First Day at Chancellorsville

First Day at Chancellorsville (HM1FRI)

Location: Fredericksburg, VA 22407
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 18.043', W 77° 36.723'

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Inscription

A Dangerous Field Hospital



The shell(s) fell pretty thick around me at first but that soon stopped and I went on operating." — Surgeon John Shaw Billings



As the Union army fell back, the structures atop this ridge made convenient targets for Confederate gunners. One of these buildings, a "little frame house" probably inhabited by the Newton family, served as a field hospital. Federal Surgeon John Shaw Billings noticed that "the wounded who could walk would not stop" at the house because "it was entirely too close" to danger.



Many Union regiments had bands. The bandsmen, who typically helped transport the wounded when not playing music, carried the more severely injured soldiers to the hospital here but never went back for a second load. Billings recalled, "Finally a shell went through this wooden shanty making a deuce of a clatter, and that settled the question of the men stopping." Billings moved the field hospital back about 200 yards, to the house of Absalom McGee.



(captions)

(lower left) A field hospital at Chancellorsville — Courtesy Library of Congress

(upper right) Frame house near Fredericksburg showing the effects of artillery fire. — Courtesy Library of Congress
Details
HM NumberHM1FRI
Series This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
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Placed ByVirginia Civil War Trails, Civil War Trust
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, September 18th, 2014 at 7:06am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 271590 N 4242409
Decimal Degrees38.30071667, -77.61205000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 18.043', W 77° 36.723'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 18' 2.58" N, 77° 36' 43.38" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)540
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling West
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 6301-6353 Plank Rd, Fredericksburg VA 22407, US
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