Spotsylvania Battlefields

Spotsylvania Battlefields Spotsylvania Battlefields grew from local preservation efforts and continues to support work to save and spotlight the battlefields in this county.

Four major Civil War battles and campaigns happened in Virginia’s Spotsylvania County: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. We are passionate about our local Civil War history and love to share interesting facts about the current preservation and historical facts.

Our preservation partner members fuel the mission-driven grassroots work of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. Sav...
07/25/2024

Our preservation partner members fuel the mission-driven grassroots work of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. Saving battlefield land and educating the public about what happened on the hallowed grounds of the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House battlefields requires the support of a devoted group of supporters. Join CVBT today! https://bit.ly/3IHicta

https://www.cvbt.org/

CVBT released its July 2024 e-newsletter yesterday. If you missed it, it is available on the CVBT website at: https://bi...
07/24/2024

CVBT released its July 2024 e-newsletter yesterday. If you missed it, it is available on the CVBT website at: https://bit.ly/3zQG1hL

If you don’t want to miss future CVBT email newsletters, you can sign up for them at: https://bit.ly/3IElLAr

Walking trails offer wonderful opportunities to learn about what happened on area Civil War battlefields. There are now ...
07/23/2024

Walking trails offer wonderful opportunities to learn about what happened on area Civil War battlefields. There are now walking trails on several of the property tracts that CVBT played a part in preserving including First Day at Chancellorsville, McLaws Wedge, Slaughter Pen Farm, Smith Run, and Wilderness Crossroads.

Be sure to exercise caution during the summer months by bringing water and tick repellant, and avoiding the hottest parts of the day, but look for chances to get outside, get exercise, and get learning!


https://www.cvbt.org/

Following the Battle of Chancellorsville, food was on the mind of Maj. Walter Taylor of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s staff. Writ...
07/22/2024

Following the Battle of Chancellorsville, food was on the mind of Maj. Walter Taylor of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s staff. Writing to his sister Mary Lou, Taylor explained: “I am caterer this month.” Which probably meant that Taylor was responsible for the food for his fellow messmates. “Can Mr. Wilson get me anything to eat? Can a fish be had now & then? piece of fresh beef? butter? Vegetables &c. If you see a chance of getting anything, buy it for me. Thomas can always bring it up.” Thomas may have been one of the Taylor’s enslaved men. “We have peas, rice, & potatoes. Can we not get greens of some sort? I would like also to buy a jar or two of pickles, can they be had. Never mind the price.”


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Writing three and a half years later, Pvt. Phineas Whitehouse, 6th New Hampshire Infantry, remembered his initial trial ...
07/19/2024

Writing three and a half years later, Pvt. Phineas Whitehouse, 6th New Hampshire Infantry, remembered his initial trial by fire at Fredericksburg as a 20-year-old. After commenting on the bravery that he witnessed by most soldiers, he also shared about some of those unable to control their terror.

“But there were some . . . who could not conceal their fear and trepidation, in the heart of such a conflict. The scenes of death around them were more than their hearts and their nerves could bear. Some trembled from head to foot, and could hardly control their muscles long enough to load their muskets. Some would get half a dozen cartridges [loaded] one above the other, and think each had been discharged. Some would aim their muskets high in the air, thinking, perhaps, that the bullets might drop down on the heads of their foes. Some were so overcome while marching to the front that they fainted by the way, and had no opportunity of seeing the gray uniforms.”

Pvt. Whitehouse also fought at the Wilderness, and at Spotsylvania where he received a disabling wound to his right wrist. He died in 1910.

Image courtesy of findagrave.com

Three weeks ago only 15 tickets were remaining for CVBT's Annual Conference. Now there are only nine. Get yours now befo...
07/18/2024

Three weeks ago only 15 tickets were remaining for CVBT's Annual Conference. Now there are only nine. Get yours now before they are all gone!

September 13-15, 2024 promises to be a special weekend filled with great tours, informative presentations, and fantastic food. To find out more and to register, visit: https://bit.ly/3LtBlCf

Soldiers writing about their experiences at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsyl...
07/17/2024

Soldiers writing about their experiences at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House often referred to enduring “grape and canister” from enemy artillery. For example, at Fredericksburg, Sgt. George Washington Whitman, 51st New York, explained his regiment saw “the most terrific fire of grape, canister . . . that I ever saw.” Capt. Alfred Lee, 82nd Ohio, after Chancellorsville wrote that, “canister shot sung, whistled, and howled about our heads. . . .”

