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Chancellorsville
written by Stephen W. Sears
Studio : Mariner Books
by Mariner Books
Publisher : Mariner Books
Released : 1998-06-22
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780395877449
UPC : 046442877442
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 48 reviews)
List Price : $18.00
Our Price : $10.00
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Product Description |
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Sears describes the series of controversial events that define this crucial battle, including General Robert E. Lee's radical decision to divide his small army--a violation of basic military rules--sending Stonewall Jackson on his famous march around the Union army flank. Jackson's death--accidentally shot by one of his own soldiers--is one of the many fascinating stories included in this definitive account of the battle of Chancellorsville. |
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Americancivilwar.com Review |
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Many Civil War buffs have called the battle of Chancellorsville Robert E. Lee's greatest victory; Stephen W. Sears doesn't necessarily agree, and in this painstakingly researched book, he offers ample evidence that Lee had luck on his side in the battle. Lee was a great general all right, and his men did fight savagely. But the notion that Union General Joseph Hooker was inept is cast into doubt by Sears, who describes the action of Chancellorsville as most great battle books do--hour by hour. This book is the finest rendition of the battle yet and an interesting thesis for Civil War discussion. Lee's penchant for aggressiveness and his faith in his troops as unbeatable may have worked at Chancellorsville, but Sears argues that these alone couldn't win the war. Lee learned this lesson too, a month later at Gettysburg. |
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Wonderful book but no argument for Hooker |
I have just recently gotten back into Civil War History after about a 5 year lapse. I read Foote's Fredericksburg to Meridian (Part II of his massive trilogy) in August. In that book, I learned about the Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg - as well as others. In looking for books on Chancellorsville, I came across this one by Stephen Sears. I bought it along with Gettysburg as well as his others on Antietam and the Peninsula Campaign. I also read the reviews on Chancellorsville and I saw some that indicated this book was a defense of General Hooker.
After reading this book in a mere two weeks, I did not find it to be a defense of Hooker but more of a realistic approach to what Hooker did after he took over for Burnside. Hooker did many great things during his time as head of the Army before the Battle of Chancellorsville. However, Mr. Sears did not leave out his shortcomings during the actual battle. He points out that his decision to abandon Hazel Grove was one of the biggest mistakes of the battle. He also points out that Hooker's decision to retreat was a mistake since Lee had sent some of his army facing Hooker to take on the VI Corps at Fredericksburg. Lastly, Mr. Sears tells of Hooker's mistake in not turing over command of the Army to General Couch after his being wounded. I did not find this book to be an argument in favor of Hooker and against the generals under him.
There is no doubt that the generals under Hooker, at least a couple of them (Generals Howard and Stoneman)failed Hooker. This is made very clear in the book. But Mr. Sears does not excuse Hooker for these failures totally. The failure of the XI Corps was not totally of Hooker's doing but more because of Howard. This comes through loud and clear in the book.
This is a very good book. It is easy to read and understand. It is easy to get bogged down in the names of the generals and whether they are confederate or union but Mr. Sears made this easy for he put the names of the units behind them so if you know what states were fighting for the Union and what states were Confederate, then it is not difficult. The pace of the book is very good. I did not find any part of the book borning or tedious. I now have a much better understanding of the battle. In fact, I have already begun Mr. Sears' book on Gettysburg and am already 50 pages into it and am liking it very much.
I am looking forward to finishing Gettysburg and then moving on to the other books I have that Mr. Sears wrote. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the Civil War and specifically the eastern theater. |
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Understanding a Civil War battle |
This is the first book I have read that covers the battle. I did notice one reviewer not believing in the author's laying the blame for the Northern defeat in the commanders as opposed to General Hooker himself. It is hard for me to believe this after reading the book. The author gives highly introspective technical reasons for making this
conclusion. The only slightly negative to me about the book was the description of the positioning of the troops during the battle itself (with the names of the officers) which tended to bog me down. Nonetheless the description of the logistics of these battles like the signaling and communication problems the north had and life among the troops on both sides was outstanding.
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Excellent history of this important battle |
None of Lee's battles has generated the mythology of Chancellorsville. Gettysburg, for all the analysis, for all the questions, for all the "would have one the war" cannot compare to Chancellorsville. This battle even influences the mythology of Gettysburg by maintaining that if Jackson had not been killed, he would have won that battle. Rightfully regarded as Lee's greatest victory, clocked in the emotion of Jackson's death the battle has few books and none this good.
