The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Chancellorsville (May-1863) - May 4th, 2003

National Park Service ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

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The Battle of Chancellorsville, 1863

The locomotive ground to a halt at a little depot amidst a drenching downpour. An eager figure scanned the cars for two passengers who meant more to him than anyone else on earth.

The legendary "Stonewall" Jackson, renowned as the quintessential grim warrior, revealed his gentler nature on April 20, 1863, at Guinea Station, 12 miles south of Fredericksburg as he greeted his beloved wife and saw his infant daughter for the first time. The blissful family repaired to a nearby house and passed the next nine days enjoying the only domestic contentment they would ever share. In less than three weeks, at a small frame building near Guinea, Jackson would be dead.

The campaign that resulted in Jackson's demise, paradoxically remembered as "Lee's greatest victory," emerged from the backwash of the Battle of Fredericksburg. That Federal debacle and subsequent political intrigue at army headquarters prompted a change of command in the Army of the Potomac. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, a 48-year-old Massachusetts native endowed with high courage and low morals, replaced Burnside in January. Within weeks, Hooker's able administrative skills restored the health and morale of his troops, whom he proudly proclaimed "the finest army on the planet."

The new commander crafted a brilliant plan for the spring that he expected would at least compel General Robert E. Lee to abandon his Fredericksburg entrenchments, and, possibly, prove fatal to the Army of Northern Virginia. First, Hooker would detach his cavalry, 10,000 strong, on a flying raid toward Richmond to sever Lee's communications with the Confederate capital. Then, he would send most of his infantry 40 miles upstream to cross the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers beyond the Confederate defenses, and sweep east against Lee's left flank. The rest of "Fighting Joe's" army would cross the river at Fredericksburg and menace the Confederate front as the second blade of a great pincers. "My plans are perfect," boasted Hooker "and when I start to carry them out may God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none."

The condition of the Confederate army lent credence to Hooker's confidence. In February, Lee detached his stalwart lieutenant, James Longstreet, with two strong divisions to gather food and supplies in southeastern Virginia. The gray commander cherished the offensive, but could not hope to move north without Longstreet. In the meantime, Lee's 60,000 veterans at Fredericksburg would guard their long river line against 130,000 well-equipped Yankees.



Hooker began the campaign on April 27 and within three days some 40,000 Federals had splashed through the upriver fords, their presence detected by Confederate cavalry. On April 29, a sizable Union force led by Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's Sixth Corps erected pontoon bridges below Fredericksburg and also moved to Lee's side of the river.

With both wings of the enemy across the Rappahannock, Lee faced a serious dilemma. Conventional military wisdom dictated that the understrength Army of Northern Virginia retreat south and escape Hooker's trap. Lee opted instead to meet the Federal challenge head-on. Correctly deducing that Hooker's primary threat lay to the west, "Marse Robert" assigned 10,000 troops under Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early to man the old Fredericksburg entrenchments. The balance of the army would turn west toward the tangled Wilderness to confront Hooker's flanking column.

By midafternoon of April 30, that column, now containing 50,000 men and 108 artillery pieces, rendezvoused at the most important road junction in the Wilderness. A large brick tavern named Chancellorsville dominated this intersection of the Orange Turnpike with the Orange Plank, Ely's Ford, and River roads. "This is splendid," exulted one of Hooker's corps commanders, "Hurrah for Old Joe."



The Federals had encountered virtually no opposition to this point. Moreover, they could now press eastward, break clear of the Wilderness, and uncover Banks Ford downstream, thus significantly shortening the distance between their two wings. Hooker, however, decided to halt at Chancellorsville and await the arrival of additional Union troops. This fateful decision disheartened the Federal officers on the scene who recognized the urgency of maintaining the momentum they had thus far sustained.

"Stonewall" Jackson, gladly seizing the initiative that Hooker needlessly surrendered, left the Fredericksburg lines at 3:00 a.m, on May I and arrived at Zoan Church five hours later. There he found two divisions of Confederate infantry, Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson's and Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws', fortifying a prominent ridge covering the Turnpike and Plank Road. Although his corps had not yet appeared, Jackson ordered Anderson and McLaws to drop their shovels, pick up their rifles, and advance to the attack.

Jackson's audacity dictated the shape of the Battle of Chancellorsville. When Hooker at last authorized an eastward movement late in the morning of May 1, his troops on the Turnpike and Plank Road ran flush against "Stonewall's", outgunned but aggressive brigades. Union front-line commanders had not expected this kind of resistance. They sent anxious messages to Hooker, who quickly ordered his generals to fall back to the Wilderness and assume a defensive posture. The Federal columns on the River Road marched almost to Bank's Ford without seeing a Rebel. They returned to Chancellorsville fuming, fully realizing the opportunity that had slipped through their fingers.


Dead Confederate soldiers — killed during General Sedgwick's assault on May 3 — lie amid the debris of battle behind a stone wall overlooking Fredericksburg. Russell took this photograph the following day.

Late in the day, as the blue infantry threw up entrenchments encircling Hooker's Chancellorsville headquarters, Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couch approached his superior. As the army's senior corps commander, Couch sad advocated an offensive strategy and shared his comrades' disappointment with "Fighting Joe's" judgment. "It is all right, Couch," Hooker reassured him, "I have got Lee just where I want him; he must fight me on my own ground."

Couch could barely believe his ears. "To hear from his own lip that the advantages gained by the successful marches of his lieutenants were to culminate in fighting a defensive battle in that nest of thickets was too much, and I retired from his presence with the belief that my commanding general was a whipped man."

Hooker's confidence had faded to caution, but whether he was "whipped" depended upon Lee and Jackson. Those two officers reined up along the Plank Road at its intesection with a byway call the Furnace Road on the evening of May 1. Transforming discarded Federal cracker boxes into camp stools, the generals examined their options.



