Opening of the Campaign
Battle of Chancellorsville - 1863
Following its defeat at Fredericksburg in December 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac spent the winter in Stafford County. Across the Rappahannock River, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia kept a defensive position that covered a 25-mile stretch of the river. In January 1863, President Lincoln promoted General Joseph Hooker to command the army opposite Fredericksburg and charged him with the defeat of Robert E. Lee.
On April 27, Hooker sent a force across the river below Fredericksburg in hopes of distracting the Confederate commander, while the remainder of his army marched north and west, crossed the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers and moved in behind Lee. On April 30, the Union army began to concentrate at Chancellorsville, a former inn located the small crossroads near Chancellorsville.
Outnumbered two-to-one, Lee left a small defense at Fredericksburg and turned his attention toward the threat from the west. Confederates formed a line of defense upon the ridge that you are now standing and awaited the arrival of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s divisions. Once here, they would form a strong enough force to move forward against Hooker’s army at Chancellorsville. During the fighting that ensued, over 30,000 men became casualties, but Lee won what has been considered his greatest victory of the war.
Marker is on Plank Road/Germanna Highway (Virginia Route 3) near Harrison Road, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
