Battle of Chancellorsville • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The Climactic Struggle wayside marker is at Stop 3 on the Chancellorsville Battlefield Auto Tour. It is next to the “Lee’s Greatest Triumph” wayside marker. (see map below)
The markers look southwest from Stop 3 across busy Plank Road toward the Confederate Artillery concentration in the direction of Fairfield and Hazel Grove
Text from the marker:
Climactic Struggle
On the morning of May 3, 1863, more than 17,500 men fell killed or wounded in the woods and fields around you – one man shot every second for five hours. Entrenched Union lines in front of you collapsed, and the Confederates surged forward to seize the Chancellorsville intersection. Some 25 Union cannons in this clearing made a valiant effort to cover the retreat, but they were soon smothered in a Confederate crossfire.
Major William H. Stewart of the 61st Virginia Infantry recalled the confusion and horror of that morning:
“The Chancellor house was enveloped in flames …. Men everywhere were seen to be in the agonies of death, some of these grappling the earth to draw their broken forms from the range of the searching flames. On both sides of the road were scattered loaves of bread, empty haversacks and cartridge boxes… hundreds of knapsacks…thousands of muskets….”
From the caption to the drawing:
Edwin Forbes penciled this sketch of the May 3 fighting. Engravers later added the grid to guide them in preparing the sketch for publication.
From the caption to the map inset:
Massive attacks on May 3 drove the Federals from their earthworks and back through the Chancellorsville intersection sealing the Confederate victory.
Location of the Marker
The marker is about 120 feet south of the parking area on a paved walkway that leads to the Chancellor House Ruins. (38°18’34.3″N 77°38’04.6″W)
(go to main Stop 3 page)
(go to the main Chancellorsville Battlefield Auto Tour page)