Page 4
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG
After Antietam, both army separated to recuperate. McClellan was the first to move and swung hard to the southeast in an attempt to get between Lee, who was in the Shenandoah, and Richmond. Lee pursued and his smaller army managed to get to Fredericksburg, Virginia and took up positions behind the Rappahannock River. It was here Lee learned that McClellan was replaced by Ambrose Burnside. Unsure of what Burnside would do, Lee dug in and waited as the weather turned cold.
The Confederate army took their time placing themselves in the field. They positioned artillery to have unimpeded fields of fire in the fields south of town. General Cobb’s brigade’s position fronted a stone wall at the base of high ground called Marye’s Heights. He put his brigade behind the wall and placed the Washington Artillery of New Orleans on the heights behind him. The alignment of the brigade behind the wall was as follows: 18th Georgia – 24th Georgia – Phillip’s Legion – 24th North Carolina with the 16th Georgia and Cobb’s Legion in reserve. On December 13 of 1862, the Federals launched three separate attacks directly against the stone wall. Each was repulsed with heavy losses. The Georgians at the wall were three men deep. The front rank would fire as the rear two ranks reloaded and passed rifles to the front. By the end of the battle, the 2nd South Carolina would reinforce the Brigade making the ranks up to five deep. During the fight, General Cobb was hit in the leg by artillery shrapnel. He would bleed to death within minutes. Following the battle the Brigade would go into winter quarters outside Fredericksburg and await spring and a return to active campaigning.
Cobb’s Brigade is the Confederate line in front. The 18th Georgia, 24th Georgia, and Phillip’s Legion can be seen with the 16th in reserve.
Period picture of the stone wall at Fredericksburg.
An artist's rendition of the same angle as above.
The stone wall as it appears today.
Following the death of General Cobb, Colonel William T. Wofford was promoted and given command of the brigade. From this time on it was known as Wofford’s Georgia Brigade.
Gen. William Tatum Wofford
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
After the debacle at Fredericksburg, Burnside was replaced by General Joseph Hooker. Hooker developed a plan to hold Lee’s army in place at Fredericksburg with three corps while moving the rest of his army up the Rappahannock to cross at Kelly’s Ford. Here he hoped to swing back to the east and surround Lee. Lee divided his smaller army, leaving behind two brigades at Fredericksburg and pursuing Hooker to the west toward Chancellorsville. Chancellorsville was nothing more than an estate on a crossroads in a dense forest of undergrowth known as The Wilderness.
It was at this point that General Wofford formed what would become the 3rd Battalion, Georgia Sharpshooters. Fifty men were taken from each regiment in the brigade to form this ‘elite’ group of skirmishers, snipers, and scouts. The new regiment would be used to advance in front of the brigade and harass the enemy with accurate fire while reporting back to Wofford what was ahead.
Wofford’s Brigade of McLaw’s division were some of the first Confederates to move out of Fredericksburg to the west to meet the Army of the Potomac. Along with General R.H. Anderson’s division. They moved to the Zoan Church area on the Plank Road and began to dig in. Not content to wait for the Federals, Stonewall Jackson who had moved to the area with three of his corps. He ordered a general advance and after pushing back Federal cavalry contact was made with the leading elements of the Federal infantry. Wofford’s Brigade was deployed to the right (north) of the road and advanced but only saw skirmishing in their front. General Hooker called back the leading Federals to dig in and hope Lee would attack his position.
The next morning, Jackson’s corps moved out of line to go on the famed “flank march” of Chancellorsville. McLaw’s and Anderson’s divisions were tasked with keeping the Federals, who now substantially outnumbered them, attention to their front. They engaged the Federals with heavy skirmishing not wanting to provoke the Federals into attacking. When the sound of battle to the west convinced Lee that Jackson had launched his attack, he ordered an attack in McLaw’s sector to prevent reinforcements from being sent to help repulse Jackson. As the entire Brigade advanced, the new Sharpshooter Battalion led the way. They attacked the breastworks three times but were unable to carry them. The next day, the attacks by the Brigade continued with Wofford himself leading the first charge but to no success. A second try carried the works and the Brigade moved into the rear of the Federal defenses.
Meanwhile at Fredericksburg, only William Barksdale’s Brigade manned the old defense line on Marye’s Heights. Attacked by John Sedgwick’s corps, the Federal were able to gain access to the Plank Road which led to Lee’s rear at Chancellorsville. Lee once again divided his already divided army and sent McLaw’s Division, including Wofford’s Brigade back east to take up a position near Salem Church. The Confederates arrived in time to receive the Federal assault but were able to drive it back. That night plans were made to push Sedgwick into the river and destroy his isolate command with McLaw’s coming in on the west and Jubal Early’s command, which was guarding Fredericksburg, coming in on the east. Delays caused the attack not to happen until evening. Uncoordinated attacks managed to ease Sedgwick back but he was able to escape using Scott’s Ford. Lee, determined to finish off the Federals still at Chancelorsville, shifted west but Wofford’s Brigade was left at Bank’s Ford to prevent Federal cavalry from crossing. By the time Lee was ready to attack, Hooker had escaped across the river ending the battle.
In this map of the first day of the battle, Wofford’s Brigade can be seen in the middle right.
On May 2nd, McLaw’s Division, which contains Wofford’s Brigade, holds their position to keep attention
away from Jackson’s movements.
On May 3rd, McLaw’s can be seen attacking in the morning then moving east to meet
Sedgewick’s advance at Salem Church.
On May 4th McLaw’s division attacks forcing Sedgwick across the river.
LEE’S NORTHERN INVASION
Following the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee was slightly aggravated at the fact that the Confederates had not been able to destroy at least a portion of the Army of the Potomac. Now he was stuck in another stalemate as the two armies faces each other across the Rappahannock River. Worried about another flanking movement or a push from the Federals east of Richmond, Lee decided to take the bold move of moving west around the Federals and heading north knowing that Hooker would have to follow to stay in front of Washington. Hooker at first thought to move toward Richmond but upon Lincoln’s stressing that Lee’s army was the primary target, he pursued as well with uncharacteristic speed.
On June 3rd, 1863 the Brigade moved out of Fredericksburg back toward Chancellorsville. They marched through the old battlefield past casualties still laying along the road. The crossed the Rapidan River at Raccoon Ford and moved toward Culpeper. By the 15th the Brigade was moving north again on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the 26th the Brigade crossed the Potomac into Maryland. They then moved into Pennsylvania and went through South Mountain, Fayetteville, Caledonia, and Graffenburg Springs. By the first the sound of firing could be heard ahead toward Gettysburg.
Caledonia Iron Works owned by the Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens.
The works were burned by the passing Confederates and the Brigade stood
picket duty nearby.