The Battle of Chancellorsville

throughout the winter of 1862 the union and confederate armies in northern virginia shivered in camps on opposite banks of the rappahannock river to relieve the boredom bans from the two armies would occasionally serenade the troops their notes floating on the cold winds that blew across the river the soldiers who in december had tried with such success to slaughter each other now called out their musical requests across the water home sweet home was reportedly the favorite of both sides [Music] the confederates were hungry and poorly clothed but it had been a particularly awful winter for union soldiers of the army of the potomac just before christmas they had endured a terrible defeat at fredericksburg [Music] since the new year the army had huddled in crewed huts on the north bank of the rappahannock equidistant between washington and richmond in addition to musical requests rebel pickets shouted taunts across the river to torment the yankees they had now licked so many times [Music] it had been a snowy and cold winter the union troops already dispirited from defeat now endured sickness dysentery and typhoid invaded the yankee camps over ten thousand men were reported sick on any day and only a fraction of the food and supplies authorized was reaching the men but food and sickness were perhaps not the greatest of this army's miseries the union army was devastated in the wake of the fredericksburg fiasco of december 1862. morale had collapsed in the union army desertion had gone way up in fact 25 000 soldiers were missing from the ranks in the course of just a few months morale was so poor that more than 200 men were deserting the federal army every day enlistments of many would soon be expiring and there was little hope they would stay [Music] to improve morale and remove the stain of fredericksburg from his record the army's commander ambrose burnside decided to attempt a new offensive to dislodge robert e lee on january 21st the army began marching out of the camps to cross the rabbihanic [Music] by the end of the first day the rain began to fall by the following morning it was coming in torrance and roads dissolved into nightmares of mud the rain would continue for four days washing away burnside's hopes for success he got his army strung out on the virginia roads and down came a downpour and the roads turned into quagmires and they told stories about horses and mules disappearing till only their ears showed and then nothing and this became known derisively as the mud march and it was an abject fiasco not at the hands of the confederates but at the hands of the elements and the muddy roads of virginia in the middle of january and that was burnside's last gasp within days the union army slogged back into its miserable camps with yet another failure to report to their president [Music] abraham lincoln had been desperate for good news that winter the series of defeats during these first two years of the war had brought increasing pressure to end the dying either with victory or a treaty he was getting tremendous criticism from people in congress especially the copperheads about how the war had dragged out with very little return on the effort that the union army had put in and he was hard-pressed to give an explanation to congress or to the people whose sons and husbands had died about what had been accomplished lincoln was in need of a general who could win in virginia for the fifth time in this war he reached out for a new commander his choice now would be major general joseph e hooker a newspaper reporter had once telegraphed a story with the headline fighting dash joe hooker the newspaper's editor removed the dash and fighting joe hooker got a new nickname he certainly looked the role of a hero standing six feet tall with blue eyes and a clean-shaven face which set him apart from his bearded contemporaries as a division and core commander in 1862 hooker had lived up to his nickname on the peninsula at second bull run and antietam where he was wounded fighting joe could be seen on a big white stallion leading his men into battle he was reported to be a drinker and had campaigned shamelessly for the commanding general's job but his heir of bold confidence and optimism was just what lincoln was in the mood for courage and valor would be required later but during this winter hooker had other skills that would be needed almost as much perhaps the most important thing he brought to the army at least before the battles began was a genius almost for organization and he revolutionized the staff department's quartermaster commissary medical pay he brought the army into into the modern world and made sure that the troops were supported the way they should be he saw to it that the medical corps got the supplies it needed that the men received the medical attention he got them fed he got them clothed he got them paid and all of those things make people more inclined to function the way they're supposed to hooker ordered fresh bread be baked for the troops four times a week fresh vegetables would be provided twice a week and if commissary officers said they didn't have supplies on hand they had to submit proof furloughs were arranged for the troops sanitation rules were enforced and gradually the camps became cleaner now if i was a private and knowing my own experience in the united states marine corps i would have been enthused with general hooker general hooker looks like a general so he has a persona that would appeal to the rank and file of the enlisted man hooker reorganized the union cavalry into an effective fighting force and for the first time the union army had a reliable intelligence branch thanks to hooker's organizational skills [Music] he even gave each corps in the army its own distinctive insignia a small thing but it did wonders for unit morale little by little the army of the potomac was regaining its belief in itself [Music] general hooker has now a fine army and discipline he has overhauled all departments and made many useful and efficient changes our camps were never so clean and the food better he has our thanks for that if nothing else private alfred davenport fifth new york [Music] the confederates too were suffering this winter each soldier was authorized only 18 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of bacon per day when they could get it men were encouraged to hunt for wild onions and garlic to replace the vegetables they never received a louisiana officer wrote that 400 of his 1500 men had no shoes men on guard wrapped on tan cowhides around their feet as protection but morale was not a problem for lee's army they had great faith in their leaders and believed from experience that they could whip any yankee army which came their way at last spring arrived in northern virginia and the dreadful winter was over for both sides [Music] now it was time for hooker to do more than organize lincoln had picked him to