Known as the “King of Battle,” Civil War artillery proved quite intimidating, bringing an unprecedented level of destructive power to the battlefield. Field artillery had several types of ammunition to choose from depending on tactical situations. However, when things got desperate, artillerists often turned to canister. Canister was particularly effective when used in the 12-pound smoothbore pieces common to the artillery forces of both sides.

For a 4.62-inch diameter smoothbore Napoleon, a canister round consisted of a thin cylindrical tin container that held 27 iron balls packed in sawdust. Each ball measured almost 1.5 inches in diameter and weighed about a half pound. When fired from the artillery piece these projectiles spewed with tremendous force, traveling at about 1,260 feet per second. At discharge, the tin container and wood sabot base flew apart from the explosive force of the black powder and sprayed the 27 iron balls outward. In effect, canister rounds transformed a cannon into a giant shotgun. Artillery pieces were capable of shooting double loads of canister, making it highly effective in defensive situations.


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In the chaos of battle, with comrades being struck at seemingly every step, soldiers wondered why they came out unscathe...
07/16/2024

In the chaos of battle, with comrades being struck at seemingly every step, soldiers wondered why they came out unscathed. In a May 5, 1863, letter to his sister, 11th New Jersey soldier Pvt. Alonzo Searing described such a scene at Chancellorsville: “The Rebels quickly halted and returned our fire with terrible effect, and the firing then became general. The second man killed in Company E was Riley O’Brien, our company cook, who fell with a bullet through his head, his body falling partly against Samuel Morse and George Zindle. Soon after, 1st Lieutenant Lott Bloomfield and 2nd Lieutenant Edward Kelly, of Company B, were both instantly killed while encouraging their men to stand firm. Many of the men had very narrow escapes from being killed. I was in the front rank, with William Phillips on my left hand and John Cook on my right. I had only fired once, and was reloading, when Cook was mortally wounded, one ball breaking his thigh, and I think he was also shot in the head or neck, for as he fell over on me the blood from his wounds spurted out on my musket and clothes. He fell at my feet and only lived a short time, replying in response to my offer for assistance that he was done for. Just then I noticed William Phillips strike his hand sharply on his hip as he was shot by a minie ball and seriously wounded."

Pvt. Searing survived the war and lived to age 87, dying in 1932.


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Battling on the Federal right at the Wilderness, Pvt. Herman S. Rockwell and his 106th New York Infantry comrades endure...
07/15/2024

Battling on the Federal right at the Wilderness, Pvt. Herman S. Rockwell and his 106th New York Infantry comrades endured Confederate artillery on the morning of May 6, 1864. A year and a half later, Rockwell recalled being wounded there. He wrote, “Well do I remember the death-like sound of a single shell as it came howling through the air, striking a pine tree just in front of me, bursting and scattering its fragments among our number killing and wounding sixteen. Among the number was myself. A piece of the shell entered my right shoulder fracturing the bone and mangling the flesh in a horrid manner.” Eventually sent to Fredericksburg for treatment and then to Washington, Rockwell recovered and returned to duty.

Pvt. Rockwell was later wounded again at the Battle of Cedar Creek, losing his right arm. After the war, he became a doctor and lived until 1915.

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

https://www.cvbt.org/

Unwinding, unplugging, refreshing, recharging, getting back to nature, learning, and paying respect, are all possible by...
07/12/2024

Unwinding, unplugging, refreshing, recharging, getting back to nature, learning, and paying respect, are all possible by visiting a Civil War battlefield. Help ensure our battlefield acres remain as places of education and reflection by becoming a preservation partner member with Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. To join us, visit: https://bit.ly/3IHicta

Commanding a brigade of US Regulars at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Lt. Col. Robert C. Buchannan noted the precarious p...
07/11/2024

Commanding a brigade of US Regulars at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Lt. Col. Robert C. Buchannan noted the precarious position of his command near Hurkamp’s Tannery. In his report, Buchanan explained that on December 14, 1862, picket firing began at daylight and he “ soon found that my position was completely commanded, so that if an individual showed his head above the crest of the hill he was picked off by the enemy’s sharpshooters immediately, especially by those on the right.”

Buchanan described how some of his soldiers dealt with the problem. In an attempt to provide some relief “the Third and Fourth (US) Infantry effected an entrance into the tannery with their bayonets, through the brick wall next to Hanover street, and soon after loop-holed the wall on the Plank road, and occupied the windows fronting the enemy, and from these positions drove him from the houses and rifle pits on the right, so that he could not occupy them again during the day.”

