Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park - Virtual Tour, Zoan Church (U.S. National Park Service)

The modern Zoan Church is larger, but on the site of the Civil War period church. On April 30, General Richard H. Anderson's division received orders to block the Union advance from Chancellorsville to Lee's rear at Fredericksburg. He formed a line along a ridge that the church sits on. This was the highest ground between here and the Atlantic Ocean. The Confederates not only occupied high ground, but blocked blocked three roads, only the River Road was not covered.

On the morning of May 1, "Stonewall" Jackson arrived on the scene and acting under discretionary orders from Robert E. Lee, he ordered Anderson's men to put down their shovels and pick up their weapons. The Confederates were going on the forward. This shift from the defensive to the offensive marked a turning point in the battle. In 2007 a shopping center was built right up to the high ground held by Anderson's men, visible to the left.

Continue to May 1 Battlefield