Hawkins Farm Jackson’s Flank Attack Chancellorsville, Va.,

and its outcome brought serious encouragement to Lee to bring the war north to Gettysburg two months later. After the battle at Fredericksburg,  Lee’s force was split into three with Early’s troops remaining there, other troops facing Hooker at Chancellorsville and a plan, hatched with Jackson to hit Union General Hooker from behind with Jackson’s Corps. What happened here is still studied at war colleges around the world since splitting an army when facing an outnumbered enemy is not on the list as  a standard military tactic.  

 “Tom Fool”, his students would quietly snicker at their unorthodox professor who taught physics and artillery tactics at the Virginia Military Institute before the war.  But when the Civil War commenced, he proved an adversary pursued by the enemy, and  cherished by his troops. 

But perhaps his most astonishing accomplishment, as he brought his troops down on Hooker’s surprised army, as a Corps Commander, was his last!  

At 5:30 PM of May 2, 1863, Jackson, leading 30,000 men, gave the order to advance on the Union Army’s 11th Corps flank in the surprise attack.  The initial shock drove the Federals down the Turnpike, with minimum resistance. At the next clearing, the  James Hawkins Farm, Union solder’s who were preparing their evening  meal, looked on in awe at deer, rabbits and birds that came bolting from the tree line beyond. Like a breach in a dam, Jackson’s men broke into the clearing at the farm.  General Howard would later recall, “It  was like a terrible gale! The rush, the rattle, the quick lightening from a hundred points at once; the roar, redoubled by the echoes through  the forest;… Fugitives from Deven’s division rushed headlong past and through [Carl] Schurz’s men, spreading panic like a contagion. “

which was  selected for this Second in a Series of Jackson’s Chancellorsville Flank  Attack entries. Like the First, Jackson Flank Attack Oak, this one is rare for two reasons; it sets on private property still owned by the Hawkins family– and it is at the apex of the first Union  attempt to stop Jackson’s attack, furthermore it is one of the largest  (in dia.) witness trees in the entire collection and one of the oldest est. over 250 yrs. It is truly an old war horse - all courtesy of Mr. Dennis Gallahan of Old Dominion.  

newly installed Union General Burnside made an attempt to take Fredericksburg on his route to Richmond but failed even after the  fateful and disparaging “mud march” in Jan., 1863. He was replaced by General Hooker who continued to carry out a plan to cross the Rappahannock River, upstream from Fredericksburg and do a surprise hit on Lee’s army. The long cold winter held any major army movements in check but Hooker made an important decision to dramatically improve his  cavalry into an organized unit furnished with leadership as well as repeating Spencer rifles and sabers. In mid- March, 1863, General Averell was given the assignment to attack the Confederate cavalry up on the north fork of the river at Kelly’s Ford to learn if the Union cavalry was up to a match with its counterpart. Crossing the Ford was difficult as sharpshooters had their way with the exposed Union riders. 

quickly advanced several miles into Confederate held territory. The match was considered a win by both sides. Averell learned that the Union troopers could hold their own against the  Confederates. But a major lost to the Confederates was the death of  “Gallant “-Major John Pelham. A read about this young man is worthwhile as he was one of the best cannoneers on either side in the Civil War. His loss brought tears to the eyes of General Jeb Stuart his commander. The Battle of Kelly’s Ford was a prelude to the Battle of Chancellorsville (May, 1863) as well as the largest cavalry battle in the history of North America that of Brandy  Station in June 1863.  

is a Sycamore tree whose size and growth pattern are consistent with it  being a witness tree. A bit further upstream is an extended stone wall spanning several hundred yards from  which the Federals were positioned to defend themselves against the on - coming Confederates. It was near to the end of this line that Major John Pelham was hit in the back of his neck with a small shell fragment and later died in Culpepper, Va. Memorials to him are found throughout the South, but the most beautiful and fitting memorial is the one located in the brush and trees where he fell   

The CS Army had to rely on guerilla warfare as the main threat to the Union army.  12 miles south of Vicksburg on September 25, 1863  elements of the 2nd Wisconsin cavalry were camped at the old Redbone Church. Whitaker's Confederate Scouts attacked the Union cavalry and were repulsed due to the superior fire power of the Union cavalry.

recently celebrated its 200 year anniversary and even has a Revolutionary War veteran interred in the cemetery. The cemetery has some super old graves and the oldest is of a man who died there in 1814. 

grow all over the grounds of the church and cemetery and witnessed all of the events of this church's 200 year as well as the skirmish fought there during the Civil War. I want to give a big Thanks to Tom Hughs of Clinton Mississippi who procured the wood for these beautiful pens.