Confederate scouts verified the Federals' strong positions extending from the Rappahannock River, around Chancellorsville, to the high, open ground at Hazel Grove. This was the bad news. The Southern army couldn not afford a costly frontal attack against prepared fortifications.

Then, about midnight, Lee's cavalry chief, "Jeb" Stuart, galloped up to the little campfire. The flamboyant Virginian carried thrilling intelligence. The Union right flank was "in the air" -- that is, resting on no natural or artificial obstacle! From that moment on, the generals thought of nothing but how to gain access to Hooker's vulnerable flank. Jackson consulted with staff officers familiar with the area, dispatched his topographical engineer to explore the roads to the west, and tried to snatch a few hours rest at the chilly bivouac.

[SAMWolf]

Before dawn, Lee and Jackson studied a hastily drawn map and decided to undertake one of the biggest gambles in American military history. Jackson's corps, about 30,000 troops, would follow a series of country roads and woods paths to reach the Union right. Lee, with the remaining 14,000 infantry, would occupy a position more than three miles long and divert Hooker's attention during Jackson's dangerous trek. Once in position, "Stonewall" would smash the Federals with his full strength while Lee cooperated as best he could. The Army of Northern Virginia would thus be fractured into three pieces, counting Early's contingent at Fredericksburg, any one of which might be subject to rout or annihilation if the Yankees resumed the offensive.



Jackson led his column past the bivouac early on the morning of May 2. He conferred briefly with Lee, then trotted down the Furnace Road with the fire of battle kindled in his eyes. After about one mile, as the Confederates traversed a small clearing, Union scouts perched in treetops at Hazel Grove spotted the marchers. The Federals lobbed artillery shells at Jackson's men and notified Hooker of the enemy movement.

"Fighting Joe" correctly identified Jackson's maneuver as an effort to reach his right flank. He advised the area commander, Maj. Gen. Oliver 0. Howard, to be on the lookout for an attack from the west. As the morning progressed, however, the Union chief grew to believe that Lee was actually withdrawing - the course of events Hooker most preferred. Worries about his right disappeared. Instead, he ordered his Third Corps to harass the tail end of Lee's "retreating" army.

Colorful Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles commanded the Third Corps. He probed cautiously from Hazel Grove toward a local iron manufactory called Catharine Furnace. In mid-afternoon the Federals overwhelmed Jackson's rearguard beyond the furnace along the cut of an unfinished railroad, capturing nearly an entire Georgia regiment. The action at Catharine Furnace, however, eventually attracted some 20,000 Bluecoats onto the scene thus effectively isolating Howard's Eleventh Corps on the right with no nearby support.



Meanwhile the bulk of Jackson's column snaked its way along uncharted trails barely wide enough to accommodate four men abreast. "Stonewall" contributed to Hooker's faith in a Confederate retreat by twice turning away from the Union line - first at Catharine Furnace, then again at the Brock Road. After making the desired impression, Jackson ducked under the Wilderness canopy and continued his march toward Howard's insensible soldiers.

Acting upon a personal reconnaissance recommended by cavalry general Fitzhugh Lee, Jackson kept his column northbound on the Brock Road to the Orange Turnpike where the Confederates would at last be beyond the Union right. The exhausting march, which altogether traversed more, than 12 miles, ended about 3 p.m. when "Old Jack's" warriors began deploying into battle lines astride the Turnpike. Jackson, however, did not authorize an attack for some tow hours, providing 11 of his 15 brigades time to take position in the silent forest. The awe-inspiring Confederate front measured nearly two miles across.

Although individual Northern officers and men warned of Jackson's approach, Eleventh Corps headquarters dismissed the reports as frightened expaggerations from alarmists or cowards. Hooker's shortage of cavalry hampered the Federals's ability to penetrate the Wilderness and uncover the Confederate presence with certainty. Only two small regiments and half a New York battery faced west in the direction of Jackson's corps.


Russell’s superior, General Haupt, and an assistant stand on a narrow road leading down from the heights west of Fredericksburg. In the foreground is a wrecked Confederate artillery caisson and dead mule team, lost by the rebels during their retreat on May 3.

Suddenly, a bugle rang out in the afternoon shadows. Bugles everywhere echoed the notes up and down the line. As waves of sweat-soaked soldiers rolled forward, the high defiance of the Rebel Yell pierced the gloomy woods. Jackson's Corps erupted from the trees and sent the astonished Unionists reeling. "Along the road it was pandmonium," recalled a Massachusetts soldier, "and on the side of the road it was chaos."

Most of Howard's men fought bravely, drawing three additonal battle lines across Jackson's path. But the overmatched Federals occupied an untenable position. The screaming gray legions overwhelmed each Union stand and eventually drove the Eleventh Corps completely from the field.

Sunset and the inevitable intermingling of "Stonewall's" brigades compelled Jackson to call a reluctant halt to the advance about 7:15. He summoned Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division to the front and, typically, determined to renew his attack despite the darkness. Jackson hoped to maneuver between Hooker and his escape routes across the rivers and then, with Lee's help, grind the Army of the Potomac into oblivion.



While Hill brought his brigades forward, Jackson rode ahead of his men to reconnoiter. When he attempted to return, a North Carolina regiment mistook his small party for Union cavalry. Two volleys burst forth in the blackness and Jackson tottered in his saddle, suffering from three wounds. Shortly thereafter a Federal shell struck Hill, incapacitating him, and direction of the corps devolved upon Stuart. The cavalryman wisely cancelled "Stonewall's" plans for a night attack.

[SAMWolf]

Despite his misfortune on May 2, Hooker still held the advantage at Chancellorsville. He received reinforcements during the night and the Third Corps moved back from Catharine Furnace to reoccupy Hazel Grove. Sickles' troops thus divided the Confederates into separate wings controlled by Stuart and Lee. Hooker, if he chose, could defeat each fraction of his outmanned enemy in detail.



