"No Higher Fate"

The Death of Sgt. George H. Philbrook 

at the Battle of Chancellorsville, VA - May 3, 1863

 By Robert W. Philbrook

LEE & HOOKER CLASH AT CHANCELLORSVILLE & FREDERICKSBURG

       Abraham Lincoln was willing to risk dictatorship.  After General Ambrose Burnside and his Army of the Potomac was defeated at Fredericksburg (Virginia) in December of 1862, President Lincoln needed new leadership of his most eastern Army.  Lincoln selected Major-General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker to reorganize and lead the battered Army of the Potomac.  Hooker, who had been advocating autocratic leadership of both the army and the government, received a letter from Lincoln stating, "Only those general(s) who gain success can set up dictators... What I ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship." 

   In late April of 1863, the Army of the Potomac advanced again in the direction of Fredericksburg.  Hooker moved most of his forces north and around to Chancellorsville in hopes of attacking the rear of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.  Lee however split his forces, part remaining in and around Fredericksburg and the other moving to meet Hooker's main force near Zoan Church between Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg on May 1st.  This movement stopped the Union advance and Hooker's men fell back to Chancellorsville.  On May 2nd, Lee again split his forces a third time in a daring maneuver around Hooker's main force centered at Chancellorsville.  Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson moved his men south-west and around to attack the Federals west of Chancellorsville near Wilderness Church.  Hooker's forces were again driven back in this daring attack as the Rebels came streaming out of the thickly wooded forest.  Despite the Confederate victory that day, it would prove fatal to General Jackson when his men mistakenly fired upon the famous Rebel general.  Jackson, mortally wounded, would die a week later.  Late on May 2nd, Hooker finally ordered his troops in the east, on the far side of the Rappahannock river, to attack the Confederates in and around Fredericksburg.

Men of the 6th Maine

THE FIGHT FOR THE STONE WALL

    It was eerily quiet in Fredericksburg that Sunday morning of the 3rd of May. The town, who's buildings had been devastated during the battle of the previous December, was deserted with the exception of a few towns folk.   Sgt. George H. Philbrook and the 6th Maine moved into Fredericksburg that morning and prepared to assault Marye's Heights on the outskirts of town.  From Fredericksburg, three columns of Union troops were to advance on the Rebel positions.  On the far left facing the Confederate line, the 5th Wisconsin was ordered to advance against the infamous Stone Wall that so many Army of the Potomac men had fatally charged against in December.  Upon receiving the order, Col. Thomas S. Allen who commanded the Wisconsin men, replied, "I (do) not 'hanker after' the position assigned me, honorable as it (is)."  Following the 5th Wisconsin, would be the 6th Maine to the right rear and the 31st New York on the left rear.  The 23rd Pennsylvania would follow directly in the center behind the three other regiments.  The three forward regiments belonged to Colonel Hiram Burnham's Light Division of Major-General John Sedgwick's 6th Army Corps.  The 23rd Pennsylvania came from Major-General John Newton's 3rd Division and was under the command of Colonel John Ely.

   From behind the Stone Wall, the men of the 18th Mississippi Regiment (along with 3 companies of the 21st Miss.) watched the Federals move through the town and form into their attack formations.  Next to them sat several artillery guns that supported the Mississippians.  All of these men were part of Confederate Brigadier-General William Barksdale's Brigade.  Colonel Thomas M. Griffen, of the 18th Mississippi told his men to hold their fire until the Federal troops got close to the wall.

   Meanwhile, Sgt. Philbrook and the other men of Burnham's regiments were receiving their final orders prior to the charge.  It was about 10 a.m. and orders were that they would at the command to charge, "double-quick"  with fixed bayonets and not to fire until reaching the Stone Wall.  By doing this, the Federal commanders hoped to avoid their men stopping too short of the wall and firing, thus losing the momentum of the attack.

    The scraping sound of metal could be heard as the men of the 6th Maine fixed bayonets on their rifles.  For many, this would be their final charge...  suddenly the bugle sounded and the lead regiment of Wisconsin men leapt forward with a yell.  Two dozen yards back Philbrook and the 6th Maine "came to (their) feet... and soon caught up with the skirmishers."  Men in blue charged the waiting Confederates behind the Stone Wall.

    At 40 yards, the Confederates rose up and fired their muskets and artillery into the onrushing Federals.  In this volley almost one-third of the 5th Wisconsin and the 6th Maine fell to the Rebel fire.  Sgt. George H. Philbrook, who was struck in the neck during the charge, bled to death in seconds most likely from a round that would have sliced through his carotid artery.  His friend, Sergeant George McGreger, watched as Philbrook went down, but there was no time to pause.  They must get to the Wall or they would all die.

