A Diversion

On May 3, 1863, during the Chancellorsville Campaign, Brigadier General John Gibbon deployed his Union division in this area to support other Federal units in Fredericksburg. That morning, Gibbon’s troops rushed forward to assault the heights in front of this position, but the attack faltered at a canal when the soldiers found that the bridge planks had been removed. As the Northerners pulled boards from a nearby house, Confederate artillery took position on the high ground and opened fire, and Southern infantry arrived to form defensive lines. Gibbon’s chance to seize an undefended hill was lost, but this Federal demonstration caused the Confederates to overextend themselves. When Southern troops shifted to confront Gibbon, another Union column broke through at Sunken Road, one and one-quarter miles south, then moved toward Chancellorsville before Confederate reinforcements turned it back at Salem Church.

Fredericksburg, Virginia · United States