The Stonewall Brigade at Chancellorsville

By Tim Talbott · Originally published February 2023 · pp. 14

The Stonewall Brigade at Chancellorsville by Tim Talbott Central Virginia Battlefields Trust’s latest preservation campaign involves a two-acre property that witnessed retreating XI Corps soldiers conduct a fighting withdrawal across it, while Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates followed in close pursuit. This piece of land, designated as the “Stonewall Brigade III” tract, is contiguous with a 9.2-acre parcel saved in 2012, and near another 1.6-acre plot where the Stonewall Brigade bivouacked part of the night of May 2/3, 1863, preserved in 2016. Although the Stonewall Brigade was part of the force comprising Jackson’s famous flank march, they were not engaged in the May 2 assault. Brig. Gen. Elisha Franklin Paxton received instructions that detached his regiments from their division and placed them under Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who kept them positioned across the Orange Plank Road on the right flank of the attack force until the column moved forward. The Stonewall Brigade

Brig. Gen. Frank “Bull” Paxton served as commander of the Stonewall Brigade and fell leading his troops at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. (Public domain) eventually followed behind. On the night of May 2, the Stonewall Brigade (2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th, and 33rd Virginia Infantry regiments), moved twice. Col. John Funk submitted his official report on May 6, and related that the Stonewall Brigade made camp at 11 p.m., and then two hours later moved again. Here, “the men worried and worn out by the rapid detour made that day and by want of rations, were permitted to rest for a few brief hours.” At daybreak on May 3, increased picket firing alerted the Stonewall Brigade. After Gen. Henry Heth’s Division assaulted the entrenched Union line and were repulsed, the Stonewall Brigade, now part of the second Confederate battleline, along with Gen. Raleigh Colston’s Brigade and other units, attempted to take the position. Pvt. Ted Barclay, 4th Virginia Infantry, wrote home soon after the battle that, “We at first went on the left of the plank road, thinking the main body of the enemy were posted there, but soon we found out from pressure on our right that it was the enemy’s strongest point, so we had to cross the road covered by the enemy’s cannon.” During the move, according to Col. Funk, the Stonewall Brigade encountered “a large number of men of whom fear had taken the most absolute possession. We endeavored to persuade them to go forward, but all we could say was of but little avail.” Apparently, these men were from Gen. Samuel McGowan’s South Carolina Brigade, as Lt. J.F.J. Caldwell mentioned in their brigade history that the Stonewall Brigade passed them, “some of them saying, with not pleasant levity, that they would show us how to clear away a Federal line.” The Union troops the Stonewall Brigade now encountered behind a second line of improvised works were XII Corps soldiers under Brig. Gen. Thomas Ruger, who let loose a devastating volley. Paxton’s Virginians moved forward and returned the favor in kind and a furious firefight erupted. Col. Silas Colgrove of the 27th Indiana in Ruger’s Brigade wrote in his official report that, “I can safely say that I never witnessed on any other occasion so perfect a slaughter.” It was around this time that Gen. Paxton received a chest wound that killed him. Apparently, Paxton had expressed

This photograph gives a good example of the improvised fieldworks that Federal soldiers constructed during the Battle of Chancellorsville. (Library of Congress)

a premonition of death to one of his staff officers during the night before. In the dense smokey woods, a gap developed between the 2nd and 4th Virginia that Union reinforcements exploited, forcing the Stonewall Brigade to fall back to a previous line of works and reform. Pvt. Barclay explained that, “A piece of shell struck my knapsack, but was too spent to hurt me.” Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes’ Division was the next to attack the Union position while the Stonewall Brigade served as part of their reinforcements. Gen. Stephen Ramseur’s Brigade charged the Federal works. After expending most of their ammunition, Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, now commanding in place of the wounded Jackson, ordered Col. Funk and the Stonewall Brigade to support Ramseur. Col. Funk reported: “Seeing some confusion among the enemy who occupied the embrasures on the crest of the hill, I ordered the brigade to charge, which order they obeyed with the utmost enthusiasm, driving the enemy from his works and before them for three quarters of a mile. We took their works.” During the assault, Pvt. Barclay said, “We went over the breastworks with a yell which was answered by a shower of leaden hail.” He continued that, “I became almost unconscious of danger though men were falling thick and fast all around me.” Forced out of their stronghold at a terrible price to both sides, the Federals fell back around the Chancellor House. According to Col. Funk, “Our ranks having been greatly reduced by the severe conflict of the day, onethird of [our] number having fallen, entirely out of ammunition and unsupported, the brigade was of necessity forced to retire, which they did like veterans.” Back behind the fieldworks, the Stonewall Brigade received rations and ammunition. Pvt. Barclay, writing in another letter on May 12, explained, “Sunday night [May 3] we slept on the battlefield with the wounded and dead of both armies. Monday morning we moved in towards the enemy, who was now retreating toward the Rappahannock.” Maj. William Terry’s 4th Virginia moved north of Chancellorsville, filed into the woods and “slept on our arms by the main road east of Chancellorsville.” Lt. Col. Daniel Shriver, 27th Virginia, reported that, “On the morning of the 4th [of May], and during the whole of the day, we were employed in throwing up breastworks.” Unconvinced by his subordinates that a coordinated offensive could secure victory, Gen. Hooker decided to retire across the Rappahannock River and abandon the once promising campaign. According to historian Jeffrey Wert, Chancellorsville cost the Stonewall Brigade “55 killed, 430 wounded, and 9 missing, an even higher proportion than for [Lee’s] army as a whole.” The 5th Virginia’s commander, Lt. Col. Hazael Williams noted in his official report, “Never did our brave men behave with more gallantry, coolness, and deliberation than on this occasion.” The mission of CVBT is to preserve land associated with the four major campaigns of: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, and the Overland Campaign, including the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. To learn more about this grassroots preservation non-profit, which has saved over 1,700 acres of hallowed ground, please visit: www.cvbt.org. Tim Talbott is the Chief Administrative Officer with the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust.

CVBT is currently campaigning to save two acres on the Chancellorsville battlefield where the Stonewall Brigade spent part of the night of May 2-3, 1863. (CVBT photo)