The serene quiet of these empty fields perhaps mirrors the growing relief of the Union's 11th Corps soldiers as the day wound down. Men prepared their meals, played cards, and mused as animals, for reasons known only to themselves, came bounding from the woods to their west. Mirth gave way to shocked excitement however as the force driving them burst upon the unprepared soldiers. Stonewall Jackson's Corps, 26,000 strong, erupted from the woods in an unrelenting wave of force. Officers tried to form lines of resistance but all broke as the unyielding Southerners surged forward. Only darkness slowed the onslaught. Earlier in the day as Jackson progressed with his flank march, the Union Army, thinking that the Confederates were retreating, removed units between the 11th Corps and the Union center to pursue the butternuts. This left only about 8,000 blue coats alone on the far right to fend for themselves as the flanking Confederates overwhelmed these remaining troops. Nightfall and reinforced Federal lines ended the attack as both armies prepared for the coming day, little sensing the unforeseen events yet to come that would irrevocably change the course of this bloody, savage war.

In his official report, General Lee would somewhat modestly describe the fighting in this manner. "At 6 p.m. the advance was ordered. The enemy were taken by surprise, and fled after a brief resistance. General Rodes' men pushed forward with great vigor and enthusiasm, followed closely by the second and third lines. Position after position was carried, the guns captured, and every effort of the enemy to rally defeated by the impetuous rush of our troops. In the ardor of pursuit through the thick and tangled woods, the first and second lines at last became mingled, and moved on together as one. The enemy made a stand at a line of breastworks across the road, at the house of Melzie Chancellor, but the troops of Rodes and Colston dashed over the intrenchments together, and the flight and pursuit were resumed, and continued until our advance was arrested by the abatis in front of the line of works near the central position at Chancellorsville." [5]

To your left is a picture of a United States National Park Map showing the route of Jackson's Flank March and Attack as well as the Confederate and Union troop positions. Once you click on the map for a larger picture, notice the location on the map where Union Major Sickles' Third Corps had connected the Major General Oliver Otis Howard's Eleventh Corps on the far right flank to the rest of Hooker's Army. Sickles' Corps, having been moved forward to harass the rear of Jackson's column, left the 11th Corps alone on the field.