CHANCELLORSVILLE
1863
In the meanwhile, General Lee’s soldiers across the Rappahannock river
suffered greatly for want of proper food and clothing during the long
cold winter. The appeals of their beloved commander to the Confederate
government were not heeded; but the soldiers endured their privations
with great fortitude and when spring arrived, they were ready for the
coming great battle with the army of “Fighting Joe Hooker.”
On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, there was a cavalry engagement at
Kelly’s Ford, near Culpeper, where General Fitz Lee won a remarkable
victory over a large force of Federal cavalry under Brigadier-General
Averell. Lee, who was stationed at Culpeper, had only about 800 men to
meet more than 2,000 Federals, but he disposed his forces with such
skill and fought so stubbornly that Averell, in spite of the fact that
he had a large force in reserve, was unable to break Lee’s thin lines
and retreated across the river.
General Stuart happened to be at Culpeper, attending a court martial,
when this engagement occurred. He saw how skillfully Lee was handling
the situation and unselfishly refused to assume command, wishing his
able brigadier general to win all the glory of repulsing such a large
force.
In this battle, John Pelham, Stuart’s young chief of artillery of whom
we have so often spoken, was killed. He had accompanied Stuart to
Culpeper, merely on a visit of pleasure, but when he heard the call of
Confederate artillery, even though it was not his own guns, he
immediately went forward to take part in the engagement. Borrowing a
horse from Bob Sweeny, he hurried to the battle ground. He rushed into
the thickest of the fray, to rally a regiment that was beginning to
waver.
Just as he shouted, “Forward, boys! forward to victory and glory!” he
was mortally wounded by a fragment of a shell.
The whole South mourned the death of this young hero. James R. Randall,
the author of “Maryland, My Maryland,” said of him:
“Gentlest and bravest in the battle brunt,
The Champion of the Truth,
He bore the banner to the very front
Of our immortal youth.”
His body was carried to Richmond and lay in state in the Capitol, until
it could be borne under proper military escort to his native state,
Alabama. Stuart, who loved Pelham like a son, went to Richmond to be
present at the funeral.
When he wrote Mrs. Stuart of the young hero’s death, he said, “His
record is complete and it is spotless and noble. His character pure and
his disposition as sweet and innocent as our child.” The general had a
strong personal affection for the young men of his staff and the death
of Pelham was as great a grief to Stuart as it was a loss to the army.
Stuart’s men and horses were greatly weakened by the heavy and almost
constant skirmishes, picket duty, and raids in which they had been
engaged since the fall. On the other hand, the Federal cavalry, just
reorganized into one splendid corps under the command of Major-General
George Stoneman, was in better condition than ever before. General
Hooker depended upon this large and finely-equipped force to open a
campaign which would prove fatal to General Lee’s army.
General Stoneman was ordered to cross the Rappahannock river at one of
the fords in Culpeper county and, after dispersing the small force of
Confederate cavalry in that vicinity, to proceed toward Richmond,
destroying the Central Railroad, capturing all supply stations, and
doing all possible damage along the Pamunkey river. He was then to
proceed to the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, and by breaking up
that road and burning certain bridges, to cut General Lee’s army off
from Richmond. As soon as Stoneman started on his raid, the “Grand
Army,” as it was called, under General Hooker himself, was to move to
Chancellorsville about ten miles southwest of Fredericksburg. Thus
General Lee was to be forced to come out of his entrenched position and
to give battle on ground of Hooker’s own choosing.
Several bodies of Federal cavalry tried to cross at various fords on the
Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, but were repulsed by small bodies of
watchful Confederate pickets. The rivers were now rising rapidly from
the usual spring rains, and the Rappahannock became so swollen that the
advance of Stoneman was checked for two weeks. Many of Stuart’s troopers
were absent for various reasons and he had only about two thousand men
with whom to guard the fords and to cover a front of more than fifty
miles.
On the afternoon of April 24, three corps of Federal infantry appeared
at Kelly’s Ford. A strong party crossed in boats and drove the pickets
from the ford. They then laid a pontoon bridge; and during the night,
the Twelfth Army Corps passed to the southern shore. The next morning,
Stuart learned that the entire Grand Army was on the move. He
telegraphed this information to General Lee who ordered Stuart at once
to swing around the Federal divisions that had crossed the river and
join him at Fredericksburg. General W. H. F. Lee with only two
regiments—a small force but all that could be spared—was sent to protect
the Central Railroad from Stoneman’s cavalry.
