Artillery Duel

On the morning of May 3, 1863, Union artillery at Fairview suffered the most intense artillery bombardment of the battle. More than 40 Confederate guns at Hazel Grove (visible 1,200 yards in front of you) concentrated their fire on 34 Union cannon here at Fairview. After five hours of fighting, the Union guns withdrew, and the Union infantry slowly fell back into the Chancellorsville clearing. They left behind stunning carnage.

We...reached the brow of the hill where...our own cannon had been in action... [A] gruesome sight met our eyes; it was the bodies of nearly a hundred horses scattered around the field in the rear of where the artillery had been engaged; all were lying on their backs with their feet in the air, their bodies swollen enormously. Not along had men suffered and died.

Corporal Rice C. Bull, 123rd New York Infantry

Marker can be reached from Berry-Paxton Road, on the right when traveling west.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources:

HMDB