    McGreger and the men of the 6th left their fallen comrades behind and charged upon the Stone Wall.  In fierce fighting muskets were used as clubs by the Rebels who barely had time to reload if at all, Union men fired at point blank range at the Southern troops and the cries of the wounded and dying filled the smoky air.  The Rebels, overwhelmed, began to fall back... all except those manning the cannons.  The Confederate artillerists of the Washington Artillery of New Orleans stayed by their guns and most paid with their lives.  Writing in the captured diary of a Rebel gunner, a Union soldier jotted down the epitaph for his opponent who failed to surrender, "and had his brains blown out as a consequence..."

Rebel dead at the Stone Wall on Marye's Heights

    On up Marye's Heights, the Union men advanced.  Victory, at least in that part of the battlefield, was theirs.  From Fredericksburg a cheer went up as the Union troops watching the fight from the town below saw the 6th Maine's regimental flag, being the first to the top, planted on the Heights.  Off in the distance observing the attack was Elisha Meservey of the 20th Maine, a friend of George Philbrook's wife Ellie.  Unknown to him at the time, his friend's husband had just paid the ultimate price for the war to reunite the country.

MOURNING THE DEAD

    The Federals would eventually loose the Battle of Chancellorsville and again the Union forces retreated from Virginia in defeat.  Flushed with success, the Army of Northern Virginia would invade the North in hopes of ending the war.  The Union and Confederates would next meet at a small road junction in Pennslyvania... GETTYSBURG.

    On the assault against the Stone Wall during the Battle of Chancellorsville, the 6th Maine would lose 4 officers and 19 enlisted men killed (among them Sgt. George H. Philbrook), and over 100 more wounded.  The 5th Wisconsin lost 35 killed and 120 wounded while the 31st New York lost 12 dead and 44 wounded.

Preparing the Dead to Send Home

    Nine days after the deadly attack on the Stone Wall, Sergeant McGreger writes George's widow telling her of her husband's death and letting her know she is not alone:  "... hundreds of our Noble and Brave fell in the same action.  Hundreds of wives were made Widows, thousands of Children were left Fatherless...."  (Click here to read Sgt. McGreger's full letter.)

    On May 15, 1863,  John F. Rich who had been corresponding with his friend, George Philbrook, writes a letter expressing his condolences to the mourning wife and asking her to send a photograph of George to remember him by.  (Click here to read John Rich's full letter.)

    May 22, 1863 the Ellsworth Herald  Newspaper prints a brief note stating that George was killed in battle.  (Click here to read Ellsworth Herald notice.)

    In June, Elisha Meservey of the 20th Maine sends his letter to Ellie Philbrook telling her, "while you weep for the loss of your husband it should be a proud satisfaction for you to feel that he died live a brave man nobly battling for his country."  (Click here to read Elisha Meservey's full letter.)

    An unknown newspaper printed the following Memoriam for George Henry Philbrook:

"Among the many of the 6^th Me. regiment killed at Fredericksburg we are pained to record the name of George H. Philbrook of Kendall’s Mills, whose sudden death has cast a deep gloom over a large circle of friends here and elsewhere.  We have known young Philbrook long and well, and in common with all who shared his acquaintance, can testify to his many manly qualities of heart and life.  He enlisted last fall, leaving a profitable employment, sundering the hallowed associations of home and bidding adieu to a young and recently married wife, to fight for his country.  But a few days before his death, which occurred on the 3d inst. In the charge on Fredericksburg, it was our pleasure to receive a letter from him, in which he expressed an ardent devotion to his country and a willingness to seal that devotion in his blood, wishing no higher fate than that his blood might contribute to the restoration of our nationality.

    What destiny more enviable or glorious!  He has fallen with face to the foe and while his death seems doubly sad, in that so much of promise and hope has been suddenly blasted, his friends have the consoling memory of his many virtues and the assurance that a morning thus gloriously full of promise, is now succeeded by the full glory of heavenly meridian."

SOURCES:

Stephen W. Sears.  Chancellorsville.  New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996

Ernest B. Furgurson.  Chancellorsville 1863:  The Souls of the Brave.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992

John J. Pullen.  The 20th Maine.  New York: Fawcett Publications, 1962

U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion:  A Compilation of the Official Records of the War of the Union and Confederate Armies.  Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889.

McGreger, John., Letter.  May 12, 1863.  John Brogan Collection - Elmhurst, IL

Meservey, Elisha., Letter.  June 4, 1863.  John Brogan Collection - Elmhurst, IL

Rich, John F., Letter.  May 15, 1863.  John Brogan Collection - Elmhurst, IL

Unknown Newspaper.  Clipping.  John Brogan Collection - Elmhurst, IL

All photographs courtesy of the National Archives, Washington D.C.

Special thanks to John Brogan for providing the PPFA with copies of the original letters regarding George H. Philbrook's death. - RWP