[Illustration: From a war-time photograph
A PONTOON BRIDGE
Made by laying timbers on wooden or canvas boats]
Stuart, skirmishing day and night with the Federal cavalry, marched
rapidly to the help of Lee. As the cavalry passed at night through the
dark forest lighted only by the faint rays of a crescent moon, they had
frequent alarms and several encounters with small forces of the Federal
cavalry already posted in the woods.
At one time, Stuart, accompanied by only a few officers of his staff,
was riding some distance ahead of his brigade, and met such a large
Federal force that he was compelled to take flight. Later, when riding
at the head of a regiment that he had called up as an advance guard, he
suddenly encountered several regiments of hostile cavalry drawn up
across a field in line of battle. Stuart’s small force became
panic-stricken. All efforts of the general to rally his men were in vain
and he was compelled a second time to retreat hastily. It seemed for a
time that he would be cut off from his forces, but Colonel Munford came
up with his regiment, charged gallantly, captured most of the attacking
Federals, and left the road again open. Several such skirmishes occurred
and the troops were rendered almost panic-stricken by these unlooked-for
attacks. In the darkness, they often fired on each other instead of on
their foe, and they feared an ambush at each turn of the road.
Altogether, it was a march of doubt and danger, but they finally reached
Lee’s army without serious loss.
Chancellorsville, to which place the main army of General Hooker was
being moved, was not a town, but merely a large farmhouse surrounded by
the usual outbuildings. Toward Fredericksburg ten miles distant, the
country was somewhat open; but in every other direction it was covered
with tall pines and with dense thickets of scrub oaks and many other
kinds of trees and flowering plants. This forest, called “the
Wilderness,” was about twenty miles long and fifteen broad. It was
traversed by two good roads, the Plank road and the old Turnpike; it was
along these roads, the possession of which would, of course, be hotly
contested by the Federal troops, that General Lee would have to send his
forces to attack General Hooker in his strong position at
Chancellorsville.
But on the night of the first of May, just after the first skirmishing
had occurred along these two roads, Stuart brought information that
changed the situation decidedly. He rode up about eleven o’clock to an
old fallen tree where Lee and Jackson were talking over the plans for
the next day, and reported that while Hooker had fortified his position
at Chancellorsville on the east, the south, and the southwest, upon the
north and the west he had no defences. At the same time, information had
been secured concerning an old road by which a circuit could be made
around Hooker’s army. Jackson at once conceived the idea of making a
forced march by this road so as to attack Hooker in the rear on the next
day. Lee agreed, as on this plan seemed to depend their one chance of
success.
The next morning, General Lee with about 14,000 men remained in front of
the Federals on the Plank and Turnpike roads, while Jackson with three
divisions marched fifteen miles through the forest and about three
o’clock in the afternoon reached the rear of Hooker’s army on the west.
General Fitz Lee with the First Virginia cavalry led the advance while
the other regiments of cavalry protected the right of Jackson’s line of
march. Colonel Munford, commander of one of these regiments, was
familiar with this part of the country and rendered valuable service as
a guide to Jackson.
As Jackson’s command marched first directly south by the Furnace road,
Federal scouts, who were spying from the tops of tall pine trees,
thought that Lee’s army was in full retreat. They carried this report to
Hooker who sent forward two divisions to attack the marching column. By
that time, Jackson had turned to the west and, completely screened by
trees and undergrowth, was marching rapidly along the old road. The rear
of his column, however, was attacked near Catherine Furnace. This attack
was soon checked by McLaws, whom Lee sent forward from his small force,
and by two regiments sent back by Jackson when he heard the firing in
his rear.
While the infantry was swinging along the forest road, the cavalry had
reached the Plank road, near Chancellorsville, and was awaiting General
Jackson. Fitz Lee, impatient at the delay, rode toward the Federal line,
and found to his surprise that it was near at hand and in full view from
his post of observation. The Federals did not dream that the
Confederates could reach the road at this point and so had no guards
stationed there.
Afterwards Fitz Lee thus described the scene: “Below and but a few
hundred yards distant, ran the Federal line of battle. There was the
line of defense and long lines of stacked arms in the rear. Two cannons
were visible in the part of the line seen. The soldiers were in groups
in the rear, laughing, chatting, smoking; probably engaged, here and
there, in a game of cards and other amusements indulged in when feeling
safe and awaiting orders. In the rear were other persons driving up and
butchering beeves.”
