Battle of Chancellorsville • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • Battle Facts • The Armies
The Fatal Reconnaissance wayside marker is at the Chancellorsville Visitor Center. This is Stop 1 on the Chancellorsville Battlefield Auto Tour.
A Fatal Reconnaissance wayside marker on the Chancellorsville battlefield
From the marker:
A Fatal Reconnaissance
When “Stonewall” Jackson reached this point at about 9 p.m. on May 2, 1863, he stood at the peak of his military career. Four hundred yards in front of you, a shaken Union army hastily built earthworks to halt the Confederate tide. One hundred yards behind you, Jackson’s troops formed along the Bullock Road for what Jackson hoped would be the final and climactic night attack against the faltering Federals.
While the Confederates prepared, the general and a small group of attendants rode forward on the Mountain Road – little more than a woods path – to this point. Jackson could hear the aces of Union soldiers fashioning earthworks in front. One of his staff officers cautioned the general to go back. “The danger is over,” he snapped. “The enemy is routed. Go tell A.P. Hill to press right on!” With that, Jackson continued his fateful ride toward the front.
From the captions at the bottom left:
The Old Mountain Road, about 1900.
“Stonewall” Jackson riding on the Plank Road, shortly before his mortal wounding on May 2, 1863.
Location of the Marker
The wayside marker is along the trail that heads east from the front door of the Visitor Center. It is near the Confederate Catastrophe wayside marker.
(go to the main Stop 1 page)
(go to the main Chancellorsville Battlefield Auto Tour page)