Old Salem Church

Veterans visit Salem Church after the war.

Quick Facts

Location:

Fredericksburg, VA

Significance:

Site of heavy fighting on May 3, 1863, fought as part of the Chancellorsville Campaign

Designation:

National Park, HABS/HAER/HALS

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

The grounds of Salem Church are open sunrise to sunset. Salem Church’s interior is open on limited occasions.

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Constructed in 1844, historic Salem Church was one of many local churches located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia on the eve of the Civil War. Salem Church is most known as an important part of the Chancellorsville Campaign, though its history stretches before and after the war. The church was used as a place of refuge from the Battle of Fredericksburg, it was transformed into hospital after the Battle of Salem Church during the Chancellorsville Campaign, and was a place of commemoration in the post-war period. The National Park Service manages and protects the church and surrounding commemorative landscape including the 15th New Jersey Monument, the 23rd New Jersey Monument, and one acre of ground.

The Battle of Salem Church

In April of 1863, Union General Joseph Hooker planned to cross the Rappahannock upriver from Fredericksburg and get behind Lee, while another Union force under General John Sedgwick remained in front of the town. Lee would either be crushed between the two forces, Hooker hoped, or he would be forced to retreat southward. On May 3rd, while a battle was raging around Chancellorsville ten miles west of town, Sedgwick drove across the Rappahannock, captured the Sunken Road and Marye's Heights, and advanced westward to join Hooker, moving on what is now Route 3. On a low ridge line running at right angles to the road, crowned by Salem Church, a small force of Confederates determined to make a stand. It was an excellent position that commanded the approaches from the east; directly in front of them was a tangle of bushes and undergrowth.

When the Federals began their assaults, they were met by volleys of fire. The underbrush made the going difficult, but suddenly the Federals were on the crest of the ridge, only a few yards from the church, and advancing determinedly. At this moment Confederates posted in the road cut just behind sprang up and counterattacked fiercely, driving the enemy back down the slope and onto the plain below.

One Federal soldier remembered the opening of the battle this way: "A tremendous roar of musketry met us from the unseen enemy, one hundred feet away, posted behind a fence and a ditch. Men tumbled from our ranks dead, and others fell helpless with wounds."

Intense fighting occurred over these grounds when the two armies clashed. Ultimately, Union forces retreated across the river, marking an end to fighting during the Chancellorsville Campaign.

Salem Church Preservation

Despite the damage that Salem Church suffered during the Civil War, the church’s congregation devoted special care to its repair and upkeep over time. After the Salem Church congregation donated its historic building to the National Park Service in 1961, preservation experts carried out additional repairs to ensure that the historic building would be available for generations to come. During this rehabilitation project, park staff learned many important insights about the church’s history, both from the building itself and from community members who generously shared their stories about this historic place.

On the church’s interior, the first floor consists of an open sanctuary with a pulpit located along the eastern wall. Two columns of wooden pews face the pulpit. The church’s two upper galleries are still present today, the southern gallery historically used by Black attendees and the northern gallery used as overflow space for white attendees. Originally, access to the northern gallery was provided by an interior staircase, while Black churchgoers had to use an outdoor staircase to access the southern gallery. 

Investigations revealed that the congregation replaced this outdoor staircase with an interior stairwell in the 1940s. Studying Salem Church’s built environment allows us to better understand how its congregation responded to broader political and social trends over time. Think about the Salem Church building. What questions do you want answered about this place? Consider the labor required to construct this building. Think about the ways in which people attached meaning to this place over time depending on their background.

Today, physical evidence of the church’s wartime usage is still visible inside, such as graffiti and bullet holes left behind by Civil War soldiers. These surviving features represent the people who passed through this place during a time of war, but also the people who contributed to the preservation of Salem Church.