Realizing the importance of his discovery, Lee rode back to meet Jackson
and guided him to the same place of observation. Jackson immediately
placed his troops in position on the turnpike and ordered them to
advance and attack the unsuspecting enemy. As long as the dense growth
and rough ground permitted, Stuart and his cavalry guarded the left
flank. After a rapid march through the tangled thickets, the men rushed
forward with wild cheers and dashed upon the unsuspecting Federals as
they were cooking their suppers. The panic-stricken Federal soldiers
rushed back upon their center, and as the terror spread, after them went
horses, wagons, cannon, men—speeding to recross the Rappahannock. The
officers tried in vain to stop the fleeing men. For a while, the panic
was so great that the destruction of Hooker’s army seemed certain.
After pursuing the Federals for two hours until they were within half a
mile of Hooker’s headquarters at the Chancellor house, the Confederates
stopped in the darkness to reform. Just at this critical moment, General
Hooker succeeded in bringing up reenforcements and posted fresh
artillery in the edge of the woods on Hazel Grove, a small hill in front
of General Jackson’s assaulting column. Still, however, the soldiers in
gray advanced. General A. P. Hill’s division was now ordered to the
front to take charge of the pursuit. While he was engaged in forming his
lines, General Jackson with several aides and couriers rode down the
Plank road nearly to the defenses around Chancellorsville. As they were
returning, they were fired upon by some of their own men who had been
posted in the thickets and who, in the moonlight, mistook Jackson and
his escort for Federal cavalry.
General Jackson was wounded and was borne from the field. A little
later, General Hill also was wounded. Jackson then sent for Stuart who
had been ordered to hold the road to Ely’s Ford, one of the Federal
lines of retreat.
As soon as Stuart received the sad news that Jackson had been wounded,
he placed Fitz Lee in command of the force holding the road and hastened
into the heart of the Wilderness. It was midnight when he arrived at the
front and according to Jackson’s orders assumed command of the
victorious but wearied corps.
[Illustration: GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSON
From an original negative by Cooke, the last photograph made of General
Jackson]
Stuart, not knowing Jackson’s plans for completing the movement, sent an
aide to Jackson to request instructions.
General Jackson replied, “Tell General Stuart to act upon his own
judgment and do what he thinks best. I have implicit trust in him.”
Such a message from his loved chieftain must have meant much to the
young general who found himself suddenly confronted with such a serious
situation, and the next day he proved that Jackson had not trusted him
in vain.
First of all, it was necessary that Stuart, who had been absent from the
front sometime, should have a clear idea of the position of his men and
of the Federals. He, therefore, at once called a meeting of the infantry
commanders. As a result of this consultation, it was decided to defer
until the next morning the attack upon the strong fortifications around
Chancellorsville. The rest of the night was spent by the officers in
preparations for the coming assault; the men lay upon their arms and
took a brief rest.
When morning dawned, the guns of Lee, who was working his way along the
two main roads to join Jackson, thundered on the east and the south, and
those of Stuart answered on the west. In both wings of Lee’s army, the
battle raged furiously. After many assaults, Hazel Grove where the
Federal artillery and infantry were posted in force, was taken by
Stuart. Then arose a mighty struggle for the clearing around the
Chancellor house. Stuart ordered thirty pieces of artillery to be posted
so as to sweep the clearing with canister and grapeshot. Under this
fire, his own men advanced, Stuart himself leading two of the charges.
One of his officers said that he “looked like a very god of battle.” As
he rode forward at the head of his forces, he sang at the top of his
clear voice which could be heard above the din of battle,
“Old Joe Hooker,
Won’t you come out of the wilderness?”
At the third assault, the works were carried and connection was made
with General Lee’s force. By ten o’clock, the Chancellor house and the
woods around it, full of wounded men, were on fire from the bursting
shells. The Confederate flag floated proudly in the clearing around the
house and the Confederate army was again united, while Hooker’s forces
in full retreat were swept back into the woods north of
Chancellorsville.
A great southern historian and military critic, General Alexander, says
“the promptness and boldness with which Stuart assumed command, and led
the ranks of Jackson, thinned by their hard day’s march and fighting to
not more than 20,000 men, against Hooker’s 80,000 soldiers was one of
the most brilliant deeds of the war.”
While the battle of Chancellorsville was in progress, Stoneman, the
Federal cavalry leader, had crossed the Rappahannock and was marching
toward Richmond. General W. H. F. Lee followed him with two regiments
and so hindered his line of march that the Federal general, in spite of
his excellent cavalry, was forced to retire with few spoils and little
glory. Stoneman was soon after relieved of his command, and Pleasanton
was put in his place as major general of the Federal cavalry.