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| Stonewall Jackson, April 1863 |
In 1816, Samuel Alsop, Jr., bought an 849-acre tract on the Po River near Corbin's Bridge in Spotsylvania. Several years later, he built a house there as a wedding present for his daughter, Clementina, and his son-in-law, Thomas Coleman Chandler, who were married on September 20, 1825. This place came to be known as Oakley. During the Battle of the Wilderness, the residents of Oakley suffered a great deal. Their story can be read at The Letter from Maria Dobyns.
In 1839, Thomas Chandler sold Oakley to Enos Gridley and moved to Caroline County, where he made his home at Fairfield plantation just north of Guiney's Station. In the map detail below, the Chandler property can be seen at the upper left of the image, just above the railroad tracks at "Guinea Sta."
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| Northwest Caroline County, 1863 |
After Clementina's death in 1844, Chandler married Mary Elizabeth Frazer. By the eve of the Civil War, Chandler was a wealthy man; he owned a 740-acre farm, 62 slaves and had a net worth of over $53,000.
During the Fredericksburg campaign of 1862, Chandler became friends with Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, who for a time made his headquarters at Fairfield. Just a few months later, in May 1863, Jackson was brought to Chandler's farm after the amputation of his left arm, following an accidental shooting during the Battle of Chancellorsville. Chandler brought a bed and some other small comforts into the building he used as an office. There Jackson spent the last days of his life before dying on May 10, 1863.
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| John Samuel Apperson (Ellen Apperson Brown) |
During this period, the hospital of the 2nd Corps of the Confederate Army was set up near Guiney's Station. Dr. Harvey Black, the chief surgeon of the hospital, was assisted by steward John Samuel Apperson, who just a few years later also became a doctor. During the Civil War, Apperson kept a detailed diary of his experiences. His entry for May 30, 1863, just three weeks after the death of Jackson, includes the description of a violent event at Fairfield involving Thomas Chandler:
Tonight I went to the [Guiney Station] Depot with Dr. Gilkerson to see a wounded man--he was a member of Co. "H" [of the 4th Virginia Infantry, originally called the "Rockbridge Grays"] of 1 VA Battalion stabbed by Mr. Chandler near the depot. Several of the Battalion--all inebriated--went to Mr. Chandler's house and acted very badly. Mr. Chandler in self defense opened one's abdomen. The wound was in the median line about an inch above the Umbilicus [that is, the navel]. A large quantity of Omentum [1] protruded and was troublesome to reduce.
What became of this wounded soldier is not known. Also not known is how this incident may have colored Chandler's memory of the historic events of the spring of 1863.
[1] Omentum: A large, apron-like fold of visceral peritoneum that hangs down from the stomach.
Isn't the diary kept by John Apperson just amazing? It has been published under the title Repairing the March of Mars, by Jack Roper.
ReplyDeleteHere is some further history of the the wounding of Stonewall Jackson. On May 2, 1863 as the Confederates were pushing the Federals back, the 55th VA Infantry was taking over the lead in the assault. They were deploying in a line of battle along the Plank Road, what is now Route 3 and nearly adjacent to the current NPS Visitor Center at Chancellorsville. Company M, which was recruited from Spotsylvania County, was in this movement. At the same time, Stonewall Jackson was reconnoitering in the woods about 200 feet from the 55th and at the front line. The volleys fired by the Federals killed and wounded many of the officers of the 55th and my GG Grandfather Benjamin Warner Pritchett. At about the same time, the NC regiment behind Jackson opened fire, mortally wounding the General. BW Pritchett was a customer of your George W.E. Row. The following year, the engagement, part of the larger battle of Spotsylvania CH was fought on the farm of BW and William Warner Pritchett on May 10, 1864.
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