Chris Mackowski - That Furious Struggle: Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy, May 1-4, 1863

Also part of the Emerging Civil War Series:

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2014 by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

First edition, first printing

ISBN-13: 978-1-61121-219-8

eISBN: 978-1-61121-220-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mackowski, Chris.

That furious struggle: Chancellorsville and the high tide of the Confederacy, May 1-4, 1863 / by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White. -- First edition.

pages cm. -- (Emerging Civil War series)

ISBN 978-1-61121-219-8

1. Chancellorsville, Battle of, Chancellorsville, Va., 1863. I. White, Kristopher D. II. Title.

E475.35.M13 2014

975.5365--dc23

2014024681

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C HRIS : To Jenny Ann

K RIS : In memory of Dr. James Jim Good

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up your quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

W E JOINTLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK

to our friend Richard Chapman,

who will always be David Kyle to us.

Table of Contents

A PPENDIX B : S tonemans R aid
by D aniel T . D avis and P hillip S . G reenwalt

A PPENDIX C : J acksons F lank A ttack R econsidered
by R yan T . Q uint

The remains of the Wilderness Tavern complex (CM)

Acknowledgments

Portions of That Furious Struggle: Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy previously appeared in Chancellorsville: Crossroads of Fire by Chris Mackowski. (Thomas, 2011). The text in the current volume, which has been significantly expanded and reflects the latest research on the subject, also includes new appendices, more than 150 photos, and seven original maps.

J OINT : As always, we appreciate the support of our friends and colleagues at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, especially John Hennessy, Greg Mertz, Beth Parnicza, Don Pfanz, and Janice Frye, who all made contributions to this volume. Frank OReillys maps of the wartime battlefield were invaluable, as was Noel Harrisons Chancellorsville Battlefield Sites . We offer special thanks to Eric Mink, whose editorial work on Crossroads of Fire proved extremely useful. That book was also indebted to Heidi Hartley, Jennifer Doron McConnell, Lauren Ruffini, and Felix Was for proofreading; John Cummings and the Friends of Fredericksburg Area Battlefields; and designer Jackson Foster of The ID Entity.

The view from Sykess position shows the gauntlet of fire Confederates would have had to endure had Federals been able to hold: more than a mile of open field sloping down to Lick Run, then uphill across more open terrain. Sykess corps commander, Gen. Meade, rued giving up the ground. My God, if we cant hold the top of a hill, we certainly cannot hold the bottom of it! he growled. (CM)

At The First Days Battlefield

The fields on either side of Motts Runtoday known as Lick Runprovided the first real open space on the eastern edge of the Wilderness. For the Federals, getting into the open would allow them to deploy their vastly superior forces in powerful attack formations and bring their full weight to bear against the Confederates. Conversely, staying bottled up in the Wilderness would negate their numerical advantage by making it difficult to maneuver.

For the Confederates, the open space provided clear fields of fire. They could simply hunker down in their defensive works and await the Federal advance uphill across open ground. Those Confederate fortifications ran along the crest of a hill to the east of your current position, toward Fredericksburg, beyond the white-roofed barn. Zoan Church sat along that same crest on the south side of the road; the modern-day Zoan Church sits there today.

Lick Run cut directly across the battlefield, providing just enough disruption to throw advancing lines out of alignmentand succor for thirsty and wounded soldiers of both sides. (CM)

The Day One battlefield is flat-out one of the greatest preservation victories. The Civil War Trust and the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust led the effort to save the ground, and they now maintain a two-mile walking trail with interpretive signs. (KW)