At 8 o’clock that morning, Stonewall Jackson rode up to Anderson’s breastworks, which stretched across the Turnpike and Plank Road. After being briefed by Anderson, Jackson looked around and decided to make arrangements to repulse the enemy. Jackson immediately took the offensive.

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By noon his command was in motion. McLaws took one group down the Turnpike toward Chancellorsville. Mahone’s brigade was in front, McLaws’ division in trace, with Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox’s and Edward A. Perry’s brigades following close behind. Jackson had the other column traveling on the Plank Road, which arced southward and then swung back to Chancellorsville. In the forefront was Posey’s brigade, followed by Brig. Gen. Ambrose R. Wright’s brigade. Right behind them were Hill’s and Rodes’ divisions, with Colston’s brigade, coming from Fredericksburg, bringing up the rear.

As McLaws’ troops neared Chancellorsville on the Turnpike, Union skirmishers opened up. Fearing he would be outflanked by the large number of Union troops, McLaws sent a rider to Jackson informing him of the situation. Telling McLaws to hold firm, Jackson dispatched Colonel E. P. Alexander’s guns to disperse the bluecoats. Alexander arrived on the scene and quickly unlimbered his cannons. As the first salvo exploded over the Wilderness area near Chancellorsville, a Federal officer looked at his watch and remarked, Twenty minutes past eleven; the first gun of the battle of Chancellorsville.

Pickets from Mahone’s brigade had run into elements from the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Immediately behind the Union horsemen were the infantry from Maj. Gen. George Sykes’ 2nd Division. The fighting raged as the 12th Virginia Infantry found cover behind a rail fence and riddled Sykes’ regulars. The determined Union soldiers regrouped and hit the Confederate line again. Exhausted, the Rebels were forced to retreat, with 80 falling into enemy hands.

As the Virginians were falling back, Brig. Gen. Paul J. Semme’s butternuts pushed ahead to drive back the blue columns. The Georgians charged, halting the Union momentum, and Sykes’ men slowly began to give ground and retreat.

On the Plank Road, meanwhile, Posey’s men encountered Slocum’s XII Corps. As the Rebels drove forward toward Catherine Furnace, they abruptly stopped when they struck the main body of infantry. With Wright’s brigade moving up to his left, Posey formed a defensive line across the Plank Road. Wright turned his men toward the left and headed for Catherine Furnace, less than two miles from Chancellorsville. As they approached, Stuart’s 1st Virginia Cavalry informed Wright that the Federals were in the forest in great numbers. Wright’s 22nd and 48th Georgia troopers stormed the woods and sent the Yankees reeling back into a pine grove. Southern gunners belched rounds into the thicket, driving the Union soldiers back to Hazel Grove. Just about that time, a Federal barrage burst all over the woods. Rebels hunkered down to escape the deadly projectiles. It was warm work certain, said one Confederate infantryman.

Meade was having a relatively easy time of it on the River Road. He had progressed to within two miles of Banks’ Ford with no opposition. If Hooker had grasped this opportunity and allowed Meade to assault what appeared to be Lee’s weak point, he could have turned the Confederate right. Mysteriously, however, Hooker’s mind-set abruptly shifted from the offensive to the defensive. Sykes was certainly worried; both flanks of his 2nd Division were at risk. The veteran officer feared that Confederate infantry could penetrate to his north and south, where thick woods dominated the terrain. Sykes told corps engineer Gouverneur K. Warren to ride to Hooker and inform him of the perilous situation. Unknown to Sykes, Couch was reinforcing him with Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock’s 1st Division from his corps. Couch rode along the Turnpike to see firsthand what was happening. To his utter surprise, he found Sykes pulling back. When Couch inquired why, Sykes presented the order given to him by Warren on his return from seeing Hooker: General Sykes will retire to his position of last night, and take up a line connecting his right with General Slocum, making his line as strong as he can by felling trees, etc. General Couch will then retire to his position of last night.

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