The latest installment in my Lunchtime All Hands Civil War series for work, covering the battle of Chancellorsville.

1. The Battle of Chancellorsville
Lee’s Greatest Battle
Lee Hooker

2. What’s gone on in the Civil War?
• Ambrose Burnside resigns as commander of the Army of Potomac
in January 1863, Lincoln accepts the resignation, sends him West.
He’ll be back.
• JOSEPH HOOKER, aka “Fighting Joe” Hooker, a hard-fighting, hard-
drinking Army Regular, had campaigned for the job under Burnside.
He was appointed Army Commander on 26 Jan 63.
• Despite being somewhat controversial for many reasons (including
the origin of the term “Hooker”), Hooker cared about his men, and
greatly improved food, lodgings, sanitary conditions and rebuilt the
Army’s spirit after Fredericksburg and the Mud March.
• One important innovation under Hooker was the reorganization of
the Army of the Potomac into smaller, more flexible Corps level
units, each with their own distinctive Corp badges.
I II V VI XI
Originally intended for better command and control, this simple
innovation created tremendous espirit du corps among the corps of
Army of the Potomac. Men wore their cap badges with pride.
Fact: He also
created the
modern Army’s
System of Bugle
Calls, including
Taps.

3. Hooker’s Plan of Campaign
“A Grand Envelopment”
Leaving MGEN John Sedgewick with 30,000 men at
Fredericksburg, Hooker intended to secretly march
NW with the bulk of the army, then cross the
Rappahannock in Lee's rear. Attacking East as
Sedgwick advanced West, Hooker sought to catch
the Confederates in a large double envelopment.
The plan was to be supported by a large-scale
cavalry raid conducted by MGEN George Stoneman
which was to cut Lee's supply lines and isolate the
Confederates . Moving out on April 26-27, Hooker's
men successfully crossed the river and concentrated
near Chancellorsville.
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 134,000 TROOPS
ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA 61,000 TROOPS*
“May God have mercy on
General Lee, for I will have
none.” – Joe Hooker
* Half of Longstreet’s
First Corps was foraging
In the Southwest of VA

4. Events, First Day
• On April 27, MGEN Joseph Hooker led the V, XI, 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 MGEN 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.
What was that
about “May God
have mercy on my
soul”, again?
And the Cavalry?
Delayed by rivers
running high from
recent rainfall
throwing off the
timetable!

5. May 1, 1863

6. Lee’s Plan in Response
• Lee knew he was badly outnumbered, therefore his
plan was simple– fight in the Wilderness where
terrain gave the ANV an advantage, maintain pressure
on the enemy, and knock him off-balance.
• The night of May 1, General Jackson met with
General Lee, to plan the next day’s action. Even
though they were facing very bad odds, they would
divide their forces, have Lee’s force “fix” the main
body of Hooker’s army, and have Jackson swoop
around to the open flank by 11th Corps, which was
“hanging in the air”.
• Together, they set the plan in motion.

7. Events, Second Day
• After a hard and dusty march on May
2, Jackson's column reached its jumping off
point for their attack upon the
unsuspecting Federal right flank.
• At 5:20 pm, Jackson’s line surged forward
in an overwhelming attack that crushed
the Union Twelfth Corps.
• Federal troops, however, rallied, resisted
the advance, and counterattacked.
Disorganization and darkness ended the
fighting.
• While making a night
reconnaissance, Jackson was shot by his
own troops in the darkness and fell
mortally wounded—Shot by his own men.
This was a serious blow to the Army of
Northern Virginia.
• Major General Jeb Stuart, leader of the
Cavalry Corps of the ANV, stepped into
Jackson’s shoes as temporary commander
of Second Corps for the next day’s
fighting, and did a commendable job
driving the men on to the converging
attack.
Stonewall Jackson

8. May 2, 1863

9. Events, Third Day
• The 3rd of May was a slugging match in the woods on three sides of the
Chancellorsville intersection. Hooker abandoned key ground in a further
display of timidity; Confederate artillery roared from a crucial hilltop.
• When a Confederate artillery round smashed into a pillar against which
Hooker was leaning, the Federal leader spent an unconscious half hour.
His return to semi-sentience disappointed the veteran corps commanders
who had hoped, unencumbered by Hooker, to employ their army's
considerable untapped might.
• By mid-morning, Southern infantry smashed through the final resistance
and united in the Chancellorsville clearing. Their boisterous, well-
earned, celebration did not run long: word came from the direction of
Fredericksburg that a Northern rearguard had broken through and
threatened the rear.
• The May 3 Battle of Salem Church, just west of Fredericksburg, halted the
threat from the east. Lee went to that zone in person to ensure final
success on the 4th, then returned to Chancellorsville to superintend the
corralling of Hooker's defeated army.

10. Events, Onward
• Hooker, from every report of the battle, had lost his nerve. Perhaps it was
the effects of a possible concussion from that near-miss, or perhaps (as
some suspect) he might have had a tot of “nerve-steadier” that day and it
got the better of him, but he gave orders to retreat the Army of the
Potomac across the Rappahannock River from whence it came.
• Hooker re-crossed the Rappahannock River to its left bank, whence he had
come, early on May 6. The campaign had cost him about 18,000
casualties, and his enemy about 13,000. Perhaps the most important
casualty was the death of Stonewall Jackson, the offensive counterpart to
the defensive Longstreet. With Jackson’s death, Longstreet grew in
influence.
• Without a doubt, this was a victory for the Confederacy, and perhaps the
worst loss for the Union. Truly, this was Lee’s most audacious and
successful battle plan of the war, bringing victory from a conflict where the
enemy outnumbered his army two to one.
• What’s next for the Union Army? Once again, regime change.
EXIT, JOE… ENTER, GEORGE…

11. Finis
• "I was not hurt by a shell and I was
not drunk. For once I lost confidence
in Hooker, and that is all there is to
it.“ -- Joseph Hooker*
* May be apocryphal