May 4, 1863

From May 1-3, 1863 Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson fought a powerful federal army to a standstill at Chancellorsville, while Major General Jubal A. Early's division confronted the Union 6th Corps at Fredericksburg. On May 4th, following battles fought at Fredericksburg and Salem Church the day before, Early used Brigadier General William Smith's Brigade to probe the Federal line near the Plank Road. He found it strongly held and so began careful preparations for another attack. At 6:00 P.M., Early launched his other brigades against the Union force. Brigadier Generals Robert F. Hoke, Harry T. Hays, and John B. Gordon led their men forward against the Federals positioned on the ridge traversed by modern day Cowan Boulevard. This first line collapsed under the pressure and the Confederates pressed on, across Smith Run. Colonel Lewis A. Grant's Vermont Brigade held the ridge west of the creek and the severe fighting continued. The soldiers of Vermont counterattacked, but as the sun went down, they were outflanked by Gordon's Brigade, which had worked it's way north to Fall Hill. The Federals pulled back to a new line of defense along present day Fall Hill Avenue, which they held that night while the Union Sixth Corps retreated across the Rappahannock River at Banks Ford.


This memorial is dedicated in memory of the 846 Confederate soldiers from Major General Early's Division who were killed and wounded in the defense of Fredericksburg at Smith Run, May 4, 1863.


List of killed and wounded as reported by Surg. L. Guild, C.S. Army Medical Director (Campaign of Chancellorsville)


Smith's Brigade

[Photograph of] Brig. Gen. William Smith

13th Virginia 36

49th Virginia 10

52nd Virginia 12

58th Virginia 28


Hoke's Brigade

[Photograph of] Brig. Gen. Robert F Hoke

Brig. Gen. R. Hoke wounded 1

6th North Carolina 29

21st North Carolina 78

54th North Carolina 41

57th North Carolina 70

1st North Carolina Battalion 11


Hay's Brgade>

[Photograph of] Brig. Gen. Harry T Hays

5th Louisiana 53

6th Louisiana 81

7th Louisiana 80

8th Louisiana 83

9th Louisiana 72


Gordon's Brigade

[Photograph of] Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon
Captain J. Mitchell, AAG., wounded 1

13th Georgia 30

26th Georgia 24

31st Georgia 23

38th Georgia 20

60th Georgia 35

61st Georgia 28

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The Vermont Brigade Counterattacks
Fall Hill Road
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George Washington: Statesman and Public Servant
Confederate and Federal Defenses in May 1863
Civil War Defenses
Confederate Defenses in December 1862

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