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

https://www.cvbt.org/

If you’re a Preservation Partner member with Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the 2024 summer edition of “On the Fro...
07/10/2024

If you’re a Preservation Partner member with Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the 2024 summer edition of “On the Front Line” should be arriving in your mailbox soon, if not already there. CVBT publishes “On the Front Line” twice yearly as a member benefit. Today is a great day to join the CVBT ranks as a member and start saving battlefield land. https://bit.ly/3IHicta

Pvt. Hugh C. Dickson, 16th Mississippi Infantry (Posey’s Brigade), had a close call in the fighting on May 3, 1863, at C...
07/09/2024

Pvt. Hugh C. Dickson, 16th Mississippi Infantry (Posey’s Brigade), had a close call in the fighting on May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville. While on the skirmish line, Dickson outpaced his comrades and stumbled into “a rifle pit full of Yankees” about 20 yards away. Seeing a pile of rails nearby, Dickson dove behind them. “They then commenced firing on me, the balls flying like hailstones. One ball passed within two inches of my head while another struck my blanket, which I had rolled up and strapped on my back, passing entirely through, striking me on the backbone and tearing my coat, then glanced off without hurting me. While I was lying there, one man was killed. He fell on me. Another was shot in a few feet of me,” Dickson informed his father.


Image shows Brig. Gen. Carnot Posey, formerly colonel of the 16th Mississippi.
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Soldiers sometimes had to worry not only about the fire coming from enemy lines but also from so-called friendly fire, e...
07/08/2024

Soldiers sometimes had to worry not only about the fire coming from enemy lines but also from so-called friendly fire, especially artillery. Pvt. Edward King Wightman, 9th New York Infantry (Hawkins Zouaves), wrote home the day after the Battle of Fredericksburg describing his brigade’s ordeal:

“While awaiting orders, we were amused by the bursting among us of a few of our own shells, owing either to the clumsiness of our gunners or the imperfections of our guns. Two exploded close beside me on the dock, and one of the pieces, striking a stack of muskets glanced off and shattered the leg of a man in the 25th New Jersey, a new regiment in our Brigade. A few minutes later a dead man was borne by on a stretcher, who had been killed by a heavy fragment striking him on the head and during the day many others were hit, and the heads of the boys kept dodging continually to avoid scattering fragments.”

Image: Unidentified 9th NY Inf. soldier.

https://www.cvbt.org/

Battlefields mean many different things to different people. For some, they are hallowed grounds where a previous genera...
07/05/2024

Battlefields mean many different things to different people. For some, they are hallowed grounds where a previous generation battled and sacrificed to define America. For others, battlefields are an outdoor classroom, full of lessons of courage, decisions, contingency, opportunity, and movement. Battlefields are also quiet “green spaces,” that provide an environment for healing and exercise.

In addition, battlefields bring visiting tourists who spend their money, helping local community economies. For these, and many other reasons, battlefields are important to preserve and protect. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust thanks its many partner supporters for helping us continue to do our part in battlefield preservation. We encourage you to join our efforts: https://bit.ly/3IHicta

CVBT wishes everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July!
07/04/2024

CVBT wishes everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July!

A couple of Army of the Potomac soldiers who had fought at Gettysburg, and then later at fights at Spotsylvania, made in...
07/03/2024

A couple of Army of the Potomac soldiers who had fought at Gettysburg, and then later at fights at Spotsylvania, made interesting comparisons in their correspondence between the two battles.

Lt. Peter Hunt (left), Battery A, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery wrote to his mother on May 11, 1864. Lt. Hunt explained that he was alright but that they had “had 6 days of fighting. On the 9th inst. I received a little touch from a fragment of shell on the left leg. It went through my pants and just brought the blood. I am a little sore and dirty as can be. The battery was in a very severe fight [Po River] yesterday and lost one gun. Captain [William A.] Arnold got a bullet in his hat.” Hunt went on to say that in the engagement that the bullets were “thicker than I ever knew them to be. Musketry more terrible than Gettysburg.”

