Confederate Catastrophe

Near this spot around 9:15 p.m. on the night of May 2, 1863, the Confederate cause suffered disaster when, as "Stonewall" Jackson and his party returned from their reconnaissance down the Mountain Road, Confederate musketry erupted south of the Plank Road (Route 3) and the scattered fire rippled northward directly across Jackson's path. A Confederate officer yelled, "Cease firing! You are firing into your own men!" Through the darkness, a voice shouted back, "Who gave that order? It's a lie! Pour it into them, boys!" The flash from dozens of rifles illuminated the darkness, two bullets crashed into Jackson's left arm, and a third pierced his right hand. Later that night his left arm was amputated, and on May 10, 1863, Jackson died in a farm office at Guinea Station.

Lake Wilderness, Virginia · United States