The Confederate commanders understood the need to connect their divisions, and Stuart prepared an all-out assault against Hazel Grove at dawn. Hooker made it easy for him. As the Southerners approached the far crest of Hazel Grove they witnessed Sickles' men retiring in an orderly fashion. "Fighting Joe" had directed that his troops surrender the key ground and fall back to Fairview, an elevated clearing closer to Chancellorsville.

Stuart immediately exploited the opportunity by placing 31 cannon on Hazel Grove. Combined with artillery located west along the Turnpike, the gunners at Hazel Grove pounded Fairview with a spectacular bombardment. The Federals responded with 34 pieces of their own and soon the Wilderness trembled with a discordant symphony of iron.

The bloodiest fighting of the battle occurred between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. on May 3. Stuart launched brigade after brigade against entrenched Union lines on both sides of the Turnpike. Troops lost their way in the tangled underbrush and the woods caught fire, confronting the wounded with a horrible fate.


Federal infantrymen shelter behind earthworks on the west bank of the Rappahannock below Fredericksburg not long after crossing the river. These troops were posted to support the artillery pieces visible in the background and were perhaps 500 yards from Confederate lines. Russell took this photograph during a lull in the fighting.

The see-saw fighting began to favor the Southerners as, one by one, Union artillery pieces dropped out of the contest. Hooker failed to resupply his cannoneers with ammunition or shift sufficient infantry reserves to critical areas. A Confederate projectile abetted this mental paralysis when it struck a pillar at Chancellorsville, throwing the Union commander violently to the ground. The impact stunned Hooker, physically removing him from a battle in which he had not materially been engaged for nearly 48 hours. Before relinquishing partial authority to Couch, Hooker instructed the army to assume a prepared position in the rear, protecting the bridgehead across the Rappahannock.

Stuart pressed forward first to Fairview and then against the remaining Union units at Chancellorsville. Lee's wing advanced simultaneously from the south and east. The Bluecoats receded at last and thousands of powder-smeared Confederates poured into the clearing, illuminated by flames from the burning Chancellorsville mansion.

Lee emerged from the smoke and elicited a long, unbroken cheer from the gray multitudes who recognized him as the architect of their improbable victory. A Confederate staff officer, watching the unbridled expression of so much admiration, reverence, and love, thought that, "it must have been from such a scene that men in ancient times rose to the dignity of gods."



The Southern commander wasted little time on reflection. He prepared to pursue Hooker and seal the success achieved since dawn. A courier bearing news from Fredericksburg shattered Lee's plans. Sedgwick had driven Early's contingent from Marye's Heights and now threatened the Confederate rear. This changed everything. Lee assigned Stuart to watch Hooker's host and sent McLaws eastward to deal with the Sixth Corps menace.

Sedgwick, slowed by Wilcox's single Alabama brigade retreating stubbornly from Fredericksburg, came to grips with the Confederates four miles west of town at Salem Church. The Federals swept into the churchyard but a powerful counterattack drove them back and ended the day's combat. The next day Lee shoved Sedgwick across the Rappahannock at Banks Ford and once again focused on the main Union army in the Wilderness.

Hooker, however, had seen enough. Despite the objections of most of his corps commanders, he ordered a withdrawal across the river. The Federals conducted their retreat under cover of darkness and arrived back in Stafford County on May 6. Ironically, this decision may have been Hooker's most serious blunder of the campaign. Lee's impending assault on May 6 might have failed and completely reversed the outcome of the battle.


Wounded Union soldiers at the Battle of Chancellorsville May 2-3 1863

Confederate leadership during the Chancellorsville Campaign may represent the finest generalship of the Civil War, but the luster of "Lee's greatest victory" tarnishes upon examination of the battle's tangible results. In truth, the Army of the Potomac had not been so thoroughly defeated - some 40,000 Federals had done no fighting whatsoever. Although Hooker suffered more than 17,000 casualties, those losses accounted for only 13% of his total strength. Lee's 13,000 casualties amounted to 22% of his army, men difficult to replace. Of course, Jackson's death on May 10 created a vacancy that could never be filled. Finally, Lee's triumph at Chancellorsville imbued him with the belief that his army was invincible. He convinced the Richmond government to endorse his proposed offensive into Pennsylvania. Within six weeks, the Army of Northern Virginia confidently embarked on a journey northward to keep an appointment with destiny at a place called Gettysburg.

Additional Sources:

xroads.virginia.edu
www.pbs.org
www.discovery.com
www.allenscreations.com
usa-civil-war.com
kms.kapalama.ksbe.edu
www.gltech.org

[SAMWolf]

'The Rebel army is now the legitimate property of the Army of the Potomac.'

-- Joseph Hooker,
shortly before he was soundly defeated by Robert E. Lee at Chancellorsville

'Boys, he's not much for looks, but if we'd had him we wouldn't be caught in this trap.'

-- A captured Union soldier describing Stonewall Jackson

'My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to always be ready, no matter when it may overtake me.'

-- Stonewall Jackson

'He will take more chances, and take them quicker, than any other general in the country--North or South.'

-- A contemporary describing Robert E. Lee

[SAMWolf]

The State of the Union is Strong!
Support the Commander in Chief
Click Here to Send a Message to the opposition!