Lt. Mair Pointon, 6th Wisconsin Infantry, who had been in some of the worst battles of the war, wrote to his sister and brother on May 20, 1864, describing his close call on May 10 and the terrible continued fighting at Spotsylvania. Lt. Pointon noted that “Gettysburg was nothing to it.”


https://www.cvbt.org/

CVBT released its July 2024 "History Wire" e-newsletter yesterday. It focuses on accounts from soldiers who met with clo...
07/02/2024

CVBT released its July 2024 "History Wire" e-newsletter yesterday. It focuses on accounts from soldiers who met with close calls, near misses, and spent bullet experiences on the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville Campaign battlefields. If you missed it, it is available on the CVBT website at: https://bit.ly/4cHXdEy

If you don’t want to miss future CVBT email newsletters, you can sign up for them at: https://bit.ly/3IElLAr

“We lost but few in our Regiment & that from cannon shot. A Lieutenant near me had his head shot off by a cannon ball & ...
07/01/2024

“We lost but few in our Regiment & that from cannon shot. A Lieutenant near me had his head shot off by a cannon ball & several balls passed very near me, but I came off unhurt. The cannonading far exceeded anything I have ever heard before.”

Capt. C. C. Blacknall, 23rd North Carolina Infantry, following the Battle of Fredericksburg.

While strength of numbers is not the only deciding factor in successful military operations, commanders understand that ...
06/28/2024

While strength of numbers is not the only deciding factor in successful military operations, commanders understand that a key part of victory rests in having good people to champion your cause. Our preservation partner members are vital to the operation and success of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. Without our members’ support we would not have been able to preserve over 1,700 acres of battlefield land in what has been and continues to be a fast-moving, high-demand real estate market. Rent, electricity, office equipment and supplies, and other necessary expenses of doing not-for-profit work are paid through membership contributions. We obviously could not do what we do without our supportive members.

If you have not yet become a CVBT member, we encourage you to do so. If you’re just learning about CVBT, we encourage you to visit https://www.cvbt.org and see what the organization has accomplished since it was founded in 1996. Then, take action and join us as a member in the fight to save even more Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House battlefield acres from development threats. https://www.cvbt.org/membership-program

Only 15 tickets are remaining for CVBT's Annual Conference. Get yours now before they are all gone. September 13-15, 202...
06/27/2024

Only 15 tickets are remaining for CVBT's Annual Conference. Get yours now before they are all gone.

September 13-15, 2024 promises to be a special weekend filled with great tours, informative presentations, and wonderful food. To find out more and to register, visit: https://bit.ly/3LtBlCf

Middle-aged Spencer Bonsall served as a hospital steward in the 81st Pennsylvania Infantry. While giving care to the man...
06/26/2024

Middle-aged Spencer Bonsall served as a hospital steward in the 81st Pennsylvania Infantry. While giving care to the many wounded in Fredericksburg, Bonsall kept a journal describing the events around him. On December 13, 1862, he noted: “The battle raged fiercely until after dark. It was terrible. Dr. Houston and all of us were busy all the afternoon with the wounded of our regiment.”

Setting up their hospital in the office of Dr. A. S. Mason “in the upper part of town near the field of battle,” they dressed wounds and sent injured soldiers to a nearby house for recovery. Bonsall explained that “We have not had a moment to spare to get either dinner or supper, nothing but blood all around; the groans of the wounded and dying are awful. There are very few of our officers and men that have not been killed or wounded.” A number of shells hit the building where Bonsall and others were working and he wrote that they “received orders not to show any lights toward the west side of the town, as the enemy fired on all they could see.”

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

https://www.cvbt.org/

Frank Wilkeson enlisted in the 11th New York Independent Battery of Light Artillery on March 26, 1864, only a couple of ...
06/25/2024

Frank Wilkeson enlisted in the 11th New York Independent Battery of Light Artillery on March 26, 1864, only a couple of weeks after turning 16. In his 1897 memoir, he commented on the “Heavies,” who transitioned into infantrymen in the Army of the Potomac during the spring 1864 Overland Campaign.

Taunted by veterans for their lack of battlefield experience and previous service as garrison soldiers in the defenses of Washington D.C., some of the Heavies saw the results of battle at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. Wilkeson recalled: “For the first time they realized what war meant. It was not play. It was not pleasure. It was not sport under greenwood trees, but a savage encounter with desperate adversaries, who dealt death and grievous wounds with impartial hands.”

However, through their performance, the Heavies impressed Wilkeson and his comrades: “They fought with a steadiness and determination that could not be excelled. The whole army honored them. After Spotsylvania I never heard a word spoken against the heavy artillery men whom Grant summoned from Washington. . . .”

