By Frank O'Reilly

(The following is an excerpt courtesy of the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust of their journal Fredericksburg History and Biography, Vol. 1, 2002. See box to right for more information)

Union cavalrymen crept through the underbrush, their footfalls muffled by rain and matted leaves. Confederate pickets peered into the forest, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, Federals surged out of the bushes. A quick exchange of fire rent the air, and then, “utter silence.” Confederate Brigadier General William Mahone “was puzzled to understand this,” and sent an orderly to investigate. The mounted soldier ventured into the woods without spotting friend or foe. Upon returning to Mahone, the general “made some impatient exclamation” that caught the ear of Colonel Allen Parham, of the 41st Virginia Infantry. The colonel dashed into the woods to reevaluate the picket line. He had barely entered the trees when he was greeted with a volley from the Federal cavalry. The colonel miraculously avoided being hit, but his horse bolted, almost leaving the rider behind. At the same time, a low tree limb swept Parham’s kepi from his head. Galloping up to General Mahone, Parham unleashed a slew of curses on “the ______ Yankees.” The entire picket line north of the Chancellorsville crossroads had been ambushed. Two officers and twenty-three men had been nabbed by the stealthy Northerners.

Mahone’s Virginia brigade quickly evacuated the area around the Chancellorsville tavern, and retreated east, down the Orange Turnpike toward Fredericksburg. The 12th Virginia Infantry formed a double line of skirmishers to cover the withdrawal. As the Southerners slipped away, Union soldiers filled the clearing around the tavern. Some of the Northerners sniffed at their new conquest. Perplexed by the grandiose name of Chancellorsville, one New Yorker wrote sarcastically: “It is a town with one large brick house and two small ones of wood.” Another Unionist wrote in darker tones: “Chancellorsville consists of one large brick house in the ________ most god forsaken wilderness any human ever saw.” Union soldiers may have voiced skepticism, but their commander, Major General Joseph Hooker, soon hailed this crossroads as the essential ingredient to defeating the Rebel forces under General Robert E. Lee, and his able subordinate, Lieutenant General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Hooker had stolen a march on the normally vigilant Confederates and his Union forces stood both in front of and behind Lee’s army. Hooker’s troops, 125,000 strong, formed a vice that threatened to crush the Southern chieftain’s much smaller force of 50,000. The Federal commander congratulated his men on the last night of April 1863—tomorrow would begin the systematic destruction of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Meanwhile, Federal cavalry, under Colonel Thomas C. Devin, prodded Mahone’s retreat down the Orange Turnpike. A mile east of Chancellorsville, the woods grudgingly gave way to a small clearing. Union horsemen, members of the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, took advantage of the opening to charge the Virginia foot soldiers. Charles E. DeNoon, of the 41st Virginia, admitted: “The enemy followed closely, frequent skirmishing with the enemy’s cavalry.” Northerners drove the Rebels from a shallow valley, a mile wide, formed by a meandering stream known as Mott’s Run. Mahone’s main force slipped away to a pronounced ridge farther east, capped by Zoan Church, a wood frame Baptist meeting house. The 12th Virginia rearguard continued to battle the annoying cavalrymen on the slopes above Mott’s Run, reluctantly giving ground under increasing pressure. The Federal commander, Colonel Devin, admitted that, “the enemy’s pickets…retired very slowly.” He took their obstinacy as a sign that the Confederates “were confident of support.” Reaching the eastern end of the Mott’s Run valley, Devin ordered Major Peter Keenan, of the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, to dismount a part of his command and deploy on both sides of the Turnpike. Venturing closer to the Zoan Church ridge, the Yankees found the Confederates in force. “The enemy opened a heavy fire on them,” reported Devin, “and compelled them to withdraw.” The cavalry could not budge the Southerners from Zoan Church on April 30. The job would have to wait for infantry support, which was supposed to arrive the next day.

Anticipating reinforcements on May 1, Devin pulled back his cavalry for the night. They bivouacked west of Mott’s Run, while a portion of the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry clung to the eastern top of the valley. Major Keenan strung pickets across the road in a clearing by the Joseph Alsop house. The picket reserve formed a couple of hundred yards behind them, in the yard of the Ann Lewis farm. The Federals knew their work would be stiffer in the morning, but they had no idea how much....Read More (Download PDF - 728 kb)

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The Battle of Chancellorsville Was Lost Right There
By Frank O'Reilly

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This is one of six articles that were published in CVBT's Fredericksburg History and Biography, Volume 1, 2002.

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