Lee-Jackson Bivouac - Chancellorsville VA
N 38° 17.699 W 077° 37.540
18S E 270381 N 4241806
General R. E. Lee and General Stonewall Jackson met at an intersection to discuss a bold plan against the Union Army the night of May 1, 1863 during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Waymark Code: WMB75E
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2011
Views: 8
On the night of May 1, 1863, Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson met at the intersection of Orange Plank Road and Furnace Road to discuss strategy against the Union army under General Joe Hooker who were nearby at Chancellorsville, Virginia. The Federal troops outnumbered the Confederates 2 to 1. Lee and Jackson sat around a small fire and pored over maps, coming up with a daring plan to send Jackson with most of the men down back roads and attack a weak spot in General Hooker's right flank, while Lee would try to distract and hold the front line with the remaining men. Their plan was to ultimately break up the Union position.
The next morning, as Jackson led his men down the road, he stopped briefly at the intersection to speak with Lee, A. P. Hill, and J. E. B. Stuart. It was the last time Lee and Jackson would meet.
The Lee-Jackson Bivouac is Tour Stop 5 on the Chancellorsville Battlefield at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park which is open dawn to dusk. There are two interpretative signs at the intersection -- A Bold Plan which gives a synopsis of the strategy mapped out by Lee and Jackson and has an artist's rendering of the campfire meeting and an old black-and-white photo of the intersection as it was in 1863 and Final Meeting, Fateful March with another artist's drawing of the brief meeting between Jackson and Lee the next morning as Jackson rode out and a 'You Are Here' map which shows Jackson's route and Hooker's line. Nearby is a small block marker inscribed:
BIVOUAC
LEE AND JACKSON
NIGHT OF
MAY 1, 1863.
There is a small pull-off just south of the intersection on McLaws Drive (the old Furnace Rd.) at:
- N 38° 17.679' W 77° 37.586'
A trail leads back to the intersection.