Battle of Chancellorsville
Lee's risky division of his army yielded a costly Confederate victory.
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The Battle of Chancellorsville, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, was a major engagement of the American Civil War and the central action of the Chancellorsville campaign. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's decision to divide his army in the presence of a larger Union force produced a significant Confederate victory, though it was tempered by heavy casualties including the mortal wounding of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson.
Background
In the Eastern Theater, the Union aimed to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Four major attempts had failed by early 1863: the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, McClellan's Peninsula Campaign turned back during the Seven Days Battles, Pope's defeat at Second Bull Run, and Burnside's failure at Fredericksburg in December 1862. Burnside attempted to purge the army's leadership but lacked authority to do so without congressional approval.
He offered his resignation to President Lincoln, who transferred him to the Western Theater; Burnside's IX Corps was sent to the Virginia Peninsula, prompting the Confederates to detach troops from Lee's army under Longstreet. Lincoln concluded that the proper objective was Lee's army, not geographic features, but threatening Richmond remained the surest way to force a decisive battle. On January 25, 1863, Lincoln appointed Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker to command the Army of the Potomac.
Opposing forces
The Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker numbered 133,868 men with 413 guns. It comprised seven infantry corps: I Corps (Reynolds), II Corps (Couch), III Corps (Sickles), V Corps (Meade), VI Corps (Sedgwick), XI Corps (Howard), and XII Corps (Slocum), plus a Cavalry Corps under Stoneman.
The Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee fielded 60,298 men and 220 guns. Lee's First Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, had most of its divisions detached in southeastern Virginia; only the divisions of McLaws and Anderson were present. The Second Corps under Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson included the divisions of A.P. Hill, Rodes, Early, and Colston.
Battle
Jackson's men began marching west before dawn on May 1. Hooker also ordered his men forward on three roads. The first shots were fired at 11:20 a.m. as the armies collided. McLaws pushed back Sykes's division, which counterattacked and recovered ground.
Anderson sent a brigade under Wright up an unfinished railroad around Slocum's right flank, but Howard's XI Corps was advancing and could deal with it. Sykes's exposed position forced a withdrawal at 2 p.m. behind Hancock's division. Meade's other two divisions made progress toward Banks's Ford. Despite a potentially favorable situation, Hooker halted his offensive, possibly due to lack of confidence or a pre-campaign decision to fight defensively, recalling the Union defeat at Fredericksburg when the army had attacked.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Battle of Chancellorsville (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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