[SAMWolf]

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning SAM, everyone.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on May 04:
1006 Abd-Allah Ansari Persian mystic/poet (Monadjat)
1611 Carlo Rainaldi composer
1622 Juan de Valdés Leal Spanish painter/sculptor
1631 Mary I Henriette Stuart daughter of Charles I/Queen of England
1635 Willem van Outhoorn Dutch Governor-General (Dutch East Indies)
1655 Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori Italy, piano builder
1738 Josef Kohaut composer
1744 Marianne von Martinez composer
1763 Franz Stanislaus Spindler composer
1769 Charles Hague composer
1776 Johann Friedrich Herbart Germany, philosopher/psychologist
1777 Charles-Louis-Joseph Hanssens composer
1796 Horace Mann US, educator/author/editor (pioneered public schools)
1796 Joseph Pannell Taylor Brigadier General (Union Army), died in 1864
1820 Joseph Whitaker England, publisher, founded Whitaker's Almanack
1820 Julia Gardiner Tyler 2nd wife of President John Tyler (1841-45)
1825 Thomas Henry Huxley scientist/humanist/Darwinist
1826 Frederick Church US romantic landscape painter (Hudson River School)
1835 Edmund Hart Turpin composer
1846 Emile Gallé French glass/marble/ceramic artist (Gallé Glaze)
1860 Emil Nikolaus Von Reznicek Vienna Austria, composer (Donna Diana)
1867 Dynam-Victor Fumet composer
1871 Mynona writer
1875 Ramiro de Maeztu y Whitney Spanish writer (Don Quixote & Celestine)
1875 Reggie Schwartz cricketer (1st of great South African googlists)
1877 Arthur Lang US, boxer/businessman (Died Aug 8, 1992 at 115)
1881 Aleksandr F Kerenski Russian premier (1917-Prelude to Bolshevism)
1882 Wilhelm Lehmann writer
1889 Francis J Spellman US Cardinal
1891 Frederick Jacobi composer
1891 Johan W F Werumeus Buning Dutch poet (Daily Bread)
1893 Edgar Dearing Ceres CA, actor (Abraham Lincoln, Free & Easy)
1893 Royal Butler [Edwin Richey] Atlanta GA, actor
1902 Cola [Nicolas] Debrot Bonaire Governor (Netherlands Antilles)/author
1902 Cvjetko Rihtman composer
1902 Rodney Meredith Thomas architect/painter
1903 Luther Adler New York NY, actor (Dr Bernard Altman-The Psychiatrist)
1905 Mátyás Seiber Budapest Hungary, composer (Scherzando)
1906 Esmond Knight East Sheen England, actor (Hamlet, Sleeping Murder)
1909 Howard Da Silva [Silverblatt] Cleveland OH, actor (Ben Franklin-1776)
1909 Jeroom Verten [Jozef F Vermetten] Flemish playwright
1910 Mady Alfredo [Maria M the Brieder] actress (Alicia)
1912 Lou Brown Brooklyn NY, orchestra leader (Jerry Lewis Show)
1914 Abdel Karim Kassem general/premier/dictator of Iraq (1958-63)
1914 Emmanuel Roblès Algerian-Fren journalist/playwright (Lesson Hauteurs)
1915 Curt Conway Boston MA, actor (Raw Deal)
1915 Pedro Saenz composer
1916 Maurice "Moe" Purtill jazz drummer
1917 Edward Toner Cone composer
1918 Kakuei Tanaka Japanese PM (1972-74), convicted of bribe-taking
1919 Dimiter Petkov composer
1919 Mary Ann McCall singer
1921 John van Kesteren Dutch tenor (Komische Oper, West-Berlin)
1921 Patsy Garrett Atlantic City NJ, actress (Nanny & the Professor)
1922 John Paul Hammerschmidt (Representative-R-AR, 1967- )
1924 Dennis Weaver actor (McCloud)
1924 Peter Aldersley actor/disc jockey
1924 Tat'yana Petrovna Nikolayeva composer
1925 Peter Blum German/South African/English poet (Capricorn)
1926 G Reinshagen writer
1926 Milton "Milt" Thompson US NASA-test pilot/chief-engineer (X-15)
1928 Betsy Rawls Spartanburg SC, LPGA golfer (Hall of Fame, US Women's Open-51, 53, 57, 60)
1928 Hosni Mubarak Egyptian President (1981- )
1928 Maynard Ferguson Verdun Québec Canada, jazz trumpeter (Birdland, Roulette)
1929 Audrey Hepburn [Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston] Brussels Belgium (Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady)
1930 Roberta Peters New York NY, operatic soprano (New York Metropolitan)
1931 Ed Cassidy Chicago IL, drummer (Spirit-I Got A Line on You)
1931 Gennadi Rozhdestvensky Moscow Russia, conductor (USSR State Radio)
1932 Fausto Razzi composer
1932 Susan Brown San Francisco, actress (General Hospital)
1934 Pete Barbutti Scranton PA, comedian (Garry Moore Show)
1936 El Cordobés [Manuel Benítez] Spanish toreador
1937 Hans Ulrich Lehmann composer
1938 Tyrone Davis US R&B singer (Are you serious)
1938 William J Bennett US Secretary of Education (1985-88)
1939 Amos Oz Jerusalem Israel, author (My Michael)
1940 Dick Curl Chester PA, offensive coordinator coach (Barcelona Dragons)
1941 George F Will political analyst (Night Line)
1942 Ronnie Bond drummer (Troggs-Wild Thing)
1943 Nickolas Ashford Fairfield SC, singer (Ashford & Simpson-Solid as a Rock)
1943 Stella Parton sister of Dolly Parton/singer (A Woman's Touch)
1944 Dave [Otto Levenbach] Dutch singer (Du coté the Chez Swann)
1944 Paul Gleason Jersey City NJ, actor (Breakfast Club, Die Hard)
1944 Peggy Santiglia McGannon New Jersey, rocker (Angels)
1944 Ronnie Bond drummer (Troggs-Wild Thing)
1945 George Wadenius rocker (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
1945 Monika van Paemel Belgian writer (Accursed Fathers)
1946 Renee Powell LPGA golfer
1948 Billy O'Donnell harness racer driver of the year (1984)
1949 Gerrit J P van Otterloo Dutch MP (PvdA)
1949 Sybil Danning [Danninger], Weis Austria, actress (Chained Heat)
1949 Zal Cleminson rocker (Alex Harvey Band)
1950 Darryl Hunt English pop bassist (Pogues-Pair of Brown Eyes)
1950 Hilly Hicks Los Angeles CA, actor (Roll Out, Roots)
1950 René CM van Asten Dutch actor (Herenstraat 10)
1951 Gene Greenwood (Representative-R-PA)
1951 Jackie [Sigmund Esco] Jackson Gary IN, rocker (Jackson 5-ABC)
1954 Julie Budd Brooklyn NY, singer (Child of Plenty)
1956 Jackie Bertsch LPGA golfer
1956 Michael L Gernhardt Mansfield OH, PhD/astronaut (STS 69, 83, 94, sk 100)
1956 Ulrike Meyfarth Frankfurt West Germany, high jumper (Olympics-gold-1972)
1957 Peter Sleep cricketer (Australian leg-spin all-rounder 1979-90)
1957 Richard E Grant Swaziland, actor (Posse, Bram Stoker's Dracula)
1958 Keith Haring Kutztown PA, graffiti artist (Vanity Fair, Paris Review)
1959 Randy Travis [Randy Bruce Traywick] Marshville NC, country singer (Forever and Ever Amen, Diggin' Up Bones)
1959 Robert Raymond Tway Oklahoma City OK, PGA golfer (1986 Shearson)
1959 Rohn Stark NFL punter (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1960 Martyn Moxon cricketer (England batsman in ten Tests 1986-89)
1961 Eugene Daniel NFL center (Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens)
1961 Jay Aston rocker
1961 Mary Elizabeth McDonough Van Nuys CA, actress (Erin-Waltons)
1962 Tracy Vaccaro Glendale CA, playmate (October, 1983)
1964 Goran Prpic Yugoslavia, tennis star
1965 Adri Bogers Dutch soccer player (Willem II)
1966 Monica Tranel [Michini] Billings MT, rower (Olympics-96)
1967 Derek MacCready CFL defensive tackle (Edmonton Eskimos)
1967 John Child East York Ontario, beach volleyballer (Olympics-bronze-96)
1967 Matthew Crane Kimberton PA, actor (Matt Cory-Another World)
1968 Andre Collins NFL linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals)
1968 Eddie Perez Cuidad Ojeda Venezuela, catcher (Atlanta Braves)
1968 Kevin Todd Winnipeg, NHL center (Los Angeles Kings)
1970 Dawn Staley Philadelphia PA, basketball guard (Olympics-gold-96)
1971 Derrick Clark NFL/WLAF fullback (Broncos, Rhein Fire)
1971 Steve Glenn CFL linebacker (British Columbia Lions)
1972 Ethan Watts Philadelphia PA, volleyball middle blocker (Olympics-96)
1972 Gretchen Ulion ice hockey forward (USA, Olympics-98)
1972 Marc Lamb WLAF T (London Monarchs)
1973 Edward Hervey NFL wide receiver (Dallas Cowboys)
1973 Matthew Barnaby Ottawa, NHL left wing (Buffalo Sabres)
1973 Melissa Boyd Miss Ohio USA (1996)
1973 Michelle Martinez Dallas TX, Miss America (Texas-Top 10-1997)
1975 Pablo Ruiz Buenos Aires Argentina, Spanish singer
1976 Heather Kozar Akron OH, playmate (January 1998)

