Saving History Saturday: Jackson’s Flank Attack at Chancellorsville
Around 6:00 p.m. on May 2, 1863, Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, commander of the Union XI heard the sounds of firing on his picket line, followed by wild animals rushing through his headquarters area at Dowdall’s Tavern. Moments later Confederate soldiers came rushing out of the woods, slamming into the suspecting XI Corps.
Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had marched his Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia around the Army of the Potomac’s right flank undetected. Jackson’s men were quickly pushing the XI Corps east, back towards the Chancellor House.
Just west of the intersection of the Orange Turnpike and the Plank Road is a slightly over 1-acre tract, referred to as the Beckham Tract, the land is the location where Maj. Robert Beckham placed two guns of his horse artillery.
It was near Dowdall’s Tavern that Union Col. Adolphus Buschbeck set up his defensive line, today remembered as the Buschbeck Line, momentarily slowing the momentum of Jackson’s attack.
Now, the American Battlefield Trust (ABT) and the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) have partnered to preserve Dowdall’s Tavern, with the ABT taking the lead, and the Beckham Tract, headed up CVBT. Together, these tracts, on the south side of modern-day Route 3 make up a little over 43 acres of Jackson’s Flank Attack. Along with another 2-acre tract that ABT is working to preserve on the north side of the road, making a combined 45 acres of Jackson’s Flank Attack that will preserve contiguous stretches of the Chancellorsville battlefield forever.
To learn more or donate to the American Battlefield Trust’s Battle of Chancellorsville campaign, click here.
To make a donation or learn more about the history of the land, please visit CVBT’s Dowdall’s Tavern campaign here.
Great fundraising project. I contributed this week. The article says Jackson’s Flank attack was “undetected.” Not sure that is correct. Sickles acted on it. Hooker misinterpreted its significance.
A great cause … and terrific maps — just donated.
I have been trying to find out how these people were wounded. All of them were wounded on May 2. If there was such a rout of the Union troops, who was doing the wounding? This does not include the members of Jackson’s and Hill’s party. here’s the names of the Confederate casualties from the order of battle
Major David Rowe (mw 5/2) 12th North Carolina Infantry
Colonel Philip Cook (w 5/2) 4th Georgia Infantry Regiment
Colonel Thomas W. Garrett (w 5/2) 5th North Carolina Infantry
Major William J. Hill (w 5/2) 5th North Carolina Infantry
Captain Speight B. West (w) 5th North Carolina Infantry
Colonel Thomas F. Toon (w 5/2) 20th North Carolina Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Slough (w 5/2) 20th North Carolina Infantry
Major John S. Brooks (w 5/2) 20th North Carolina Infantry
Brigadier General Stephen D. Ramseur (w 5/2) 2nd North Carolina Infantry
Colonel William Cox (w 5/2) 2nd North Carolina Infantry
Colonel Edward A. O’Neal (w 5/2) 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment
Lieutenant Colonel E. Lafayette Hobson (w 5/2) 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment
Captain W. T. Renfro (mw 5/2) 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment
Lieutenant Colonel John S. Garvin (w 5/2) 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment
Major General Ambrose Powell Hill (w 5/2)
Brigadier General Henry Heth (w 5/2)
Brigadier General Dorsey Pender (w 5/2)
Captain S. D. Stewart (k) 5th Alabama Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel James Aiked (w 5/2) 13th Alabama Infantry
Major John T. Smith (k 5/2) 13th Alabama Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel John A. Fite (w 5/2) 7th Tennessee Infantry
Colonel William McComb (w 5/2) 14th Tennessee Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel Fleet W. Cox (w 5/2) 40th Virginia Infantry
Colonel Francis Mallory (k 5/2) 55th Virginia Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel William S. Christian (w 5/2) 55th Virginia Infantry
Major Andrew D. Saunders (k 5/2) 55th Virginia Infantry
Colonel Edward G. Haywood (w 5/2) 7th North Carolina Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel Junius L. Hill (k 5/2) 7th North Carolina Infantry
Major William L. Davidson (w 5/2) 7th North Carolina Infantry
Colonel Thomas J. Purdie (k 5/2) 18th North Carolina Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel Forney George (w 5/2) 18th North Carolina Infantry
Colonel Mark M. Avery (w 5/2) 33rd North Carolina Infantry