Spilling Thought: Dramatic skies over the McLaws Line portion of the Chancellorsville Battlefield earlier this week mirror the crisis faced by Union officers here on May 2, 1863. While best known for attracting attention through skirmishing--allowing Jackson's Flank Attack to succeed--Confederates here launched an all-out assault once Jackson's attack hit, striking the Federal position from the south while Jackson hit from the west. Col. Cross held his line amid the chaos of routed Union soldiers and an attack on both fronts. Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania--this is America's battleground, where the Civil War roared to its bloody climax. No place more vividly reflects the War's tragic cost in all its forms. A town bombarded and looted. Farms large and small ruined. Refugees by the thousands forced into the countryside. More than 85,000 men wounded; 15,000 killed--most in graves unknown. Photo courtesy of Buddy Secor (Ninja Pix) by usinterior