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Deaths which occurred on May 04:
1594 Paul Buys Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies at 62
1604 Claudio Merulo composer, dies at 71
1605 Ulisse Aldrovandi Italian biologist/medical, dies at 82
1752 Pieter Snyers Flemish painter/engraver, dies at 71
1770 Christian Gottfried Krause composer, dies at 51
1832 Jan van Speyck Dutch Admiral, buried in New Church
1855 Camille Pleyel Austria piano builder/composer, dies at 66
1860 Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek composer, dies
1879 William Froude British civil engineer/shipbuilder (F Integer), dies at 68
1885 Aleksandar I Karadjordjevic monarch of Serbia (1842-58), dies at 78
1891 Sherlock Holmes "dies" at Reichenbach Falls
1893 George Washington Hewitt composer, dies at 82
1928 Barry E Odell Pain English writer (Punch), dies at 63
1929 Henry Morton Dunham composer, dies at 75
1935 Lodewijk Scharpé Flemish literature historian, dies at 65
1938 Carl von Ossietzky German pacifist/writer (Nobel 1935), dies at 48
1953 Edward B B Shanks British poet/critic, dies at 60
1953 Thomas Tertius Noble composer, dies at 85
1955 Georges Enescu Romanian/French violist/composer (Oedipe), dies at 73
1955 Louis Breguet French aviation pioneer, dies at 75
1961 Anita Stewart dies of heart attack at 66
1965 Norman Brokenshire TV moderator (Four Square Court), dies at 66
1966 Juan Maria Thomas Sabater composer, dies at 69
1967 Bengt Axel von Torne composer, dies at 75
1969 F Osbert S Sitwell English poet (Who Killed Cock Robin?), dies at 76
1970 Allison Krause 1 of 4 students at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard
1970 Jeffrey Miller 1 of 4 students at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard
1970 Sandy Scheuer 1 of 4 students at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard
1970 William Schroeder 1 of 4 students at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard
1971 Donald Dexter Van Slyke US chemist (Cyanosis), dies at 88
1971 Joseph Csaky Hungarian/French sculptor, dies at 83
1971 Louis de Bree [Louis C Davids] Dutch actor (Bluejackets), dies at 87
1973 Jane Bowles writer, dies at 56
1974 Israel Citkowitz composer, dies at 65
1974 John Wengraf actor (Pride & Passion, 12 to the Moon), dies at 77
1975 Moe Howard [Moses Horowitz] comedian (3 Stooges), dies at 77
1980 Josip Broz Tito leader of Yugoslavia (1945-80), dies at 87
1980 Kay Hammond actress (Blithe Spirit, 5 Golden Hours), dies in Brighton UK at 71
1981 Bobby Sands Irish IRA-terrorist, dies after hunger strike
1983 Nino Sanzogno composer, dies at 72
1984 Diana Dors actress (Berserk!), dies at 52 of cancer
1987 Cathryn Damon actress (Mary Campbell-Soap), dies at 56
1987 Dick Hillenius Dutch biologist/writer, dies at 59
1987 Paul Butterfield singer/harmonica player, dies of drug abuse at 44
1990 Don Appell dies
1991 Dennis Crosby son of Bing, commits suicide at 54
1992 Henri Guillemin French historian, dies at 89
1992 Ismael Galeano "Commandant Franklyn" (Contra), dies
1992 Vitali Andreyevich Grishchenko Russian cosmonaut, dies at 50
1994 Karl Francis Hettinger onion Field survivor, dies at 59
1995 Lewis T Preston banker, dies at 68
1995 Louis Krasner violinist, dies at 91
1996 Jean Crepin soldier/industrialist, dies at 87
1996 Stanley William Reed cineaste, dies at 85
1997 Alvy Moore actor/producer (Mr Kimball-Green Acres), dies at 75
1997 Vijayananda Dahanayake PM of Sri Lanka (1959-60), dies

