The Wilderness Tavern complex, built in the early 19th century to serve travelers on the Fredericksburg-Orange Turnpike, was a key landmark in the 1863 Chancellorsville Campaign. The Confederate Second Corps field hospital at the tavern is where Dr. Hunter McGuire amputated Stonewall Jackson's left arm in the early hours of May 3, 1863. The main tavern buildings were destroyed during the Civil War; the last surviving outbuilding (the 'Old Wilderness Tavern' dependency) burned in 1978, leaving on
Quick facts
- ·The Wilderness Tavern complex, built in the early 19th century to serve travelers on the Fredericksburg-Orange Turnpike, was a key landmark in the 1863 Chancellorsville Campaign. The Confederate Second Corps field hospital at the tavern is where Dr. Hunter McGuire amputated Stonewall Jackson's left arm in the early hours of May 3, 1863. The main tavern buildings were destroyed during the Civil War; the last surviving outbuilding (the 'Old Wilderness Tavern' dependency) burned in 1978, leaving only the chimney, which is preserved at a small NPS pull-off on Route 3.
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