November 2024
408 pp., 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Paperback, $39.95
ISBN 978-1-60635-480-3
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The Forgotten Battles of the Chancellorsville Campaign
Fredericksburg, Salem Church, and Banks’ Ford in Spring 1863
Civil War Era, Civil War Soldiers and Strategies, Military History, Recent ReleasesErik F. Nelson
Military operations in Fredericksburg, Virginia, were a significant part of the Chancellorsville Campaign, but they have been overshadowed by what occurred in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania County, where Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson’s forces overwhelmed the Union army. That struggle in the spring of 1863 has been the subject of numerous studies, and its geographical setting is a prominent component of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
To demonstrate how a Union force overpowered Confederate troops in and around Fredericksburg, Erik F. Nelson emphasizes the role of terrain. Previous studies have relied on misleading primary sources that have left the campaign—and the Union’s larger victory—misunderstood. Moreover, the former battlegrounds near Fredericksburg have been altered by new roads and neighborhoods, further complicating study.
While the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville loomed large as the Southern army confidently marched into Pennsylvania, the Union army redeemed itself at Gettysburg—changing the course of the war. Nelson’s thorough consideration of the physical settings at Fredericksburg, Salem Church, and Banks’ Ford helps readers better understand how the Army of the Potomac prevailed against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.
Erik F. Nelson is a former US Navy weapons specialist and retired city planner of Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was a founding board member of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and a founding editor of its journal, Fredericksburg History and Biography.
“Erik F. Nelson has given us the authoritative history of the ‘other’ battles of the Chancellorsville Campaign. His focus on the military geography of what is now a compromised landscape adds unique clarity to a well-written narrative. No one who aspires to understand “Lee’s greatest victory” can afford to ignore Nelson’s original and persuasive account of the fighting in and around Fredericksburg during the first few days of May 1863.”—A. Wilson Greene, former historian, Fredericksburg National Military Park
“The Forgotten Battles of the Chancellorsville Campaign rightfully argues that an examination of the campaign helps explain how the Union Army of the Potomac managed to defeat the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia two months later at Gettysburg. Erik F. Nelson’s well-researched book makes extensive use of primary and secondary sources. It also reflects deep analysis of command decisions on both sides such as military training, logistics, telegraphy, and other lines of communication.”—Keith S. Bohannon, professor of history, University of West Georgia
“Emphasis on the Fredericksburg, Salem Church, and Banks’ Ford engagements––each occurring miles east of Chancellorsville yet profoundly affecting the Army of the Potomac’s fate––sets Erik F. Nelson’s riveting account apart from other Chancellorsville Campaign narratives. Supported by exhaustive research, Nelson’s analysis of those actions superbly captures the tactics employed, thereby casting new light on these important, though often overlooked, encounters.”—Edward A. Altemos, author of From the Wilderness to Appomattox: The Fifteenth New York Heavy Artillery in the Civil War