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 MALONE JIMMY M. MORFOLK VA.

1967 GRAHAM JAMES S. ARDMORE PA.
GOOD CHUTE WAVED IN DECENT, REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85

1967 ROGERS CHARLES E. GARY IN.

1968 KING PAUL C. JR. WALTHAM MA.


POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1303 Flemings conquers Middelburg
1471 Battle of Tewkesbury - King Edward IV vs Ex-queen Margaretha
1493 Spanish Pope Alexander VI divides non-Christian world between Spain & Portugal
1494 Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica
1540 Venice & Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople
1572 Veere sides with Geuzen
1626 Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth & buttons
1626 Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands
1634 Johan van Walbeecks fleet departs to West-Indies
1652 Battle at Etampes: French army under Turenne beats Fronde rebels
1715 French manufacturer debuts 1st folding umbrella (Paris France)
1728 Georg F Händels opera "Tolomeo, re di Egitto" premieres in London
1747 Willem IV appointed viceroy of Overijssel
1776 Rhode Island declares independence from England
1780 American Academy of Arts & Science founded
1780 Charles Bunbury on Diomed wins 1st Epsom Derby
1783 Herschel reports seeing a red glow near lunar crater Aristarchus
1805 Henry C Overing buys 80 acres of Throggs Neck in the Bronx NY
1814 Bourbon reign restored in France
1818 Netherlands & England sign treaty against illegal slave handling
1834 Charles Darwin's expedition reaches 200 km from Atlantic Ocean
1839 The Cunard Steamship Company Ltd forms San Bonifacio
1843 Great-Britain annexes Natal
1846 US state of Michigan ends death penalty
1847 New York State creates a Board of Commissioners of Emigration
1851 1st major San Fransisco fire
1858 War of the Reform (México); Liberals establish capital at Vera Cruz
1861 At Gretna LA, one of 1st guns of Rebel navy is cast
1862 Battle at Williamsburg VA
1862 Yorktown VA - McClellan halted his troop before town as it is full of armed torpedoes left by CS Brigadier General Gabrial Rains
1863 Battle of Chancellorsville ends-Beaten Union army withdraws
1864 General Grant's Army at Potomac attacks at Rappahannock
1864 Ulysses S Grant crosses Rapidan & begins his duel with Robert E Lee
1865 Battle of Citronville AL; Richard Taylor surrenders
1865 Battle of Mobile AL
1866 Woodward's Gardens opens to public
1871 1st baseball league game (National Association of Baseball Players), (Fort Wayne 2, Cleveland 0) Deacon Jim White gets 1st hit, a double
1878 Phonograph shown for 1st time at Grand Opera House
1883 John Gordon Cashmans begins "Vicksburg Evening Post" (Mississippi)
1886 Haymarket riot in Chicago; bomb kills 7 policemen
1888 Italy & Spain sign military covenant
1893 Cowboy Bob Pickett invents bulldogging
1896 1st edition of London Daily Mail (½ penny)
1896 Grease fire ignites ½ ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek CO
1897 23rd Kentucky Derby: Buttons Garner aboard Typhoon II wins in 2:12.5
1897 Fire in Paris France bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200
1898 24th Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Plaudit wins in 2:09
1899 25th Kentucky Derby: Fred Taral aboard Manuel wins in 2:12
1910 Canadian Currency Act, 1910, receives Royal Assent
1910 Canadian parliament accept creation of Royal Canadian Navy
1910 Tel Aviv founded
1912 Italian mariners occupy Turkish Island of Rhodes
1915 Italy drops Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungaryb & Germany
1916 At request of US, Germany curtails its submarine warfare
1917 Arabs sack Tel Aviv
1918 Yankees set record with 8 sacrifices, beat Red Sox's Babe Ruth 5-4
1919 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC (Phillies beat Giants 4-3)
1919 FVC soccer team forms
1922 KNX-AM in Los Angeles CA begins radio transmissions
1923 Bloody street battles between Nazis, socialist & police in Vienna
1923 New York state revokes Prohibition law
1924 8th modern Olympic games open in Paris France
1924 German Republic election fascists & communists win
1925 League of Nations conference on arms control & poison gas usage
1926 General strike hits Britain
1927 1st balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field IL)
1927 Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences forms
1927 Nicaragua agrees to a US supervised presidential election in 1928
1929 Lou Gehrig hits 3 consecutive homeruns, Yankees 11, Tigers 9
1931 Mustafa Kemal Pasja becomes Turkish president
1932 Al Capone, convict of income tax evasion, enters Atlanta Penitentiary
1933 Pulitzer prize awarded to Archibald Macleish (Conquistador)
1935 61st Kentucky Derby: Willie Saunders aboard Omaha wins in 2:05
1936 Pulitzer prize awarded to Harold L Davis (Honey in the Horn)
1938 Douglas Hyde (a protestant) becomes 1st president of Eire
1940 21 "not neutral" Nazis & communists arrested in Netherlands
1940 66th Kentucky Derby: Carroll Bierman aboard Gallahadion wins in 2:05
1942 Battle of Coral Sea begun (1st sea battle fought solely in air)
1942 Food 1st rationed in US
1942 German occupiers imprison 450 prominent Dutch as hostages
1942 Pulitzer prize awarded to Ellen Glasgow (In this our Life)
1943 National League's Ford Frick demonstrates revised balata ball to reporters by bouncing it on his office carpet ball proves to be 50% livelier
1945 German troops in Netherlands, Denmark & Norway surrender
1946 5 die in a 2 day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Fransisco bay
1946 72nd Kentucky Derby: Warren Mehrtens aboard Assault wins in 2:06.6
1946 Washington Senator's Cecil Travis gets 6 straight hits before being stopped
1948 The Hague Court of Justice convicts Hans Rauter (SS) to the death
1949 Air crash at Turijn (whole Torino-soccer team survives)
1952 Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Fresno Golf Open
1953 Pulitzer prize awarded to Ernest Hemingway (Old Man & The Sea)
