Salem Church, Part III: Brig. Gen. Wilcox planned to stall Sedgwick’s VI Corps for as long as he could and placed several defensive positions along the Plank Road. These included cavalry located by the Downman House and infantry lines at the tollgate and Salem Church. Wilcox’s maneuvering successfully slowed the Union progress and made time for Confederate reinforcements to arrive. 

Brig. Gen. Cadmus Wilcox knew he would be unable to completely stop the advance of Sedgwick’s entire corps on the Orange Plank Road, but he planned to delay the Union advance for as long as possible. After falling back from his first position by the Guest House, Wilcox next placed the bulk of his force by the tollgate, ahead of the ridgeline at Salem Church. To provide another line of resistance, and a way to alert the Confederates to when Sedgwick started to move west, Wilcox placed a forward line of fifty men of the 15^th Virginia Cavalry under Major Charles R. Collins. Collin’s men dismounted and positioned themselves near the Plank Road in the rear of “Idlewild,” the home of William Yates Downman and his family.

As the Union VI Corps started their advance west on the Plank Road, Collins’ men opened fire from their position of cover in a grove of trees. This forced Brooks to leave his column marching formation in the road and place two of his brigades on either side of the road, Col. Henry W. Brown’s New Jersey Brigade to the north and Brigadier General Joseph J. Bartlett’s Brigade to the south. Brooks ordered his artillery to fire on the position of the Confederate 15^th Virginia, forcing the cavalrymen to fall back to Wilcox. Collins and his troopers had done their job, forcing the Union to slow again and alerting Wilcox the Sedgwick was on the move.

At the tollgate, Wilcox positioned his brigade to span the Plank Road with two artillery guns placed in the roadway. Wilcox took advantage of the ridgeline to hold high ground over the advancing Federal men and sent out a skirmish line, forcing Brook’s soldiers to deploy to meet them. While Wilcox skirmished with the leading brigades of Sedgwick’s force near the tollgate, McLaws and his reinforcements arrived. Coordinating with Wilcox, McLaws formed his men into position west of Salem Ridge, out of sight of the advancing Union men. After holding the Union VI Corps at the tollgate until around 4:00 in the afternoon, Wilcox withdrew his brigade back to a position on Salem Ridge.

Furgurson, Ernest B. Chancellorsville, 1863: The Souls of the Brave. New York: Vintage Books, 1992.

Gallagher, Gary W. The Battle of Chancellorsville. National Park Civil War Series. Eastern National, 2007.

Parsons, Philip W. The Union Sixth Army Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign: A Study of the Engagements of Second Fredericksburg, Salem Church and Banks’s Ford, May 3-4, 1863. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006.

Sutherland, Daniel E. Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville: The Dare Mark Campaign. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.