Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 3.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[22] the church of the Wilderness and the inn called Dowdall's Tavern stand; then, plunging into a ravine, the only road ascends the heights of Fairview and crosses a new clearing, where stands a beautiful edifice called Chancellorsville, after the name of its proprietor. At this point the road becomes once more divided; the old route, which still pursues a northerly direction, and the Plank Road, emerge from the forest at a distance of about two and a half miles beyond Chancellorsville, and become at first separated, the former crossing the streams which descend into the Rappahannock, the latter following, in a general sense, the ridge which divides the waters between this river and the Mattapony; then they draw near again at the entrance of a cultivated plateau, and passing, one close to the church called Zoan Church and the other near an abandoned edifice called Tabernacle Church, they meet again finally at the other extremity of the plateau.

The route—which retains the name of the Plank Road—then follows a narrow ridge commanding Banks' Ford at the north, which it approaches within a distance of a little over one mile, and the valley of Hazel Run at the south—that same stream which flows at the foot of Marye's Hill, and which played so important a part at the battle of Fredericksburg. At a distance of about four miles from the last-mentioned city, and six and a quarter miles from Chancellorsville, one meets Salem Church, located upon a spot where the ridge is particularly narrow; a little farther on, at two miles and two-thirds from Fredericksburg, this ridge widens again, forming an open plateau which terminates above the city. The slopes of this plateau are known by the name of Marye's Hill at the south-east, and that of Taylor's Hill at the north-west.

We have stated that the pass of United States Ford gave access to the forest called the Wilderness a little below the confluence of the Rappahannock and the Rapidan. Among the various fords which are to be met higher up along this last-mentioned river during summer, two only are easy of access and practicable for an army: these were Ely's Ford, situated at three and onethird miles, and Germanna Ford, at nine and one-third miles, in a straight line above the confluence. A good road leads to the Old Wilderness Tavern, south-west of Germanna Ford, where it crosses