1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1956 Queen Juliana unveils National Monument to Dams in Amsterdam
1956 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1957 83rd Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack aboard Iron Liege wins in 2:02.2
1957 Alan Freed hosts "Rock n' Roll Show" 1st prime-time network rock show
1957 Anne Frank Foundation forms in Amsterdam
1958 Alberto Lleras Camargo chosen President of Colombia
1959 1st Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win
1959 Pulitzer prize awarded to Archibald Macleish (JB)
1960 1st great Delta dam closes, North-South Beveland
1961 13 Freedom riders began bus trip through South
1961 1st on-the-road Spacemobile lecture given.
1961 Malcolm Ross & Victor Prather reach 34,668 meters (record) in balloon
1961 South-Africa ANC-leader John Nkadimeng arrested
1962 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
1963 89th Kentucky Derby: Braulio Baeza aboard Chateaugay wins in 2:01.8
1963 Pitcher Bob Shaw sets record of 5 balks in a game
1964 "Another World" & "As the World Turns" premiere on TV
1964 70 GATT-countries confer in Geneva
1964 KIII TV channel 3 in Corpus Christi TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
1964 Pulitzer prize awarded to Richard Hofstadter (Anti-intellectualism)
1965 Willie Mays 512th homerun breaks Mel Ott's 511th National League record homerun
1966 Soviet Government signs accord about building Fiat factory in USSR
1967 Lunar Orbiter 4 launched by US; begins orbiting Moon May 7
1968 1st ABA championship: Pittsburgh Pipers beat New Orleans Buccaneers, 4 games to 3
1968 94th Kentucky Derby: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Forward Pass wins in 2:02½
1968 Dancer's Image disqualified due to drugs after winning 94th Kentucky Derby
1969 Charles Gordone's "No Place to be Somebody" premieres in NYC
1969 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Shreveport Kiwanis Club Golf Invitational
1969 Stanley Cup: Montréal Canadiens sweep St Louis Blues in 4 games
1970 National Guard kills 4 at Kent State in Ohio
1970 Premier Kosygin affirms existence Russian military advisors in Egypt
1970 Pulitzer prize awarded to Erik H Erikson (Gandhi's Truth)
1972 Vietcong forms revolutionary government in Quang Tri South Vietnam
1973 1st TV network female nudity-Steambath (PBS)- Valerie Perrine
1973 BPAA US Women's Bowling Open won by Millie Martorella
1973 Longest game in Veterans' Stadium, Phillies beat Braves 5-4 in 20
1973 Patriarch Shenuda II of Kopitisch church visits the pope
1973 Wings release "Red Rose Speedway" in UK
1974 100th Kentucky Derby: Angel Cordero Jr aboard Cannonade wins in 2:04
1975 Ed Bullins' "Taking of Miss Jane" premieres in NYC
1975 Flyers 1-Isles 0-Semis-Flyers hold 3-0 lead-Isles held to 14 shots
1975 Houston's Bob Watson scores baseball's one-millionth run of all time
1975 Maria Astrologes wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
1976 "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" opens at Mark Hellinger NYC for 7 performances
1978 Russian President Brezhnev visits West-Germany
1979 1st woman prime minister of Great Britain (Margaret Thatcher)
1979 Jackie Mercer wins her 4th golf title 31 years after her 1st
1979 NASA launches Fltsatcom-2
1980 Dodgers bat out of order against Phillies in 1st inning
1980 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA CPC Women's Internationalional Golf Tournament
1980 White Sox 1st baseman Mike Squires catches final inning of 11-1 loss to Brewers, becoming 1st lefty to catch since Dale Long in 1958
1981 Rockline premieres on KLOS FM in Los Angeles
1981 Silvana Cruciata runs 15k female world record (49:44.0)
1981 Yankee Ron Davis strikes out 8 consecutive Angels, ran record of 13 strikeouts of last 14 faced, also saved Gene Nelsons 1st win, 4-2
1982 British torpedo boat Sheffield off Falkland hit by Exocet rocket
1982 Nordiques 2-Isles 4-Semifinals-Isles win series 4-0
1982 Twins rookie outfielder Jim Eisenreich, who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, removes himself, due to taunts from Red Sox bleacher fans
1983 China People's Republic performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Rebublic of China
1984 Dave Kingman's fly ball never comes down (stuck in Metrodome ceiling)
1985 111th Kentucky Derby: Angel Cordero Jr on Spend A Buck wins 2:00.2
1986 President Babrak Karmal resigns as party leader of Afghánistán
1988 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1989 Junior Felix of Toronto becomes 53rd to hit homerun on 1st at bat
1989 US launches Magellan to Venus
1989 US space shuttle STS-30 launched
1990 Angela Bowie reveals that ex husband David slept with Mick Jagger
1990 Latvia's parliament votes 138-0 (1 abstention) for Independence
1990 Oriole Gregg Olson sets relief pitcher record of 41 consecutive scoreless innings
1990 Pakistan beat Australia by 36 runs to win Austral-Asia Cup, Sharjah
1991 117th Kentucky Derby: Chris Antley aboard Strike the Gold wins in 2:03
1991 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Doug Kent
1991 Actress Sharon Gless & producer Barney Rosenzeig wed
1991 Indians' Chris James sets club record for most RBIs in a game (9)
1991 Morris K Udall (Representative-D-AZ), resigns due to Parkinson disease
1991 New York Mets M Sasser & Mark Carreon are 8th to hit consecutive pinch homeruns
1991 President Bush is hospitalized for erratic heartbeat
1993 "Angels in America-Millennium Approaches" opens at Kerr for 367 performances
1994 Arsenal wins 34th Europe Cup II
1994 Courtney Love cleared of drug charges
1996 122nd Kentucky Derby: Jerry Bailey aboard Grindstone wins in 2:01
1996 ABC Bud Light Masters Bowling Tournament won by Ernie Schlegel
1996 Greg Pavlik one-hits Tigers making the Rangers 1st American League team to pitch back-to-back one-hitters since the Washington Senators in 1917
1997 Bruno's Memorial Senior Golf Classic
1997 Phil Blackmar wins 50th Houston golf Open
1997 Tammie Green wins LPGA Sprint Titlehoders Championship

