What's Happening?
CHANCELLORSVILLE
About Chancellorsville
On April 27, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker led the V, XI, and XII Corps on a campaign to turn the Confederate left flank by crossing the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers above Fredericksburg. May 2, Lt. Gen. T.J. Jackson directed his corps on a march against the Federal left flank, which was reported to be “hanging in the air." This battle was considered by many historians to be Lee’s greatest victory. CVBT has preserved many of the core portions of this battlefield.
Battlefield Ground Saved
5 acres
Stonewall Jackson Flank Attack - 2 lots totaling 5 acres,1998 (sold to NPS)
.854 acres
Orange Plank Road - .854 acre tract; 2000 (CVBT retained)
5 acres
Nine Mile Run, Johnson tract - 5 acres, 1999 (CVBT retained)
99 acres
McLaw's Wedge - 99 acres, 1998
6.5 acres
Warren tract - 6.5 acres, 2002 (CVBT retained)
9.2 acres
Stonewall Brigade Tract - December 2012 - 9.2 acres, sold to CVBT for $264,400.
5 acres
Talley Farm - 5 acre tract; 1999 (CVBT retained)
5.1 acres
Chancellorsville, Flank Attack area, south of Plank Road - 5.1 acres
16.4 acres
Talley Farm Ridge - 16.4 acres - 2005
13 acres
Rodes-Doles - 13 acres 2012
1.1 acres
David B. Kinney Tract - 1.1 acres 2016
335 acres
Chancellorsville-Wilderness Crossroads 2016 Joint effort with CWT
Historical Significance
1.2 acres
Beckham Tract 1.2 acres - 2021
Chancellorsville Day One
Understanding the battle of Chancellorsville requires an understanding of the first day’s fighting. In the opening stages of the campaign, the Union Army stole a march on the Confederates when it swung far to the west and crossed both the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers.
McLaw's Wedge
General Lafayette McLaws' Confederates skirmished across these fields, then covered by forests, on May 2, 1863, during the Battle of Chancellorsville. McLaws' men pinned Major General Winfield Hancock's division to its works, giving Stonewall Jackson time to turn the Union Army's right flank.
Beckham Tract
Two guns from the Stuart Horse Artillery under the command of Major Robert F. Beckham rolled along the Orange Turnpike, taking advantage of the rises of high ground on the roadbed to blast projectiles into the camps and fleeing Union soldiers. The tactics employed by the Stuart Horse Artillery had been perfected by Major John Pelham and used with great effect on battlefields like Antietam and Fredericksburg. After Pelham’s mortal wounding at Kelly’s Ford in March 1863, Major Beckham had been transferred to command the highly mobile guns. At Chancellorsville, he kept the guns moving at the infantry’s pace and firing regularly into the Union camps and fleeing groups.
Rhodes-Doles
Part of "Stonewall" Jacksons famed flank attack. CVBT Board Member Robert K. Krick has called this acquisition: "A spectacular preservation achievement - the most important CVBT accomplishment in many years. In the midst of Stonewall Jackson's flank attack, does much to guarantee the survival of the historic setting for future generations."
Jackson's Flank Attack
The historic significance of this newly acquired dirt and grass is related to battle action on the afternoon of May 2, 1863. The Union Eleventh Corps, as the far right of the Union army, held a line running along the Orange Turnpike. The Federal command’s inattention, however, left these formations poorly deployed and unsupported. These deficiencies became all too apparent when the Confederates struck.
