Editor’s note: This is the final part of a story about Col. William Oliver Stevens, a lawyer in Dunkirk who was mortally wounded during the Civil War at Chancellorville on May 3, 1863.

By the end of April, 1863 the Army of the Potomac was once again on the move. With General Hooker in command, the plan was to march his Army upstream from Fredericksburg, cross the Rappahannock, and leaving a smaller force at Fredericksburg to cover his movements, attack Lee from both directions in a vise-like move.

The Third Corps crossed the river at U. S. Ford on Friday, May 1 and bivouacked in the rear of Union troops then hotly engaged with the Rebels. Lee and General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson met that night in the woods near a small crossroads settlement called Chancellorsville, about 10 miles west of Fredericksburg, to discuss their strategy.

In a bold move, Lee decided to gamble and split his already divided force, sending Jackson and 30,000 men on a circuitous march through the woods to attack the Union right flank which Rebel cavalry found was “in the air,” not anchored by a river, hill or other natural defensive barrier. The Union right was occupied by the untested Eleventh Corps, largely composed of new recruits of German extraction.

As Jackson’s long column snaked its way through 12 miles of wilderness, Union scouts on higher ground spotted their movement. Major General Daniel E. Sickles, in command of the Third Corps, attacked and overwhelmed Jackson’s rearguard. This action attracted some 20,000 Federals to the scene, isolating the Eleventh Corps far on the right flank without nearby support.

Late afternoon on May 2, while the Eleventh Corps prepared dinner with their arms stacked, rabbits, deer and other wild animals came bounding out of the woods through their camp. Behind them, and with the setting sun at their backs, came Jackson’s assault on the unsuspecting bluecoats. The Rebel yell pierced the air as a force of Confederates two miles wide and three lines deep steamrolled over the panic-stricken Yankees, sending them reeling eastward through the woods and thickets back towards Chancellorsville.

From their camp near Chancellorsville, the 72nd New York along with the rest of the Excelsior Brigade were ordered to march at the double quick, straight towards Jackson’s stampede. A private of the 72nd thought it was the Rebels he saw coming at them; it turned out to be the Eleventh Corps fleeing to the rear. The Excelsiors’ division, along with some stragglers from the Eleventh Corps and a single brigade from the Second Corps, formed a new line and stopped the Rebel advance. Nightfall ended the fighting, and during a night reconnaissance, Stonewall Jackson was mistaken for Union cavalry by his own men and wounded by friendly fire. His left arm was amputated and he would die eight days later.

Sporadic firing continued overnight as the 72nd New York built breastworks of logs, branches and earth, anticipating another fight in the morning. The heaviest fighting of the battle was on May 3 with Lee launching multiple attacks on the Union position at Chancellorsville. The bloodiest fighting occurred between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. At about 8:00 the Confederates attacked the 72nd New York’s breastworks, eventually surrounding them and attacking from the rear as well. Colonel Stevens, coolly and fearlessly attempting to meet the attack, ordered one company to face to the rear. Waving his revolver, he ordered, “Change front to the rear on the first company! Boys follow me!” Shortly thereafter he was struck by a bullet that passed through his left shoulder and chest and lodged in his right arm. He unbuckled his sword with the words, “Carry it to my wife; remember me to my boy.”

Captain Harmon Bliss of Westfield and two men attempted to raise Stevens. The captain was shot as yelling hordes of Confederates surrounded them. The brigade commander, General Joseph Warren Revere, a grandson of the patriot Paul Revere, wrote about Stevens that “several of his men and officers came to me actually crying with grief to announce his fall.” Bliss himself would die from his wounds a month later.

The wounding and subsequent death of Colonel Stevens was described in a letter from Hanson Alexander Risley, a prominent Dunkirk attorney, friend of Secretary of State William H. Seward, and confidant of President Lincoln, in a 10-page letter to Rev. Levi W. Norton of Jamestown. He told Rev. Norton of the colonel’s desire to have the former chaplain of the 72nd New York preside at his funeral. About two weeks after the battle, Risley wrote on Erie Railway telegraph paper from New York City:

“I will furnish you such particulars as I am able of the Col’s death. I get them directly from the family. He was shot in the left breast Sunday morning about 8 oc the ball passing down through the lung. His horse had been previously shot under him & killed. His Regiment was on the left & hard pressed by the enemy. They were stationed there to hold a position. The enemy came upon them in large & overpowering force. Stevens drew his revolver, went to the front of the line, gave positive command, that they should not fall back, but hold the position to the East, the enemy came on & were passing in front of his line with the evident desire of flanking & surrounding him. Stevens turned to his Regiment, in loud clear voice gave the command to change front, by 1st Company but before the word march, he was struck & fell. Capt Bliss of Westfield & Capt Able (sic) of Dunkirk rushed up to him. He told them to send him a private & go to their Company & execute the movement immediately & they did. The enemy were within 20 feet of them at this time, & the three, Col. Stevens, Bliss who was wounded while attempting to rescue Stevens and the private immediately fell into the hands of the enemy.

“Col Stevens was taken to a Hospital & a Rebel Col. hearing of his gallantry, sent for him & had him taken to a private home. He suffered a good deal Sunday. Monday was quite comfortable & cheerful & thought he would recover. Tuesday grew worse, commenced sinking & died in the afternoon. He was well attended by the Surgeon, had a chaplain with him nearly all the time, was buried with military honors.”

On the afternoon of his death, Tuesday, May 5, Colonel Stevens became delirious and his thoughts returned to the battlefield. He called out, “Forward men, steady!” before sinking quietly away. His father, wife and brother-in-law went to Virginia to take custody of his remains. The father and brother-in-law, with the 72nd New York’s surgeon, Dr. Charles Irwin, got within the enemy lines by courtesy to disinter the body from its battlefield grave near the old Wilderness Church. It was exhumed and placed in a rude coffin made from a door of the church and delivered to the family. After lying in state in the Governor’s room in New York City it was transported to Dunkirk for the funeral. Colonel William Oliver Stevens, age 35, had sacrificed his life for that of his country. He rests in eternal peace at Fredonia’s Forest Hill Cemetery in Section A, Lot 65.

In memory of all our nation’s fallen heroes. – Memorial Day, 2016.