C-3-E
Anderson's Line
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
is the site of the Confederate defensive position established to block
the eastward Union advance on April 30-May 1, 1863. Caught off-guard by
Joseph Hooker's Union army sweeping into Chancellorsville, Confederates
under General Richard H. Anderson quickly collected on a substantial ridge
to block the further advance of the Federals. Anderson's Confederates started
entrenching late on April 30, 1863. On the morning of May 1, fresh reinforcements
under Stonewall Jackson joined Anderson and used this point as a staging
area to seize the initiative and attack the Federals. Had Hooker's Union
army attacked first, it might have taken the ridge that completely dominates
the surrounding territory, and forced Lee's army to retreat.
Interpretive importance: This was
the scene of decisive battle maneuvers.
Wartime Features: Confederate earthworks;
site of the McCarty House.
III. VALUES
| Significant Views |
No
|
| Interpretive Setting |
No
|
| Battle Action: Intensity
of Combat |
No
|
| Battle Action: Decisiveness
of Maneuvers |
Yes
|
| Well Documented Wartime
Features |
Yes
|
| Presumed Wartime Features |
Yes
|
| Terrain |
Yes
|
| Gateways |
No
|
IV. OBJECTIVES
1. To maintain the present, undeveloped landscape character to
provide an opportunity to commemorate and interpret the Confederate position.
2. To preserve:
a) the Confederate earthworks, and
b) the site of the McCarty House.
3. To identify and document additional, presumed wartime features prior
to alteration of terrain or landscape.
V. PRINCIPAL SOURCES
Bigelow, John Jr., The Campaign of Chancellorsville. New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1910. pp. 242-243.
Confederate General Richard H. Anderson started entrenching a line
between the Rappahannock and Mott's Run on May 1, 1863. Anderson deployed
40,000 troops at an average of 7 or 8 men per yard.
McIntosh, David Gregg, "A Ride On Horseback," 1910, SHC, UNC. (FRSP 18).
The Confederates erected a set of trenches across the Orange Turnpike
facing west. The troops of Richard H. Anderson's division fortified the
position until they were reinforced by the division of Lafayette McLaws.
Freeman, Douglas Southall, L.&--s Lieutenants, A Study in Command.
3
vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943. Vol. H pp. 528-351.
Anderson put his men to work building field fortifications on April
30, 1863. At 8:00 A.M. May 1, Jackson arrived, ordering the work halted
and preparations made to attack the Federals.
Furgurson, Ernest B., Chancellorsville 1863. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1992. pp. 123-125.
Jackson arrived at Zoan Church and halted work on the fortifications.
Anderson's line was one of the first instances of the army resorting to
hasty field fortifications to hold a temporary position.
Sale, John R., letter, May 10, 1863, copy in Fred/Spot. (FRSP 3).
Mahone's Confederate brigade abandoned the area around Chancellorsville
and established a new defensive line around the Zoan Church (called by
Sale the Zoar Church). Mahone fell back to this position to avoid being
flanked the advancing Federals.
Stewart, William H., A Pair of Blankets. ed. Benjamin H. Trask,
Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1992. pp. 80-81 Colonel
Stewart describes the sharpshooting of Federals from the McCarty farm to
the Confederate line at Zoan Church, a distance of 800 yards.
One of the colonel's men was wounded and another one killed by Federals
carrying 'Belgian rifles".
Wallace, John. G., diary, possession of Mr. John G. Wallace III of Chesapeake,
VA. (FRSP 3).
Mahone's Brigade established a defensive line by the frame structure
of Zoan Church where it was joined by the brigades of Posey and Wright.
On May 1, 1863 Mahone led the advance called for by Stonewall Jackson,
arriving at the McCarty house where the Confederates threw their men into
line of battle and engaged the van of the Federal army.
VI. DOCUMENTATION MAPS
VII. RECOMMENDED PRESERVATION
MEASURES
Priority 1 (overall park ambiance):
This area does not adjoin the park.
Priority 2 (overall battlefield landscape):
Avoid
disturbance and alteration of ground occupied by Confederatesduring the
Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 - May 1, 1863.
Priority 3 (archeological resources):
Confirm the locations of, protect, and preserve
(a) the Confederate earthworks,
(b) the site of the McCarty House.
Additional resources possibly located in
this area include:
(a) The existence of additional wartime resources on the tract is
possible due to its well preserved terrain.
VIII. LEGISLATIVE AND LEGAL CONTEXT
Memorandum
of Agreement and Addendum.
Legislation.
