April 16th: Chancellorsville Civil War Battle.

We’re nearly at Claire’s, but happen to spot a lunch stop in the car park of this Civil War battle visitor centre. Virginia was Civil War frontline for the whole four years of the conflict and Fredericksburg, Claire’s local town, saw four major battles nearby. This was one of them.
Battles are confusing to follow even with the charts and films provided by the visitor centre, so I won’t attempt it. There were also many interesting display cases and early photos that brought the people involved to life (perhaps an inappropriate phrase in the light of the war’s huge death toll of 650,000).
So step forward the exception, the man they couldn’t kill, Private Amos G. Bean. Shot eight times on separate occasions he survived the war. Such good fortune failed to put a smile on his face for the photo.

The outcome of most battle wounds was less happy. Many died from infection, but an even greater number died from disease, accounting for two thirds of all Civil War deaths. More Americans died in this war than any other, including WW1 and WW2.

It is understandable that those who came through the horrors of the war would want to relive their comradeship. Here’s a pamphlet advertising a fortieth reunion that includes a “Banquet and Campfire”, and no doubt a few drinks and choruses of ‘John Brown’s Body’ or ‘Dixie’ depending on which side you fought. 

Some people we talk to here in the South still seem to harbour a grudge against the North to this day. They say the war wasn’t really about slavery but about the North using slavery as an excuse to dominate the wealthy South, which they succeeded in doing by winning the war and in the process bankrupting it. The North has called the shots ever since, as they see it.

The battle of Chancellorsville was won by the South, whose territory this was. The Northern attack lacked sufficient cavalry to gather intelligence on enemy movements so were outflanked by Robert E. Lee’s Southerners who had the advantage of better cavalry numbers, better led, and a well-trained army also better led.  

The cavalry were the glamour boys on both sides and this display shows the dashing flag, weapons and uniform issued to the Northerners. This became the standard kit of the US cavalry after the war and should be familiar to all cowboy film and TV fans. I own up here.

Chancellorsville was just a large house, not even a village, destroyed by fire long after the war. The visitor centre was well laid out and quite absorbing but really needed a second visit to retain all the details. Who says America hasn’t got much history?