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During the night of May 1, 1863, General Robert E. Lee, divided his army and sent a force commanded by Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson to strike the unsupported right flank of General Joseph Hooker’s right wing—the XI Corps.  On the morning of May 2, the 154th New York, together with the 73rd and 27th Pennsylvania regiments, moved into the rifle pits of the Orange Plank Road, facing south, near Gen. Oliver O. Howard’s headquarters at Dowdall’s Tavern.  Throughout the day, rumors of Stonewall Jackson moving around the XI Corps’ flank abounded. 

 

Around 5 p.m., the 154th left their rifle pits to prepare their suppers; however, they never got to eat.  While they cooked, startled wildlife preceded Stonewall Jackson and his approximately 28,000 men who unleashed a surprise attack, bursting from the woods howling the rebel yell and firing muskets, rifles, and artillery.  The Confederates quickly smashed Deven’s division on the extreme right flank of Hooker’s army and sent the survivors fleeing towards the east.  Buschbeck realigned his brigade to face the attack—positioning his men in a shallow trench dug earlier; however, as the trench was built to face east rather than west, it offered scant shelter to the men. 

 

“Here the Hardtack Regiment [the 154th New York] faced its baptism of fire under the most disadvantageous circumstances—holding the left flank of a small force, covering the demoralizing rout of its corps, and facing an enemy overwhelming in numbers, flushed with victory, and eager to destroy this last bit of opposition. Behind Buschbeck’s line, the Plank Road disappeared into the gloom of the Wilderness. It was more than a mile to the nearest Union reinforcements.” (American Battlefield Trust; “Baptism of Fire: The 154th New York in the Chancellorsville Campaign” by Mark H. Dunkelman; August 1, 2022; updated February 16, 2024.)