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Tonga : Crown Prince's Birthday
US : Student Memorial Day (1970)
Zambia : Labour Day - - - - - ( Monday )
New Orleans : McDonogh Day (1850) - - - - - ( Friday )

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Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Florian, patron of firemen
Lutheran, old Roman Catholic, Anglican : Feast of St Monica, mom of St Augustine of Hippo
Jewish : Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) (Nisan 27, 5757 AM)

---

Religious History
1256 Pope Alexander IV founded the Roman Catholic religious order of the Augustine Hermits.
1493 Pope Alexander VI issued "Inter caeterea II," which divided possession of the New World discoveries by Spain and Portugal along a longitudinal line running 250 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.
1746 The Moravians in Pennsylvania established the Moravian Women's Seminary at Bethlehem. It was the first educational institution of its kind established by the "Unitas Fratrum" in (colonial) America.
1784 Birth of Carl G. Glaser, German music teacher. Of his many choral pieces, Glaser is primarily remembered today for his hymn tune AZMON, to which the Church today sings: "O For a Thousand Tongues."
1970 In deciding the legal case "Walz v. Tax Commission of New York," the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a New York statute exempting church-owned property from taxation.

---

Thought for the day :
" A man without a God is like a fish without a bicycle. "

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Feather

[SAMWolf]

1982 British torpedo boat Sheffield off Falkland hit by Exocet rocket

A British ship, hit by a french missle, fired by the Argentinians over some island that had more sheep than people. What a strange world.

[Jen]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The Battle of Chancellorsville, 1863

The Opposing Generals:

Lee

Hooker

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi everyone! Happy Sunday, all!

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon everyone.

[Light Speed]

The Last Council

Although Hooker suffered more than 17,000 casualties, those losses accounted for only 13% of his total strength. Lee's 13,000 casualties amounted to 22% of his army, men difficult to replace. Of course, Jackson's death on May 10 created a vacancy that could never be filled. Finally, Lee's triumph at Chancellorsville imbued him with the belief that his army was invincible. He convinced the Richmond government to endorse his proposed offensive into Pennsylvania. Within six weeks, the Army of Northern Virginia confidently embarked on a journey northward to keep an appointment with destiny at a place called Gettysburg.

Chancellorsville is another battle where the North Lost the initiative....Robert E Lee sensing that the next battle would end the war.

Looking back on the legacy left concerning the Souths march against the North...the Southern leadership strongly identified with battlefield successess and defeats...for some leaders..it was an obsession to erase the past. Robert E Lee is still driven by past battfield memories in 1863..to the point of recklessness.

Some historians see a change in him after his failure at "Malvern Hill" outside of Richmond in 1862..which was a bitter experience and a politcal trouble..as the war neared Richmond.

Malvern Hill..or the slopes of Hell depending on were you were that day was a victory[or time bought retreat] snatched out of defeat by the North...principly..the Southern units found themselves marching into deadly "Grape shot and cannister" from the Federal artillery....Malvern Hill would become a huge graveyard.

Longstreet comments to Major D.H Hill in this battle..."Don't get scared now that we have them whipped"!

Malvern Hill would see the Legacy of Valor of the South etched into its army..thru leaders like "Louise Armistead...McLaws and Magruders men".

The Seven days campaign of Robert E Lee had saved Richmond,but his desire to force a decisive end to his counteroffensive had nearly led to catastrophe on the slopes of Malvern Hill.

[GailA]

Today's graphic

[Regulator]

I would just like to take the occasion of today's battle post to memorialize one of my great-great-uncles, who died in this battle:

"Thomas Jefferson ELLER, was a private in the 1st N.C. regiment of the Confederate Army and was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va. early on the morning of 2 May 1863. He is buried where he fell"

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Jen

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Victoria, Snippy.

Have to unload the groceries from the car and than I'll get back and catch up.

[f.Christian]

Within six weeks, the Army of Northern Virginia confidently embarked on a journey northward to keep an appointment with destiny at a place called Gettysburg.

When Lee's army was being shot to pieces at Gettysburg ...

Meade's army was chanting --- Chancellorville -- Chancellorville !