News Release

National Park Service to Unveil the Surgical Kit of Dr. Hunter McGuire

Library of Congress

News Release Date: September 20, 2019

Contact: John Hennessy, 5406933200

On Friday afternoon, September 27, 2019, at 1 p.m., the National Park Service will unveil a surgical kit that belonged to Dr. Hunter McGuire, the Medical Director of Stonewall Jackson's Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. In the early hours of May 3, 1863, Dr. McGuire amputated the left arm of Jackson at a field hospital three miles west of the battlefield, near the Wilderness Tavern. It has long been believed that this surgical kit is the one used by Dr. McGuire for that operation. 

The surgical kit is on loan to the National Park Service courtesy of the daughters of the late Joseph E. Grove, II, who will be in attendance. 

Historian Frank O'Reilly will give a brief overview of the surgical kit and, after the unveiling, a short tour of the site of Jackson's wounding. The group will then adjourn to the site of the field hospital near Wilderness Tavern, where Jackson's amputation took place. There, at 2:30, Spotsylvania County and Virginia's Civil War Trails will unveil a new wayside exhibit to mark this long-forgotten site. Mr. O'Reilly will later go to the family cemetery at Ellwood, where Jackson's arm is buried.

The public is welcome at all these events, which are free. Please note that transport to each location is the responsibility of each attendee. 

Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center is located at 9001 Plank Road, Spotsylvania, VA 22553.