Battle of Champion Hill was the largest, bloodiest, and most  significant action of Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign. The troops met in a  fierce struggle for a vital crossroads roughly halfway between Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi. The field was dominated by bald Champion Hill, from which Confederate artillery opened fire on the Union army. The first Federal  assault on the hill drove the Southerners back with bayonets and clubbed muskets.  

tried  to reform and consolidate their gains, they were swept away by a  counterattack led by John Bowen’s Missourians and Arkansans. Ulysses S. Grant ordered more men towards the hill and Bowen’s Confederates were themselves driven off, compelling a general retreat. Ultimately there was a Union victory at Champion Hill which was instrumental in forcing the Confederates out in the open field and into a doomed position inside the walls of Vicksburg. 

was used by General Grant as headquarters during the battle. Near the home in 1853 Matilda Champion planted as series of live oaks. One still stands but it died in the 90s. Sid Champion V is shown near the dead witness tree with Gary Strobel . The live oak wood is lovely and nicely figured and many pens have been made from it. Syd is considering turning over Champion Hill to the Civil War Trust or the Federal Government to be made into an ancillary arm of the Famous Vicksburg Battlefield  site. 

in the Gettysburg cemetery on Nov 19th 1863, just a few months after the bloodiest 3 day battle in America, that Abraham  Lincoln, feeling not well, delivered his Gettysburg address. It took just over 2 min and was only about 260 words in length and was essentially finished before many people even knew that he had spoken. 

did not garner much attention during his lifetime but is now recognized as one of the most important speeches in the history of our country. It was given at an appropriate place at an appropriate time and this slowly growing honey locust tree witnessed all of the events. 

speech to the death and carnage that took place just a few months before on cemetery ridge at Gettysburg. At this point in time the war may have reached its turning point. The pen is one of the prettiest in the entire collection. 

With a de facto French government under Maximillian south of the Rio Grande, the Confederates hoped to establish trade between Texas and Mexico to obtain much needed  supplies. The Lincoln administration, sought to establish a military presence in Texas to discourage Mexican influence. South of Beaumont, Texas is a lake with a river exit (Sabine pass) to the Gulf of Mexico. In the early morning of September 8, 1863, a Union flotilla of four gunboats and seven troop transports steamed into the Sabine River with the intention of reducing Fort Griffin outside of  Sabine City and landing troops there. As the gunboats approached Fort Griffin, they came under accurate fire from the old and big guns there. 

under command of Irishman Lt. Richard W. Dowling disabled two ships, captured the gunboat Clifton with about 200 prisoners, and forced the Union flotilla to retire. The Confederate defenders suffered zero casualties and Union operations in the area ceased. The heroics at Fort  Griffin - 49 men stopping a Union expedition - inspired other Confederates and became known as one of the most lopsided battles of the war. It is the only case in the entire Civil War that the Confederacy awarded the Davis medal to any of its fighters. 

but a few hundred yards away, in the town of Sabine Pass there exists an old live oak that seems to qualify as a witness tree. In this area the trees are stressed and grow slowly usually at the rate of only 8-10 annual rings per one radial inch. This tree could easily  be 180 yrs old. The people in Sabine pass, at the time of the battle, helped Richard Dowling and his crew handle all of the prisoners that were captured on the Union boats. The tree or one  of its ancestors witnessed the battle of sabine pass.  

built in 1858, stands today as Vicksburg’s most historic structure and has  hosted such guests and speakers  as Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Booker T. Washington, Teddy  Roosevelt, and William McKinley. On the grounds a local planter,  Jefferson Davis, launched his political career. Several years later,  during the War Between the States, Confederate Generals  Stephen D. Lee, John C. Breckinridge, and Earl Van Dorn watched from  the cupola as the Confederate ironclad Arkansas battled its way through  the federal fleet to safety at Vicksburg.

the building was the target of much union shelling over  the course of a 42 day siege but suffered only one major hit. When that shell hit it seems to have dislodged a board in the cupola.  It was here on July 4, 1863 that the Stars and Bars were lowered and the Stars and Stripes were raised as General  U S Grant reviewed his victorious army. When asked if any witness trees  survived the war Mr Bolm could think of none. Thus, the Warren County Court House wood is the best that can be done for Vicksburg. 

and had a square nail in a square hole at one end of the board. The nail is in the  photograph and the hole that it made is the darkened area in the top of  the pen.  

It is also to be noted that Col W H McCardle who was the AAG to Gen John Pemberton, a newspaper editor and author is honored with the McCardle Room in the Court House Museum. He was also the GGG Grandfather of Richard McCardle of UCVRELICS.COM who convinced me to do this website and has done all the website work and background research for it. Thanks Rich