Sears is one of our best authors with impressive knowledge of the Eastern Theater and the ability to tell a great story. Once more, he brings all of that to the table producing a battle history that is informative, detailed and fun to read. This is one of his best books and one of the lest known.
After Fredericksburg and the Mud March, Union moral was at an all time low. Badly used, deprived of the popular McClellan the army was rift with problems and crying for leadership. "Fighting" Joe Hooker, who had intrigued against Burnside, is given his chance at beating "Bobby" Lee. This is the story of how Hooker rebuilds the army and leads it to the worst defeat it will suffer. Lee and Jackson outnumbered and out of position decide on a plan born of desperation and pull it off.
How that happened, largely due to multiple failures of the Union generals is the story. Sears presents the full picture from Stoneman's failed cavalry raid to Slocum's cautious attacks at Fredericksburg. This is much more than Jackson's march and flank attack and the book details these failures in very readable detail.
If you are looking for two excellent battle books, read this first and Gettysburg second.
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Solid, if uninspired entry that fails to provide fresh insights |
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This book is another one in the series of Civil War battle books that Sears has been putting out. I suppose for readers learning about the battles for the first time the author does a thorough if far from consise job of describing the battle. Sears attempts to add something new by straining to shift the blame for the Union disaster off of Hooker's shoulders but without success. He also tries to argue that this battle was essentially a draw while ignoring the fact that the campaign was an enormous missed opportunity, wasted thousands of lives and caused deep morale and command issues. Of course Lee had command issues of his own which became vividly apparent at Gettysburg. While trying to shift the blame from Hooker to his generals like Howard, Stoneman and Shedgwick the authors ignores the important point the Hooker was responsible for giving these weak leaders important commands and underutilizing his best generals, Meade, Hancock and Reynolds. Anyone who has read Battles and Leaders or any of the personal memoirs or Freeman will find these books kind of disposable. |
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Lee's Greatest Victory |
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Mr. Sears has definitely written another masterpiece. "Chancellorsville" begins with the revolt of the generals in the Union's Army of the Potomac in the aftermath of the Union disaster at Fredericksburg. With Gen. Burnside losing popularity, Lincoln replaced him with Gen. "Fighting Joe" Hooker. Hooker reorganized the command structure of the Army of the Potomac and made several reforms that proved beneficial to the foot soldiers. These included the organization of the Calvary Corps, several health related reforms, visiting reforms that helped stopped desertion, the elimination of Grand Divisions, the removal of weak or incompetent officers, and the bad reform of dividing artillery. All the while, Hooker was making a grand plan to whip Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. On the Southern side, Lee embarassed the Union at the battle of Fredericksburg. Gen. Longstreet, however, saw that the army needed supplies and set out with Hood and Pickett's divisions to besiege Suffolk in order to get these supplies on Apr. 4. On Apr. 27, Hooker's plan rolled into action as the Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelth Corps began their long turning movement and the majority of the calvary began its deep south raid. The plan continued on Apr. 28 and 29 with the long turning movement continued, the Second and Third Corps begining a small turning movement, and the Sixth and First Corps seizing a bridgehead on the Rppahannock. Leaving Early's division to guard Marye's Heights, Lee and Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson moved with the rest of the army to intercept the Union's Fifth, Twelth, Eleventh, and Second Corps on May 1. Mr. Sears excelently describes the confused fighting on May 1 as the two armies stumbled upon each other in the Wilderness. During the night, Lee and Jackson met to discuss the situation. Jackson volunteered to make a twelve-mile march around the Union army to attack its exposed left flank with the Rodes, Colston, and A.P. Hill's divisions on May 2. Throughout May 2, Hooker gathered all but the Sixth Corps to meet any attack while Jackson made his march. At 5:30 pm, Jackson's troops charged out from the woods and threw the 11th Corps into disorder. However, that night Jackson was severely wounded by friendly fire and A.P. Hill was hit by canister shortly after taking charge. Wisely, Hill sought out Jeb Stuart to take command. May 3 became the decisive day of the battle as Jeb Stuart rutlessly attacked the Union army in order to reunite his force with the main army and succeded. Sedgwick's Sixth Corps also attacked and captured Marye's Heights and entered the Wilderness. Quick action by McClaw's division saved Lee from a rear assault. On May 4, Lee shifted the bulk of his army to attacked and destroy the Sixth Corps but failed. In the end, Hooker lost his nerve and retreated back across the Rapidan, his plan in shambles. All of these actions are vividly depicted by Sears as if you're actually there. All in all, this is the book to get if you want to learn more about the Hooker era in the Army of the Potomac. |
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