|
-
-
Lt. Gen. Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson's surprise flank attack on May 2, 1863, at Chancellorsville contributed to one of the greatest Confederate victories of the Civil War.
Stonewall Jackson's flank attack on May 2, 1863,
Sgt. William A. Hightower poses in his Brooklyn Grays uniform. ABOVE: Sgt. William A. Hightower's pants, with the left leg cut off when his leg was amputated, are on display at the Chancellorsville Visitor Center. |
First of a two-part series
By JOSEF W. ROKUSFor The Free Lance-Star
SGT. WILLIAM A. Hightower's uniform,
"Few museum artifacts are more inclined to make someone just stop than Hightower's mangled pants," says John Hennessy, chief historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. "'What happened? Who was this man?' And maybe, if we're lucky, 'Why did he risk such a horror?' Hightower's experience speaks for millions of others, on both sides."
On May 3, 1863, Hightower was fighting with the 23rd Virginia Infantry Regiment in Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's last battle in his bold, history-making flank attack. It resulted in a major victory for Confederate commander Robert E. Lee.
That morning, Hightower was seriously wounded and his leg was amputated. He died a few days later.
He was 20 years old.
Hightower was one of the many casualties in the Battle of Chancellorsville, whose 145th anniversary will be observed May 2-10 with National Park Service walking tours and programs.
In addition, Spotsylvania County will host a re-enactment of the first day of the battle. The event will take place May 3-4 at the former Mullins Farm on State Route 3.
WEALTHY BACKGROUND
William Hightower was the oldest of five children of Joshua and Mary Hightower and was born Feb. 17, 1843, in Pittsylvania County.
The family experienced more than its share of tragedies. In addition to William's death, Joshua's wife died at age 27, a daughter died at age 10, another at 16 and a third at 33. However, the fourth daughter married Beverly Barksdale III, the son of Joshua's partner in his tobacco manufacturing business.
The 1850 Census shows that Joshua Hightower was a farmer, with his real estate valued at $8,000. He owned 18 slaves then. In 1855, he and Beverly Barksdale II, a tobacco planter, built the Brooklyn Tobacco Factory.
By 1860, Hightower's property was valued at $90,600, including 30 slaves, making
The factory resumed operation briefly in 1880. It still stands and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
'BROOKLYN GRAYS'
On May 3, 1861, shortly after Virginia voted for secession, Gov. John Letcher called on the citizens to "defend Virginia's borders against a threatened Northern invasion." That same day, Lee mobilized Virginia's volunteers and ordered them to report to the camp of instruction near Richmond.
On May 7, 60 men from Halifax County, including William Hightower, enlisted at Brooklyn. They were designated Company E of the 23rd Virginia Infantry Regiment, or the "Brooklyn Grays."
Eventually 800 men were raised for the regiment's 10 companies. Prior to Chancellorsville, they saw action at Belington, Carrick's Ford, Cheat Mountain, Greenbrier River, First Kernstown, McDowell, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg.
During that time, the regiment suffered 54 killed, 128 wounded and 107 captured, a total of 289.
Pvt. Hightower was on sick leave in July and August 1861 and again in July and August 1862. He was one of 21 men from the 23rd who were wounded during the Battle of Sharpsburg in September 1862. He was left behind and taken as a prisoner to Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Harbor, and then to Fort Monroe before being paroled and exchanged.
On Oct. 23, 1862, Hightower was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, but he returned to duty seven days later. On Jan. 1, 1863, he was promoted to first sergeant.
COLLISION COURSE
By the spring of 1863, the Army of the Potomac numbered about 135,000 men, while 60,000 men of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia held the line of defense at Fredericksburg. Union Gen. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker planned to keep Lee's attention on Fredericksburg while he sent a force upriver around the town to attack the Confederate flank and rear.
Hooker's movement began on April 27, with Northern troops marching west from Fredericksburg. On April 28, part of his army crossed the Rappahannock River northwest of Fredericksburg, while other Federals crossed the Rapidan River the next day and headed toward Chancellorsville. By April 30, Hooker's troops were in place.
On May 1, Hooker moved some brigades east toward Fredericksburg, while Stonewall Jackson moved west from Fredericksburg on an inevitable collision course with the enemy.
Fighting soon erupted along the Orange Turnpike and the Orange Plank Road. However, by early afternoon Hooker inexplicably ordered his commanders to retreat to defensive positions around Chancellorsville.
That evening, Lee and Jackson, with their maps illuminated by a campfire, formulated their daring plan: march Jackson's corps circuitously in front of the Union line under the cover of the Wilderness to attack Hooker's exposed right flank, 12 miles away.
On the morning of May 2, Jackson set out, with Robert Rodes' division leading the way, followed by Raleigh Colston's and A.P. Hill's divisions. Hightower and Company E probably joined the 6-mile-long column about midmorning.
At 3 p.m. the first of Jackson's brigades started deploying into battle lines on both sides of the Orange Turnpike, now State Route 3. In front of them was the vulnerable right flank of Gen. Oliver O. Howard's XI Corps.
Almost all of Howard's troops were facing south. Rodes' division formed across the turnpike in the first of three lines. About 200 yards back, Colston's division was positioned across the turnpike, with the 23rd Virginia on the south side of the road.
Because of the dense woods, it was not until 5:15 p.m. that 11 of Jackson's 15 brigades were in place. Shortly afterward, the 2-mile-wide, awe-inspiring gray front surged forward toward the totally unsuspecting Federals, with the customary piercing Rebel yell.
Although several top Union generals had received warnings that a Confederate force was moving toward their flank, Howard's men had stacked their arms and were preparing for supper. They first realized that they had been caught off guard when startled wildlife dashed out of the woods toward them.
