1863 -- Battle of Chancellorsville, 149 Years Later

In late April and early May, 1863, several bloody battles occurred in the Chancellorsville, Virginia Area.  We've been through the area many times, but today, on the 149th anniversary of the Union Armies withdrawal, we finally stopped to take it in.  

By May 3, 17,500 men had been killed or wounded in the battle.  One marker notes there had been one man shot every second, for 5 hours!   Union lines collapsed and the Confederates seized the prized Chancellorsville intersection, a five road intersection considered the most famous in the country at the time. 

Like many Civil War Battlefields, several canons are placed on the site. 

Union trenches which were eventually over run by Confederates. 

After almost 150 years, the actual dirt trench is are still visible to the left.

All that is left of the Chancellor House is bits of foundation and a partial fireplace.  

This victory by General Robert E. Lee is considered by many to be the greatest of his career. After Lee triumphantly arrived at the Chancellor House during the ensuing celebration, one staff officer wrote:

"...It must have been from such a scene 

that men in ancient days rose to the dignity of gods." 

Still canons guard the now silent battlefield.