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Chancellorsville Driving Tour, #6, Catharine Furnace
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Catharine Furnace first blast into production in 1837, but closed after John Wellford, the primary owner, died ten years later. With secession and war came the opportunity for local entrepreneurs to revive the region’s iron industry. Wellford’s brother, Charles C. Wellford and a group of investors reincarnated Catharine Furnace with the backing of the Confederate government in 1861. The furnace investors made contracts to supply pig iron for the Confederate navy. Previously, the furnace employed a small number of skilled ironworkers who managed a larger force of enslaved laborers. However, by the time preparations were in place during the war, most of the enslaved laborers had fled the region, and the company turned to soldiers to bolster its labor force. These laborers established a network of roads to access the new surface mines and timber stands which would support the furnace. The Wellfords oversaw the operation and resided in a house just south of the furnace. Charles Wellford allied himself to the Confederacy not only through iron production, but also by providing the Confederates with critical support during the Battle of Chancellorsville. On May 2, Wellford and his son, also named Charles, helped Jackson’s flanking column navigate the unmapped trails through the tangled thickets of the ironworks property. The head of Jackson’s column reached Catharine Furnace around 8am on May 2. At about the same time, Federal soldiers reported the Confederate movement. US artillery targeted the marching Confederates, testing the column to see if they would stand and fight when being fired upon. The Confederates dispersed into the woods, but kept moving. Jackson was aware that Hooker had spotted his troops and detached Colonel Emory Best’s 23rd Georgia to guard the area around Catharine Furnace and protect his column from a potential US assault. General Daniel Sickles, commanding the US 3rd Corps reported, “This continuous column—infantry, artillery, trains, and ambulances— was observed for three hours moving apparently in a southerly direction…The movement indicated a retreat on Gordonsville or an attack upon our right flank—perhaps both, for if the attack failed the retreat could be continued. The unbroken mass of forest on our right favored the concealment of the enemy’s real design.” At this point in the battle US commanders had not formed an opinion as to whether the Confederate column they observed that morning was a flank attack or a retreat. At 9:30am Hooker issued a circular to 11th Corps commander O. O. Howard instructing him to strengthen the defenses on the right of his line. This order indicated that Hooker initially considered a flank attack to be a real possibility. At around Noon, Hooker authorized Sickles to cautiously advance towards the Confederates marching past the furnace. By that time, most of Jackson’s troops were to the south of the ironworks. As the 23rd Georgia was preparing to follow suit they were ambushed. A group of US Sharpshooters known as the Berdan Sharpshooters deployed ahead of Sickles’ force and surprised the 23rd Georgia. The Berdan Sharpshooters wore distinct green uniforms, which blended well with the foliage of the Wilderness. In the initial shuffle that followed around Catharine Furnace, the sharpshooters captured nearly 100 prisoners. Sickles’ soldiers were preparing to pursue the remaining Georgians who had fled south when they were assailed with an unexpected fire from the east. From his lines to the east, Lee had heard the shooting and commotion around the furnace, and realized that Hooker was on Jackson’s trail. Lee hoped that firing into the Federal lines would direct Federal attention away from the flank attack. Hooker sent Sickles reinforcements: the rest of the 3rd Corps, as well as parts of the 11th and 12th Corps. As the hours ticked by, the fighting around Catharine Furnace convinced Hooker that the Confederates were retreating. Hooker noted that the Confederates headed south, away from the US army, and that they did not turn back to help the 23rd Georgia. At 2:30pm Hooker sent a circular to his corps commanders, asserting, “The Major General commanding desires that you replenish your supplies of forage, provisions and ammunition to be ready to start at an early hour tomorrow.” Meanwhile, Federal observers across from Fredericksburg began reporting that the Confederates on the heights, led by General Jubal Early, were retreating from their position. As it turned out, this retreat was simply a confusion of orders. Lee ordered General Early to immediately reoccupy the heights, but from the perspectives of the US commanders, this movement ultimately reinforced the illusion that the Confederates were in retreat. Just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon Hooker sent a message to his Chief of Staff, Daniel Butterfield, “We know that the enemy is fleeing.” The firefight calmed down around Catharine Furnace later in the afternoon. Just then, the Federals received word that the rest of the 11th Corps was retreating in disorder from attacking Confederates.
Description
On the morning of May 2, 1863, Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson led a column of nearly 30,000 Confederates past Catharine Furnace. Learn about the events that followed in part 6 of the Chancellorsville Driving Tour.
Credit
NPS
Date Created
04/28/2022
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