Battle of Salem Church
| Battle of Salem Church (Battle of Banks' Ford) |
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| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Attack on Gen. Sedgwick's Corps, seen from the north bank of the Rappahannock River. Forbes, Edwin, artist, May 4, 1863. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |
 CSA (Confederacy)
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John Sedgwick | Robert E. Lee | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| VI Corps, Army of the Potomac | Army of Northern Virginia | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 23,000 | 10,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4,611 | 4,935 | ||||||
Coordinates: 38°17′19.9″N 77°31′51.4″W / 38.288861°N 77.530944°W
The Battle of Salem Church, also known as the Battle of Banks' Ford, took place on May 3 and 4, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, as part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of the American Civil War.
After occupying Marye's Heights on May 3, following the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's VI Corps of about 23,000 men marched out on the Orange Plank Road with the objective of reaching his superior Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's force at Chancellorsville. He was delayed by Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox's brigade of Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early's force during the afternoon of May 3 before halting at Salem Church.
After receiving word of Sedgwick's breakthrough at Fredericksburg, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee detached the division of Lafayette McLaws from the Chancellorsville lines and marched them to Salem Church. McLaws's division arrived at Wilcox's position around Salem Church shortly after noon, reinforced by William Mahone's brigade of Richard H. Anderson's division.
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