Today I explored Chancellorsville Battlefield, which is part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The Battle of Chancellorsville took place from April 27th to May 6th, 1863 during the Civil War. The first place where I stopped was at the ruins of a house owned by a family named Chancellor, who used part of it as an inn before the war. During the war, Union General Joseph Hooker used it as his headquarters, and it burned during the battle. Here are two cannons near the ruins.
Near one of the cannons are the graves of two infants whose family name was Rowley, who died in 1912 and 1915, respectively. From what I can gather, the Rowley family built a house using the undamaged part of the former Chancellor house. Ironically, the Rowley house was destroyed by fire in 1927.
Here's another picture of the Rowley infant graves. The ruins of the Chancellor house, seen from one end, are in this next picture. The highway in the background is Virginia Route 3.
Here's part of the house from a different angle.
After seeing the Chancellor (and Rowley) house ruins, I drove to McLaws' Line, where Confederate General Lafayette McLaws battled against Union forces while General Stonewall Jackson's troops attacked those led by General Joseph Hooker. The only notable feature of this site today is a trail, so I decided to take a hike, which led me through a corn field.
After the trail led me up a hill, I took a shot looking back at where I had walked. The trail is a loop about a mile long.
After completing my hike, I drove to the ruins of the Catharine Furnace, which was once used to make pig iron from locally mined iron ore. According to Wiki, it was built in 1837, closed down 10 years later, and reused during the Civil War.
After I left the Catharine Furnace, I found another area in which to hike and take pictures. Stay tuned.
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