Showing results for "Chancellorsville"
Symposium Spotlight: Chancellorsville—”From the place of blood and wrath his soul changed”
Welcome back to our spotlight series, highlighting speakers and topics for our upcoming symposium. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to feature previews of our speaker’s presentations for the 2023 Emerging Civil War Symposium. This week we feature Sarah Kay Bierle’s topic. The battle of Chancellorsville—fought May 1-6, 1863—is often considered Lee’s greatest battlefield […]
Read more...USS Chancellorsville’s Name Shift and the US Navy’s History of Confederate-Named Vessels
In recent years, the US government ordered all service branches to investigate and collate listings of all installations named honoring Confederate leaders, symbols, or events. While many are familiar with the army bases named after Confederate leaders (Forts Bragg, Polk, and A.P. Hill for example), less known are warships that have previously or currently bear […]
Read more...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. […]
Read more...More than Just Jackson: The Army of Northern Virginia’s Casualties in the Officer Corps at Chancellorsville
Stonewall Jackson died on May 10, 1863. Ever since, his loss has been held up as a key factor in why the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was never the same. “If only Jackson…” begins many counter-factuals. In the wake of Jackson’s death, Chancellorsville has been presented as one of the ultimate pyrrhic victories—Robert E. […]
Read more...The Absalom McGee Family: “Our Farm Adjoining Chancellorsville”
Part 1 Several households of McGees lived on near Chancellorsville and saw their land turned into battlefield on May 1, 1863. The Absalom McGee Family lived a little more than a mile east of the Chancellor Crossroads. They owned 100 acres, some cleared as farm fields and some still wooded. Thanks to the details recorded […]
Read more...Was it really Chancellorsville? Exploring Details in The Red Badge of Courage
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane is a work of classic fiction, exploring universal themes of humanity, violence, war, and the growth of courage. One of the brilliant things about the story is the lack of details—meaning that while the story is clearly set during the American Civil War, Crane never tells readers […]
Read more...Saving History Saturday: CVBT Announces Preservation of the Beckham Tract at Chancellorsville
It’s the opportunity to finish part of a preservation puzzle and save an artillery position from Jackson’s Flank Attack! For years, Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has been working to save land from Jackson’s Flank Attack at the Chancellorsville Battlefield. In triangular corner of historic Orange Plank Road and the historic Orange Turnpike (modern Route 3), […]
Read more...Sharpshooters at Chancellorsville
ECW welcome guest author T. J. Bradley…. “Sharpshooter” tends to be a word that grabs a Civil War enthusiast’s attention. Thoughts are conjured of green coats and leather gaiters, Whitworth rifles, and the ability to hit elephants at a given distance. Perhaps we even think of the movie Gettysburg and a Confederate soldier with a […]
Read more...Called Out For “The Men Not To Fire” At Chancellorsville
Dark night. A general on a scouting expedition out in front of the lines. Moonlight and dense woods. A call for troops not to fire. What Civil War account comes most quickly to mind? Probably “Stonewall” Jackson at Chancellorsville. However, according to an excerpt from a lengthy letter written on May 9, 1863, and detailing […]
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