederate hands. At about 6:00 a.m. on May 3, North Carolinians under William Dorsey Pender and Georgians . . . — — Map (db m5457) 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
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 . . . — — Map (db m3801) 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. Lieu't. . . . — — Map (db m3639) HM
“I at once saw the enemy outnumbered us, as they were in double lines, and extended beyond our right. I immediately asked for reinforcements, but was informed they could not be furnished. Colonel Webb, who has remained in front for some . . . — — Map (db m79639) HM
"My brigade was thrown to the left. Forming line of battle parallel to the road. I advanced in face of a severe fire to a line of breastworks from which the enemy had been driven. The contest was sharp and fierce for a few moments. I . . . — — Map (db m79638) HM
At about 7:00 a.m. on May 3, a dangerous gap in the Union line opened near the Orange Turnpike, 1/4 mile to your right. Federal troops on your right, led by Hiram Berry, retreated about 1/2 mile and established a new position. The blue-clad soldiers . . . — — Map (db m12789) 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
On this hill, May 3, 1863, Confederate General "J.E.B." Stuart was notified that General "Stonewall" Jackson had been wounded at Chancellorsville and that he was to take command of Jackson's Corps. Moments before, Stuart had ordered his 1,000 men . . . — — Map (db m3473) 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 this ridge, the Union brigade of Brig. Gen. William Hays, supported by artillery, temporarily stopped the Confederate advance across the ground below you. A member of the 12th New Jersey described what happened next: "We were in open sight, . . . — — Map (db m12794) HM
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania—this is the bloodiest landscape in North America. No place more vividly reflects the Civil War's tragic cost in all its forms. A city bombarded, bloodied, and looted. Farms . . . — — Map (db m171418) 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 . . . — — 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
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
(South Face): On this Spot fell mortally wounded Thomas J. Jackson Lt. Gen. C.S.A. May 2nd 1863 (East Face): There is Jackson standing like a stone wall Bee at Manassas. (North Face): Could I have directed events, I should have chosen for the good . . . — — Map (db m3975) HM
The effort to erect a monument at the site of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's mortal wounding began in February 1887, when Fredericksburg newspaper editor Rufus Merchant founded the Stonewall Jackson Monument Association. On June 13, 1888, a crowd of . . . — — Map (db m3977) 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 here stood the hospital tent to which the wounded "Stonewall" Jackson was brought during the Battle of Chancellorsville. In that tent his left arm was amputated on May 3, 1863. He died seven days later at Guinea. — — Map (db m3515) 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
Maj. Gen. Hiram G. Berry's division formed the front of the Union defense north of the Orange Turnpike on the morning of May 3. Although virtually all of Berry's entrenchments have disappeared, this small segment of works on the right marks the . . . — — Map (db m12785) 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
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
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 . . . — — 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
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
This trail will take you across the swampy headwaters of Ninemile Run, where for three days Confederate skirmishers of General Lafayette McLaws' division sparred with elements of Joseph Hooker's Union army. McLaws' spirited attacks fixed Hooker's . . . — — Map (db m25644) HM
Of his soldiers he was the idol; of his country he was the hope; of war he was the master. Senator John Warwick Daniel When General "Stonewall" Jackson died eight days after being wounded in these woods, shock waves rippled through the . . . — — Map (db m155621) 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
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
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
Union soldiers on the front line probably utilized these rifle pits on May 3-5. Trenches on the other side of the creek possibly served Confederate skirmishers. While the fighting raged near Salem Church, Union Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds believed . . . — — Map (db m12856) 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. . . . — — Map (db m159501) 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
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
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
After dark, May 5, 1863, Union soldiers left their trenches and began making their way toward U.S. Ford. A cold rain drenched the soldiers to the skin and turned the woodland roads to mud. At the ford, the Rappahannock River rose five feet in three . . . — — Map (db m12858) 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
The armies fought the Battle of Chancellorsville in the heart of a 70-square-mile region of tangled undergrowth known locally as the Wilderness. This inhospitable terrain added a new dimension of horror to the fighting on May 3. Fires erupted from . . . — — Map (db m5458) HM
“Until near noon on May 3rd, the fighting was severe, when the ammunition of the infantry having been exhausted and repeated calls for more being unanswered, the line was forced to retire to the breast-works. The dead and most of the . . . — — Map (db m79640) HM
On the morning of May 3, Col. Emlen Franklin's Union brigade shifted from south of the Orange Turnpike to this vicinity. Here, they met Pender and Thomas head on. Lt. Col. Jonathan H. Lockwood of the 7th Virginia (Union) remembered what happened . . . — — Map (db m12847) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m3867) 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
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
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