Rushing eastward to escape enemy fire, the remnants of Devens’ division broke through two of Schurz’s regiments, sweeping some of the men along with them. A few stalwarts stopped in the open fields and joined the 3rd Division, but most headed for Dowdall’s and Wilderness Church. Having just returned from his fruitless trip with Barlow to Catherine Furnace, Howard saw the fugitives, and holding a flag with the stump of his right arm, bravely rode into the mob. Joining Schurz and McLean, Howard desperately tried to rally the men, but most ignored him and continued eastward. No one remembered to send a warning to Hooker.

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Around 6:15 p.m. sledgehammer blows from the front and right broke Schurz’s second line. The Rebel tidal wave halted briefly at Wilderness Church, reformed and surged forward again, leaving two wrecked divisions in its wake. Sitting on the Chancellor house’s veranda, Hooker heard cannon fire but attributed it to Birney. Fifteen minutes later, an aide looked down the Plank Road and saw a torrent of fugitives, ambulances, cattle and mules racing toward him.

At 6:30 p.m. Rodes’ and Colston’s infantry reached the XI Corps’ last line of resistance, Colonel Adolphus Buschbeck’s 2nd Division brigade. Four Federal regiments, plus support from Devens and Schurz, now totaled less than 5,000 men. They occupied the works abandoned earlier by Barlow just east of Dowdall’s. The Confederate front line formed a semicircle with both ends past the Federal flanks. The last XI Corps line held the longest, but could not stop Jackson’s two oncoming divisions. By 7:15 p.m., both flanks were crushed, and Buschbeck’s front completely collapsed.

The XI Corps fought on for another hour and a half without support. After breaking Buschbeck, Jackson’s advance petered out at about 7:30. The halt, plus the fading light, enabled Howard’s men to escape. Near the Chancellor house, Buschbeck placed his regiments south of the Plank Road. Close by were 150 men from McLean’s brigade under Colonel Lee. Having recovered from being pinned by a wounded horse, Lee had caught up with 2nd Brigade at Buschbeck’s line. Other survivors from Devens’ and Schurz’s divisions retreated to the northeast. As night approached, Schurz re-formed the battered regiments. Three miles away, Reynolds’ 1st Corps divisions were finally crossing the Rappahannock at U.S. Ford. Hooker used them in a new defensive line he succeeded in pulling together before midnight.

Severe fighting continued for three more days. During the night of May 5-6, the Army of the Potomac withdrew across the Rappahannock River at U.S. Ford, officially ending the Chancellorsville campaign. For the XI Corps survivors, May 3, 1863, marked the beginning of a new battle, one for honor and reputation, which persisted for the rest of their lives. First Sergeant J.H. Peabody, of the 61st Ohio Infantry, later lamented: ‘The burning shame of that stigma has followed us nearly twenty-eight years, and will follow us on to the grave, and still on to the end of time.’

This article was written by John F. Krumwiede and originally appeared in the May 2001 issue of America’s Civil War magazine.

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