Last updated: February 21, 2023
Article
A Landscape of Resilience: Chancellorsville Battlefield
Photo courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust.
Recipient: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Amount: $536,277
Acres: 42.19
On April 30, 1863, Reverend Melzi A. Chancellor of Chancellorsville, Virginia, found himself no longer occupying his own home. Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, commander of the Union 11th Corps, established his headquarters at Chancellor’s house, known as Dowdall’s Tavern, and positioned Federal regiments and batteries at the southern edge of the property. Howard’s seizure of Dowdall’s Tavern was part of an ambitious strategy to outflank Robert E. Lee’s forces after their victory at Fredericksburg. Lee seized the initiative and divided his outnumbered army, sending Lt. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to outflank the Union’s defensive positions.
Early on May 2, Jackson clandestinely marched 30,000 troops through thick woodland and charged the Union right flank, overwhelming the Federal 11th Corps and pushing the Union army back more than two miles. As sun set on the Confederate advance, Jackson fell, mortally wounded by accidential Confederate fire. By mid-morning the next day, Lee’s troops smashed the remaining Union resistance and reunited at the Chancellorsville clearing. On May 5, the Union army was in retreat, ceding the field to one of Lee’s greatest military victories. With 30,000 casualties, Chancellorsville was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, but that dubious accolade was short-lived as Lee made his way to Gettysburg. Rev. Chancellor’s home survived the battle, but many of the soldiers suffering in the Confederate field hospital at Dowdall’s Tavern would never make their way home.
With financial assistance from a 2023 NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant, the American Battlefield Trust, in partnership with Virginia’s Departments of Conservation and Recreation and Historic Resources, will acquire and protect over 42 acres of land where Dowdall’s Tavern once stood. This acquisition is part of a multi-phased approach to preserve key portions of the Chancellorsville Battlefield from future development. The project protects extensive woodlands and a late-19th century home that testify to the land’s and community’s resilience.
Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlefields. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Preservation Planning Grants, which are open to all sites of armed conflict on American soil, the newly authorized Battlefield Restoration and Battlefield Interpretation Grant programs. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.
Get Your Project Funded
Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.