Salem Church, Part IX: With Hooker on the defense at Chancellorsville on May 4, Robert E. Lee turned his whole attention to the engagement at Salem Church. Lee and reinforcements under Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson arrived around noon and Lee began preparations for a coordinated assault as soon as Anderson’ men were in place. 

Major General Richard H. Anderson arrived at Salem Church with about 4,000 men around noon on May 4^th and General Robert E. Lee arrived soon after. With Hooker immobile behind his defensive line, Lee was comfortable further splitting his attention to focus on the fight on the Plank Road instead. Lee was quite unhappy to find that not only had McLaws and Early not coordinated to attack that morning, but that McLaws had not ascertained the Union position or force in any detail. Lee ordered Anderson’s brigades to move to the south and then the east to link up with the left flank of Early’s division. He also ordered his extra artillery to Smith’s Hill above Banks’ Ford. Lee then rode towards Fredericksburg to coordinate directly with Early.

The Union line covered the Orange Plank Road, thus Anderson’s men had to trek through the rough terrain south of the road in order to connect with Early’s line. This delayed any plans for an attack as the Confederate soldiers worked their way through the thickets and scouted out the Union position. The three brigades under Brigadier Generals Ambrose R. Wright, Edward A. Perry, and Carnot Posey used the unfinished railroad cut that ran along Hazel Run to help their movement, but even in the railroad trace progress was slow. It took all afternoon for the men to connect to Brig. Gen. Robert Hoke’s brigade, the left of Early’s Division.

With Anderson’s men the Confederates now outnumbered Sedgwick’s VI Corps and Lee was impatient to attack. His plan was a two-stage coordinated attack to hit both sides of the Union position. When Anderson’s men were in their line running south of the Plank Road, they would attack with Early’s division on the eastern and southern front of Sedgwick’s line. Once Anderson and Early engaged with the Federal force, McLaws could attack from his line at Salem Church, connect with Anderson’s line, and hopefully force the Union VI Corps from the field entirely.

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.