Chancellorsville, VA

The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Chancellorsville begins as Union and Confederate reenactors maneuvering in an abandoned wooded lot. May 2013

In May 1863 near a crossroads named Chancellorsville the famous Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson shook hands for the last time. The following day Stonewall Jackson leads a portion of the Confederate Army on a flanking maneuver that nearly destroys the Union Army at Chancellorsville.

This overwhelming Confederate victory in early May 1863 is tempered by the fact that Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own men in the battle. Jackson’s death and subsequent absence a few months later at the Battle of Gettysburg is seen as a turning point in the fate of the Confederacy.

Image and text by Michael Falco