Dear Preservation Partner,
When it comes to discussing the Battle of Chancellorsville’s three primary days of fighting, May 1, 1863, often gets the least attention due to the high drama actions of May 2 and 3. However, it is important to remember that what happened on May 1 set the scene for what played out the following two days. Through the generosity of our donors, the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust (CVBT) played a key part in helping save the First Day Chancellorsville portion of battlefield that was fought along the Orange Turnpike (present day Route 3). Even less awareness falls to the May 1 fighting that happened just to the southwest, near the Orange Plank Road (modern Old Plank Road) and Catharpin Road intersection. Until the fall of 2025, nothing had been preserved at the historic crossroad. Thanks to you, our supporters, that is changing!
The CVBT is currently fundraising $100,000 to save the initial parcel of what was the historic Alrich Farm. This first three-acre tract—the site of the Alrich House—is better known as where the 23rd United States Colored Infantry fought off Confederate cavalry under Gen. Thomas Rosser on May 15, 1864. That engagement signaled the first time USCTs fought against the Army of Northern Virginia north of the James River. However, the year before, this location witnessed the Army of the Potomac’s XII Corps battling elements of Gen. Richard H. Anderson’s Confederate Division.
At midday on May 1, 1863, after pushing forward to the Alrich house and engaging with Confederate artillery and infantry, XII Corps commander Gen. Henry Slocum received orders from army commander Gen. Joseph Hooker to fall back toward the Chancellor House. Slocum was incensed at the idea of withdrawing but followed orders. While this May 1 engagement was relatively small compared to what would come the following two days at Chancellorsville, the families of those soldiers who were killed would always remember it. Of course, those who received wounds there were also significantly affected.
Among the wounded on May 1 at the Alrich Farm was Corp. John C. Ellis of the 111th Pennsylvania Infantry. In a letter to his nephew three weeks later, Corp. Ellis explained, “the order was given to fall back to Chancellorsville on double quick and our Regt was to cover the retreat of the balance of [Gen. Thomas Kane’s] brigade[.] [T]he other Regt[s] were so slow in moving[,] the Rebs [were] upon us before we knew it[,] so that by the time that we got to the Plank Rd the Reb Sharpshooters began to pick off our men[.] the Bullets flew like hail arond our heads[.]” One of the bullets found Ellis. “[T]he first thing I knew I was laying on my back in the ditch along side the Road,” he wrote. “[I was] struck by a bullet on the left side of the back of my neck coming out at the corner of my left eye making a verry dangerous wound[.] [W]hen I fell I was completely Paralized and Blind although I never lost my senses for a single moment[.] Ellis was believed dead, “and the Rebs were right at [our] heels so that if [my comrades] wanted to they could not have [stopped and] picked me up.”
One of Ellis’s fellow 111th Pennsylvania comrades, Pvt. James T. Miller, wrote home that “the reble sharpshooters opened on our column and kiled some two or three of our regt. . . .” More, like Ellis, were wounded. Corp. Ellis remained on the battlefield until captured by the advancing Confederates. Taken to a farmhouse, perhaps the Alrich House, he received treatment for four days until he was sent to a crowded Federal field hospital, where he was exposed to the elements for an additional three days. “[H]ow in the world I survived through it is more than I can tell[.] It was 15 days from the time I was shot untill I rejoined the Regiment again,” he explained. Ellis, who was significantly older than most of his comrades, eventually received proper treatment and transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. He died at 60 years old in 1882.
In addition to the purchase of these initial three acres, there is significant work to be done to return the tract’s landscape, as much as possible, to its wartime appearance. A mid-twentieth century house sits approximately where the Alrich House once stood. It, along with a modern shed and a chain link fence that currently surrounds the house, will need to be removed to satisfy the conditions of the anticipated grant funding and to give future visitors to the site a true sense of its period look. This expense, which is of course outside and in addition to the purchase price of the property, is a significant cost in itself.
Due to so much rapid development in Spotsylvania County over the last forty years or so, it is a rare occurrence when a battlefield property becomes available that does not have a modern structure on it. However, CVBT has an excellent track record with landscape restoration projects. We removed “The Castle” eyesore that stood along modern Route 3 at our Rodes-Doles tract in 2013, as well as the nearby modern house at the Beckham tract in 2025. Additionally, in 2020, the house at the Spotsylvania 5th Corps Brock Road parcel came down. These properties now have a helpful period atmosphere to them.
A secondary yet still significant benefit to demolishing modern structures on battlefield properties is that doing so adds to our area’s ever-shrinking green space acreage. Battlefield earth, grass, trees, and streams are important to our environment in an ever-expanding world of residences, steel and glass buildings, and concrete, asphalt, and paved surfaces. Battlefields also provide natural resources that help prevent erosion, give oxygen to our atmosphere, supply plants for vital pollinators, and allow flora and fauna to thrive in their natural ecosystems. Being in these environments helps us as human beings as well, both physically and mentally.
Although generous gifts are arriving in all sizes and from all across the United States, we have only raised one-third of the $100,000 goal we set last fall for this property. As previously mentioned, this is the initial parcel of what will hopefully preserve thirty acres of twice fought over battlefield land. Many of you have given toward this project previously, some have generously made multiple donations. We sincerely thank you for the past gifts and hope you will consider giving yet again to help us reach our goal. Let’s save and share the history of what happened there!
Sincerely,
Tom Van Winkle, CVBT President
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Visit our website to learn more about this preservation project, the history connected to the land, and to view a detailed map!
Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has been saving hallowed ground at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, and the Overland Campaign, including the battles of The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House for almost 30 years. Visit www.cvbt.org to learn more.
Please note: Central Virginia Battlefields Trust will make every effort to see that funds raised from this appeal will go to the battlefields named. In the event that funds are raised in excess of the amount required, your donation will be put to where the need is greatest.
Central Virginia Battlefields Trust Inc
PO Box 3417
Fredericksburg, VA 22402
