Chancellorsville
Civil War Virginia

American Civil War
April 30-May 6, 1863

On April 27, General Joseph Hooker led the V, IX, and XII Corps on a campaign to turn the Confederate left flank by crossing the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers above Fredericksburg. Passing the Rapidan via Germanna and Ely's Fords, the Federals concentrated near Chancellorsville on April 30 and May 1. The III Corps was ordered to join the army via United States Ford. Sedgwick's VI Corps and Gibbon's division remained to demonstrate against the Confederates at Fredericksburg.

In the meantime, Lee left a covering force under General Jubal Early in Fredericksburg and marched with the rest of the army to confront the Federals. As Hooker's army moved toward Fredericksburg on the Orange Turnpike, they encountered increasing Confederate resistance. Hearing reports of overwhelming Confederate force, Hooker ordered his army to suspend the advance and to concentrate again at Chancellorsville.

Pressed closely by Lee's advance, Hooker adopted a defensive posture, thus giving Lee the initiative.  On the morning of May 2, Lieutenant General T.J. Jackson directed his corps on a march against the Federal left flank, which was reported to be  "hanging in the air." Fighting was sporadic on other portions of the field throughout the day, as Jackson's column reached its jump-off point.

At 5:20 pm, Jackson's line surged forward in an overwhelming attack that crushed the Union XI Corps. Federal troops rallied, resisted the advance, and counterattacked. Disorganization on both sides and darkness ended the fighting. While making a night reconnaissance, Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men and carried from the field.

J.E.B. Stuart took temporary command of Jackson's Corps. On May 3, the Confederates attacked with both wings of the army and massed their artillery at Hazel Grove. This finally broke the Federal line at Chancellorsville. Hooker withdrew a mile and entrenched in a defensive "U" with his back to the river at United States Ford. Union generals Berry and Whipple and Confederate general Paxton were killed; Stonewall  Jackson was mortally wounded.

On the night of May 5-6, after Union reverses at Salem Church, Hooker recrossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock. This battle was considered by many historians to be Lee's greatest victory.

Result(s): Confederate victory

Location: Spotsylvania County

Campaign: Chancellorsville Campaign (April-May 1863) next battle in campaign Campaigns

Date(s): April 30-May 6, 1863

Principal Commanders: General Joseph Hooker [US]; General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas J. Jackson [CS]

Forces Engaged: 154,734 total (US 97,382; CS 57,352)

Estimated Casualties: 24,000 total (US 14,000; CS 10,000)


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A. By late in the day of April 30, Genreal Joseph Hooker had moved his army from north of Fredericksburg west across the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers to Chancellorsville. General Robert E. Lee's army had been flanked. Hooker would have 73,000 men in position by May 1.

B. General Lee's force at Fredericksburg consisted of 60,000 men. He left 10,000 there, under General Jubal Early, and on May 1 moved 50,000 west to meet Hooker. Lieut. General Thomas Jackson's corps attacked the Union force but the fighting was not decisive. Hooker, however, withdrew his troops to around Chancellorsville for the night.

C. On May 2 Lee divided his army at Chancellorsville with Jackson taking 26,000 men on a fourteen mile march west and north to hit the Federal right flank. Splitting his force was a big gamble and defied tactical rules. Lee had only 17,000-20,000 men remaining to face Hooker's 73,000 man army. Jackson attacked General Howard's Federal troops causing them to retreat two miles east. Darkness stopped the Confederate pursuit. Jackson was shot by mistake by men of the 18th North Carolina. General Stuart assumed command of Jackson's troops.

 
 

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This book is an abridgement of the original three-volume version (the footnotes have been taken out). It is an incredibly well written book. It is a history of the army of Northern Virginia from the first shot fired to the surrender at Appomattox - but what makes this book unique is that it is a biography of around 150 Confederate officers. The book discusses in depth all the tradeoffs that were being made politically and militarily by the South. The book does an excellent job describing the battles, then at a critical decision point in the battle, the book focuses on an officer - the book stops and tells the biography of that person, and then goes back to the battle and tells what information the officer had at that point and the decision he made. At the end of the battle, the officers decisions are critiqued based on what he could have known and what he should have known given his experience, and that is compared with 20/20 hindsight.
Following the debacle of the battle of Fredricksburg in December 1862, Burnside was replaced as commander of the Army of the Potomac by General Joseph Hooker. Having reorganised the army and improved morale, he planned an attack that would take his army to Richmond and end the war. Although faced by an army twice his size, the Confederate commander Robert E. Lee split his forces: Jubal Early was left to hold off Sedgwick's Fredericksburg attack, and 'Stonewall' Jackson was sent with 26,000 men in a wide envelopment around Hooker's right flank. This title details how at dusk on May 2, Jackson's men crashed into the Federal right flank, and how stiffening Federal resistance slowed the Confederate advance the next day.
As equally matched in skill as they were opposite in personality, the brash Union General Joseph Hooker boasted of a sure defeat of the reserved General Robert E. Lee. "I've got Robert E. Lee right where I want him, and even God Himself cannot stop me from destroying him," Boasted Hooker. Yet the battle of Chancellorsville stands as Lee's greatest triumph. The story of the two generals has never been explored at it is here. "Fighting Joe" Hooker was brilliant, but also profane, bombastic, and his army so undisciplined that their pursuit of camp "followers" spawned the modern euphemism for prostitute. Robert E. Lee, equally gifted was known as the definitive devout, self-controlled Southern gentleman, leading an army that was exhausted, underfed, and outmanned. Chancellorsville stands not just as a pivotal battle of the Civil War but as the personal war between two warriors - stalking, striking, and counter-striking their way to ultimate victory or defeat.
Frank O'Reilly's insightful, twenty-one page introduction to Augustus C. Hamlin's rare 1896 work, originally entitled The Battle of Chancellorsvile: The Attack of Stonewall Jackson..., gives it the status of a classic. The following two paragraphs are taken directly from O'Reilly's opening introduction: In the early morning of May 2, 1863, a small cavalcade of Federal horsemen galloped out the Orange Plank Road. At the head of the group, "...with the air of a king, very red in the face, but holding his big fat body very erect," rode the commander of the Army of the Potomac, General Joseph Hooker. Close behind him cantered the one-arm nascent leader of the Union Eleventh Corps, Major General Oliver Otis Howard. Merry staff officers bantered and teased while the generals glanced over their defenses. After a short look, Hooker voiced his satisfaction with the Eleventh Corps position and returned to Chancellorsville to consummate his mysterious plans for victory over Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Nine hours later, the soldiers of the Eleventh Corps sat stoically manning their trenches or cooking dinner and listening to the sweet refrains of musicians in the distance.

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