C-3-D
Jackson's Amputation
I. GIS Maps
Location of Area on Chancellorsville Arial Map
Location of Area on Chancellorsville U.S.G.S. Topographic Map
II. SIGNIFICANCE
Historical Significance: This tract
was the site of the field hospital where Confederate General T. J. "Stonewall"
Jackson's left arm was amputated on May 3, 1863. Because of its close proximity
to Wilderness Run, this tract served as a hospital area for Confederates
during the Battle of Chancellorsville and a year later for Federals during
the Battle of the Wilderness. The most widely recognized event at the hospital
was the amputation of Stonewall Jackson's left arm on May 3, 1863. Jackson
never fully recovered and died a week later.
Interpretive importance: This was
the site of the Jackson amputation as well as Confederate and Union hospitals
during Chancellorsville and the Wilderness.
Wartime Features: None known at
present time.
III. VALUES
| Significant Views |
No
|
| Interpretive Setting |
No
|
| Battle Action: Intensity
of Combat |
No
|
| Battle Action: Decisiveness
of Maneuvers |
No
|
| Well Documented Wartime
Features |
No
|
| Presumed Wartime Features |
No
|
| Terrain |
Yes
|
| Gateways |
No
|
IV. OBJECTIVES
1. To maintain the present, undeveloped landscape character to
provide an opportunity to commemorate and interpret Jackson's amputation.
V. PRINCIPAL SOURCES
Boudrye, Louis N. Historic Records of the Fifth New York Cavaliy.
Albany:
S.R.Gray, 1865. p. 123.
During the battle of the Wilderness the 5th New York Cavalry was ordered
to bivouac in rear of the Wilderness Tavern. The area had been converted
into a field hospital during the battle and amputations were performed
in a small house in the woods.
Chambers, Lenoir. Stonewall Jackson. 2 vols. New York: William Morrow
and Company, 1959. Vol. 11 pp. 421-422.
Jackson's ambulance conveyed the general to a field hospital situated
in an open field near the Wilderness Tavern. Several hours after arriving,
surgeons performed a half hour surgery to amputate his left arm and extract
a ball from his right hand.
Dabney, Robert L., Life and Campaigns of Lt. General T.J. (Stonewall)
Jackson. Harrisonburg: Sprinkle Publications, 1983. pp. 691-692, 695-696.
Doctor Hunter H. McGuire removed Jackson to the field hospital along
Wilderness Run where a private tent was erected for the general. Doctors
amputated Jackson's arm at midnight May 2-3, 1863 and allowed him to rest
here until they evacuated him on the morning of May 4.
Schaff, Morris. The Battle of the Wilderness. Cambridge: The Riverside
Press, 1910. p. 97.
Even well after the Civil War, the area of the field hospitals could
be defined by long filled trenches approximately eight feet wide that served
as a point for mass burial. The graves were covered with grass, weeds,
and wild flowers, and the edges were sunken in.
Smith, James Power, 'Stonewall Jackson's Last Battle," Battles and Leaders
of the Civil War, ed. by Buel, Clarence C. and Johnson, Robert U.,
New York: The Century Company, 1884-1888. Vol. III p. 213.
Jackson's ambulance took the general to a field hospital in the field
north of Wilderness Tavern. The field served as the corps hospital of Doctor
Harvey Black.
Vandiver, Frank E., Mighty Stonewall. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, Inc., 1957. pp. 483-487.
Jackson arrived at the field hospital in the field behind Wilderness
Tavern around 11: 00 P.M., May 2, and had his arm removed near midnight.
The general rested comfortably in a tent until May 4, when he was removed
to Guinea Station in Caroline County.
Wilbourn, R.E., letter to Robert L. Dabney, December 12, 1863. Charles
William Dabney Papers, SHC, UNC. (FRSP 24).
Wilbourn states that Jackson was removed to a hospital "on Maj. Lacy's
farm."
VI. DOCUMENTATION MAPS
VII. RECOMMENDED PRESERVATION
MEASURES
Priority 1 (overall park ambiance):
This area adjoins the park. Avoid introduction of activities or facilities
that might be detrimental to the experience of visitors inside the park.
Priority 2 (overall battlefield landscape):
Avoid
disturbance and alteration of ground occupied by Confederate and Union
hospitals during the battles of Chancellorsville and the Wilderness.
Priority 3 (archeological resources):
Possible archaeological evidence may be present on this tract since it
is well preserved and appears as it did during the war.
VIII. LEGISLATIVE AND LEGAL CONTEXT
Memorandum
of Agreement and Addendum.
Legislation.