One place where the Heavies earned respect was at Harris Farm on May 19, 1864. CVBT owns and maintains this small island of preservation at Spotsylvania.


https://www.cvbt.org/

Being outdoors for the vast amount of their wartime experience, Civil War soldiers had plenty of opportunities to intera...
06/24/2024

Being outdoors for the vast amount of their wartime experience, Civil War soldiers had plenty of opportunities to interact with nature of all kinds. Pvt. John Vautier, 88th Pennsylvania, noted in his diary on May 10, 1864, the arrival of an unexpected visitor to their Spotsylvania earthworks:

“We were lying close to the breastworks, and the shells were striking uncomfortably near us—and we were hugging Mother Earth as closely as we possibly could. When all at once there was a scattering and jumping up at the left of the regiment. We wondered what was the matter, but were told that a black snake made his debut and caused the fright.”


https://www.cvbt.org/

When supply chains broke down during the Civil War, the common soldiers were often the ones who suffered the most from a...
06/21/2024

When supply chains broke down during the Civil War, the common soldiers were often the ones who suffered the most from a lack of food, clothing, and shelter. In a New Year’s Eve 1862, letter, Pvt. Alva Benjamin Spencer, 3rd Georgia Infantry, wrote from “Camp near Fredericksburg” about his regiment’s lack of tents. Although discussing winter conditions, soldiers also needed shelter year-round as protection from rain and sun.

“We are still without tents. The Government has furnished each company with one tent for the officers. The privates must do the best they can. Some have small tents captured from the enemy, in which they sleep quite comfortably. It has been said by some that a soldier needed only what he could carry; this is a mistake. A soldier in this climate needs much more than he is able to carry on his person. If one gets himself along without any baggage, he does well.”


https://www.cvbt.org/

“Protected by their breastworks, our men poured it into them. Grape and canister swept through their columns, mowing the...
06/20/2024

“Protected by their breastworks, our men poured it into them. Grape and canister swept through their columns, mowing them down. Still, on they came, like a vast heard of buffaloes, struggling over the trees and brush, dashing, brave, impetuous, but doomed to destruction. Thousands of them charged right up to our works, but, the line shattered, comrades killed, they could do nothing but throw down their arms.” “You must imagine the scene—I cannot describe it. The roar was unearthly; there is no better word for it. I shudder at the slaughter.”

Pvt. Oliver Wilcox Norton, 83rd Pennsylvania, excerpts from May 8, 1863, letter attempting to describe Chancellorsville.


https://www.cvbt.org/

Juneteenth, now a national holiday, commemorates the announcement of emancipation to the enslaved people of Texas by Gen...
06/19/2024

Juneteenth, now a national holiday, commemorates the announcement of emancipation to the enslaved people of Texas by Gen. Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865. It read in part: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”

After the surrender of Confederate armies at Appomattox, Virginia, and Durham, North Carolina, a significant number of United States Colored Troops regiments were sent to Texas to maintain a presence on the Texas/Mexico border. Among those units were the 19th, 23rd, and 43rd United States Colored Infantry regiments, who all served in Spotsylvania County in the spring of 1864, during the Overland Campaign as part of the Fourth Division of the IX Corps.

CVBT released its June 2024 e-newsletter yesterday. If you missed it, it is available on the CVBT website at: https://bi...
06/18/2024

CVBT released its June 2024 e-newsletter yesterday. If you missed it, it is available on the CVBT website at: https://bit.ly/4cH5dFV

If you don’t want to miss future CVBT email newsletters, you can sign up for them at: https://bit.ly/3IElLAr

Photo credit: American Battlefield Trust

CVBT makes it easy to help preserve the places where history happened. You can quickly set up a monthly or annual recurr...
06/17/2024

CVBT makes it easy to help preserve the places where history happened. You can quickly set up a monthly or annual recurring gift on the safe and secure CVBT website. It’s as simple as that! Go to https://bit.ly/3IHicta

“One of the first men hit was Corporal Palmer, carrying our national color. While we had been in the woods, the color ha...
06/14/2024

“One of the first men hit was Corporal Palmer, carrying our national color. While we had been in the woods, the color had been carried in the case to protect it . . . but when the charge was ordered, Palmer stripped off the case and flung the [flag] to the air. A bullet struck him in the arm and side, yet he held up the flag until it was taken from his grasp by our other color-bearer Corporal Manchester, who gave the state flag into the hands of Corporal Fairbanks. The banners went forward together in the charge.”
Maj. Abner Small, 16th Maine Infantry, May 8, 1864.

CVBT wishes everyone a Happy Flag Day!

https://www.cvbt.org/

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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