After about 20 minutes, the 23rd Virginia took the front of a portion of the line. Total confusion soon spread through the Union ranks. When successive Federal regiments fled east toward Chancellorsville, the retreat turned into a rout.
A Massachusetts soldier later wrote, "Along the road it was pandemonium, and on the side of the road it was chaos."
As darkness fell, Confederate units became intermingled. After Union forces managed to organize some defense, Jackson's drive ground to a halt at about 7:15 p.m.
During the attack, the 23rd Virginia helped capture three Federal artillery pieces and took a number of prisoners. However, the brigade commander was seriously wounded. The brigade, exhausted and reduced by casualties, was ordered to the rear to re-form.
At about 9 p.m., Stonewall Jackson rode to the front of his lines to evaluate the battle situation for himself. While returning through the lines, he was mistakenly shot by his own men. He was taken from the field, and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart assumed command.
HEAVY CASUALTIES
Stuart resumed the attack early on May 3. As the Confederates regrouped, the 23rd Virginia could muster only 70 of its scattered men. By about 8 a.m. the fighting was fierce, and many men of the 23rd Virginia became casualties.
By midmorning the Confederates had gained the upper hand, and at 10:30 a.m. Gen. Lee arrived at Chancellorsville, with his jubilant troops celebrating a spectacular victory.
The commanding officer of the 23rd Virginia gave the following account of the fighting:
"Early on that day we moved from the left of the road to the breastworks, and on its extreme right were exposed to a terribly destructive fire, three times being massed together and the last time having no protection.
"Our ammunition was soon exhausted, and the enemy having flanked us and in the act of taking many prisoners, we were ordered to retire across the marsh and reform. Here was our heaviest loss, many being killed and captured."
The casualties of the regiment were heavy, with 10 killed in action, 70 wounded and two missing, for a total of 82.
Based on the locations of the opposing armies that morning, Hightower was probably wounded between 8 and 10 a.m. in the woods about a mile southwest of Chancellorsville and west of the Fairview House and cemetery.
The following day, Chaplain Paul C. Morton of the 23rd wrote a letter "to relieve the anxiety of numerous friends" to the Richmond Daily Dispatch. It was published May 20, 1863, shortly before Hightower died. In it, he listed the casualties the regiment had incurred, including "Company E: Sergt W A Hightowar, leg amputated."
FINAL DAYS
Unfortunately, nothing is known about the last days of Hightower's short life. However, the following is the most likely scenario for what happened to him after May 3, 1863.
Jackson's corps established three field hospitals to treat the many casualties they incurred. The first was at Dowdall's Tavern, 1.8 miles west of Chancellorsville on the south side of the Orange Turnpike, previously Howard's headquarters.
About 2.5 miles west of Chancellorsville, a field hospital was established at the Talley House, also a Union headquarters before the attack.
Finally, the main hospital was located near Wilderness Tavern, five miles west of Chancellorsville, where about 3,000 wounded were treated.
Hightower was probably taken to Dowdall's Tavern after he was shot, since it was the closest medical facility. He was then likely transferred to the Wilderness Tavern hospital, where more extensive facilities would have been available.
His leg was probably amputated on May 3 there, the same place where Stonewall Jackson's left arm had been amputated earlier that day.
Hightower probably did not remain in the Chancellorsville area long, because soon after the Federals retreated, most of the Confederate hospitals were phased out and their patients sent
The wounded who survived their initial ordeal were sent 27 miles to Guinea Station, a relatively secure stop on the railroad line to Richmond. There, many wounded lay on depot platforms and along the railroad tracks until they could be evacuated.
Starting on May 7, wagons arrived to transport the wounded to Richmond because Union cavalry had destroyed portions of the railroad. The more seriously wounded were sent to
By May 15, at least 7,000 wounded soldiers had been transported to Richmond. Another 1,980 who were suffering from various diseases also entered crowded hospitals in the Confederate capital during the first two weeks of May.
Hightower might have stayed in a hospital in Richmond, been sent to a hospital closer to home or been sent home. The last alternative is least likely, since the army would probably not have discharged him so soon after the amputation. The hospital closest to his home was in Danville, but he probably stayed in Richmond to avoid any additional trauma. It is possible that he ended up in Chimborazo Hospital, a 3,000-bed facility for treating Confederate wounded.
The date and place of his death also are in doubt. His gravestone shows that he died May 23, 1863. However, the entry in his military service file reads "Died from wounds received May 3, 1863 (Died on 21 May)."
He probably died May 21 in a Richmond hospital, and it took two days for his body to be sent home for burial. If so, he might have been buried May 23 in the small family cemetery in Pittsylvania County.
AFTER CHANCELLORSVILLE
The 23rd Virginia fought
Of the 1,090 men who fought with the 23rd Virginia, 72 were killed in action and 27 later died of their wounds. In addition, 140 died of diseases and accidents. Thus 239 men, or 22 percent, gave their lives for the Confederacy.
Of the 60 Brooklyn Grays, 15 were killed, 12 were wounded, 12 were captured and six were discharged due to disability, for a total of 45.
The Brooklyn Tobacco Factory sat idle for several years, and the demise of his tobacco manufacturing business had serious financial repercussions for Joshua Hightower, William's father. He lived the last years of his life with his daughter and son-in-law and was unemployed or was a carpenter.
The Hightower family's significant wealth before the Civil War had vanished by the time Joshua Hightower died on Jan. 12, 1883.
But his son's ultimate sacrifice is still remembered in the Chancellorsville Visitor Center's display.
"William Hightower's uniform, with its missing leg, illustrates more powerfully than cold numbers ever can, the tragic cost of America's Civil War," says Donald Pfanz, staff historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. "It is one of the great relics of the war."
NEXT WEEK: An eyewit-
Josef W. Rokus of Orange County
