Video: Why you're far from solitude in the Wilderness

Like this blog on Facebook
Some of the most vicious fighting of the Civil War took place near the intersection of Orange Plank and Brock roads during the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5-6, 1864. But on the morning of my visit, it was difficult to contemplate the momentous events that happened here long ago. Watch to see why.

Chancellorsville Then & Now: Stonewall Jackson wounding site

 Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter

Stonewall Jackson

On May 2, 1863, Confederate troops accidentally shot Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville, Va., site of the general's greatest triumph. Eight days later, he died from pneumonia and complications from the wounds. Nearly three years after the calamity that rocked the Confederacy, George Oscar Brown photographed the scene, part of an extensive series of photos of central Virginia battlefields he took during a U.S. Army medical expedition. 

The caption on the April 1866 stereoview,  the earliest known image of the Jackson wounding site, noted the general suffered his wounds to the left of the two men who appear at the center of the photo. Dr. Reed Bontecou, who led the expedition for the U.S. Army Medical Museum, is believed to be at the far left. (For more on Bontecou, see John Cummings' fine Spotsylvania Civil War blog here.)

In early November 2016, a private collector purchased this previously unknown Brown stereoview on eBay — the right half appears above.  (How did I miss this on eBay?!!!) Note the plank road at the far right of the 1866 image. 

On a mid-March afternoon, a certain Civil War blogger dodged traffic on ridiculously busy Route 3 — the war-time Orange Plank Road — to shoot a present-day view of the scene. The result is a representative but not spot-on "Now" photo. The shooting site, marked in 1888 by a monument near the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitors' Center, is no longer visible to motorists who pass by.

Bob Zeller, president and co-founder of the Center for Civil War Photography, first reported the existence of Brown's Jackson wounding site image in the organization's Battlefield Photographer magazine. (Consider joining the CCWP. Full disclosure: I am secretary-treasurer.) 

Grab the slider to travel from the "Then" to "Now." For a large-format version of this Then & Now, visit my Civil War photo blog here. Below are more images of the site. 

A cropped enlargement of Brown's image shows the planks on the old Orange Plank Road.

Post-war image by George Oscar Brown of the Orange Plank Road and Mountain Road intersection.
Jackson is believed to have been shot at the far right or farther down the road,
 out of view of the camera. (Library of Congress | CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)

An 1890 painting of the Jackson wounding site. The monument was added in 1888.
 (Library of Congress)

An early view of the Jackson wounding monument, date unknown. The monument is no longer 
surrounded by a fence. (Library of Congress)

                  GOOGLE STREET VIEW: Explore an August 2016 view of the scene.

---

Have something to add (or correct) in this post? E-mail me here.