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SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginia in the 1860s: 1 through 10 of 17

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  1. Irish Brigade Holds Fast
    date January 11, 1862 to January 13, 1862map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags War, Thomas Meagher

    The Irish Brigade, under the command of General Thomas F. Meagher, displayed exceptional bravery at the battle of Fredericksburg. In an after- action battle report, Meagher commended the bravery of his men under a horrendous fire of artillery and aimed muskets while attempting to seize Mayre's Heights from its Confederate defenders in their breastworks. He stated they were "unbroken and undismayed...

  2. The Irish March on Fredericksburg
    date December 11, 1862 to December 15, 1862map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Irish Immigration, Civil War

    On the eve of battle, war cries echoed throughout the valleys surrounding Fredericksburg Virginia in Spotsylvania County. Among the nearly 200,000 men preparing to engage in battle, just under two thousand were Irish Americans. These men, new to the land, had been conscripted into service almost as soon as setting dry-foot upon US soil. Despite the Irish immingrants' recent arrival, they were more...

  3. Burnside Rationalizes his moves at Fredericksburg
    date December 17, 1862map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags War, Crime/Violence, Politics

    General Ambrose E. Burnside, the newly appointed Commander of the Army of the Potomac, was regarded by General O. O. Howard as distrusting himself with the position, but was eventually persuaded to accept it. Along with the position came the responsibility for a plan of action that would differ from the failed plans of General George B. McLellan. It turned out that Burnside's plan of campaign was...

  4. Brady Photographs Artillery
    date April 30, 1863map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Science/Technology, War

    The artillery attentively prepared for the battle of Chancellorsville as Mathew Brady snapped the photo. In a photograph in The Photographic History of The Civil War in Ten, dozens of recently axed tress and stubs cover the ground and surround the cannons beside which the men listen alertly to the officer (20- 21). A few men stand at ready to insert the cannonballs before a misty field that would...

  5. Battle of Chancellorsville
    date May 1, 1863 to May 4, 1863map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags War

    The battle at Chancellorsville, Virginia, pitted the Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Union Major General Joseph Hooker. Stonewall Jackson came up with a plan to send Lee around to attack the left flank with only 12,000 troops. Lee won a decisive victory here, even though Hooker's troops numbered well over 70,000. After the victory, Jackson rode out to scout the terrain, and was wounded by...

  6. Death of Stonewall Jackson
    date May 10, 1863map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Church/Religious-Activity, Health/Death, War

    Thomas Jefferson “Stonewall' Jackson, shot just above his left elbow by his own soldiers who, on May 2, did not recognize him at the Battle of Chancellorsville, died from pneumonia that he caught as a complication of his wound. Immediately following the incident, one newspaper reported, “his condition is very favorable,' while others lamented that his wounds are “so bad.' As a result...

  7. Union Officers Diverted by Chess
    date March 1, 1864 to May 30, 1864map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Recreaction, camp-life, Arts/Leisure

    Just before heading into the Wilderness campaign, Colonel Martin T. McMahon competed against his aide in a game of Chess. Chess is an interpretation of the ancient Indian game of Chatarung. Involving two players, the game includes pieces that simulate battle formations and units with certain strengths and traits. Representing the generals of two armies, the game's relevance to warfare is obvious. Camp...

  8. The Battle of the Wilderness
    date May 5, 1864 to May 6, 1864map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Battle of Wilderness, Civil War

          The Wilderness of Spotsylvania was, for the 160,000 men who fought there on May 5 and 6, 1864, a scene straight out of Hell.  Lieutenant Colonel John Schnoonover was one of those men.  He was the commander of the 11th New Jersey regiment, one of the units that composed McAllister’s 1st Brigade.  During the morning of May 6, the Confederates were able to use the terrain of the Wilderness...

  9. The Battle of the Wilderness
    date May 5, 1864 to May 6, 1864map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Battle of Wilderness, Civil War

      Directing large numbers of men in battle, while crawling through brush so thick that it could put out one’s eyes, is a nightmare beyond imagining.  Such was a normal occurrence during the Battle of the Wilderness, a series of actions on May 5 and 6, 1864, that took place in the Spotsylvania Wilderness southwest of Chancellorsville. From the turn of the century to the mid 1830s, the area that...

  10. A Union Officer at the Wilderness
    date May 4, 1864 to May 11, 1864map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Civil War, The Wilderness

    William Davis did not talk of gallantry or heroics in his Wilderness Campaign report. The Lieutenant Colonel was simply carrying out orders, and his regiment had been involved in the Union’s struggle since 1861. His 69th Pennsylvania was accustomed to the reality of war; they had fought in the most famous battles: Yorktown, Antietam and Gettysburg. However, the Wilderness was not a normal battle....

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