fight and it was time to use the grand army he commanded he set about to make a plan [Music] the army of northern virginia commanded at least 50 miles of the rappahannock river but its center remained at the december battlefield at fredericksburg to get at lee's army hooker planned to send his cavalry south to cutley's supply lines he would then use one core to convince lee he was attacking his center while the remainder of the army would march far upstream they would then cross the rappahannock and its tributary the rapidan hopefully without being noticed once across they would come up behind lee's rear it was a daring but difficult plan on april 28 1863 the federal troops began the attack national park service historian frank o'reilly visits one of the spots where hooker's men crossed the rappahannock so joseph hooker crossed at the u.s ford here and at other fords to turn the confederates backwards union troops wound up having to wade through many of the fords the river was higher at that time it was difficult footing it was hard for these men to move many of them in fact were washed downstream at some of the fords at this point at u.s ford the union army placed a pontoon bridge just to ensure that their rapid movement would not be interrupted the march of the army of the potomac was probably one of the most daring maneuvers of the entire war just hooker's plan was to drive robert e lee away from the rappahannock river and move on to richmond his hope was by turning robert e lee off of his river defenses that he would be able to chase down the confederate army in the open and bring it to battle with his much larger union force and hopefully destroy it hooker certainly sounded confident i have the finest army the sun ever shone on i can march this army to new orleans my plans are perfect god have mercy on general lee for i shall have none if the enemy does not run god helps him joseph hooker often let his mouth get away from him and he would say a number of injudicious things lincoln with better insight said that it would be best for the hen to lay the eggs first before she cackles [Music] for the moment at least tucker's confidence was justified by april 30th with skillful planning and leadership he had taken five core over 70 thousand men on a forced march crossed two reigns swollen rivers and moved up behind the confederate army he did indeed have robert e lee exactly where he wanted him now it was time to spring the trap [Music] after crossing the rappahannock hooker set up his headquarters in a large house owned by a family named chancellor the house had been an inn before the war and although there were no other homes nearby the intersection was called chancellorsville [Music] the house was in the midst of 70 square miles of scrub brush and second growth timber known locally as the wilderness this was not the kind of terrain to best utilize the army of the potomac's considerable advantages of men and artillery so the federals started east out of the wilderness toward their goal [Music] on the morning of the first day of the battle the first day of may also of 1863 as hooker pushed east from the chancellorsville intersection on three parallel roads he was in great shape george mead who'd been one of the officers who did not like hooker was prompted to say hurrah for old joe we're behind lee and lee doesn't know it on may 1st after hooker's brilliant opening move he and his officers were celebrating at the chancellorsville house thinking that everything had worked out beautifully and lee was going to retreat all the way to richmond his only job would be where to cut him off [Music] as word reached lee that the yankees were coming up behind him in force he realized that hooker had him in a very dangerous position he was faced with a tremendous conundrum how to respond he was outnumbered here more than he was outnumbered anytime during the war until the last few days last couple of weeks about two and a third to one huge odds against him here lee was missing almost a quarter of his infantry lieutenant general james longstreet and almost half of his corps had been sent south of richmond to confront union attacks there and to search for forage for the army's horses and food for its men under conventional rules of war the odds lee faced should have forced him to immediately pull his army back towards richmond retreat is exactly what hooker had assumed lee would do but robert e lee was not given to doing what his opponents expected him to do instead of retreating he decided to gamble everything badly outnumbered he would split his army he would leave ten thousand men under general jubal early at fredericksburg and hope that the opposing federal force there didn't notice how thin this line was and attack the remainder of his army under stonewall jackson would march west to confront hooker jackson had been ordered simply to make arrangements to repulse the enemy another general would probably have simply built some earthworks and waited for the yankees but jackson proceeded to use his men as if he had the numerical advantage the mouse was about to attack the cat as his troops marched toward what they thought would be victory it was the last thing hooker was expecting and as they pushed east with all the advantage of numbers and position things were looking very very good for him but the turning point in this campaign the decisive moment in this campaign came before too many muskets had been discharged the lead division of federals advancing under major general george sikes bumped into jackson's men but instead of running jackson began a stiff fight the situation was certainly in the union army's favor but sikes called back for reinforcements now instead of simply pushing more men forward hooker suddenly incredibly ordered all of his core commanders to break off the advance and return to a defensive position around chancellorsville no battlefield decision of the war would have greater consequences some of his generals were enraged by this they couldn't believe it and ever since people have wondered why hooker did this he had such an advantage he had the initiative and he stopped and turned it over hooker gave up all the advantages that his clever plan his ardent determined execution had won for him he allowed himself to be turned around and pushed right back into the wilderness where his numbers didn't matter so much [Music] hooker was quickly discovering that commanding an army was more complex than simply leading them into battle as he had done with a division and even a core [Music] command meant he constantly had to sift through conflicting requests and advice from his subordinates and the logistical problems of keeping in touch with seven different core commanders was a nightmare worst of all intelligence reports were now telling him that general longstreet would soon arrive from richmond with reinforcements for the confederates were these reports true could he trust them as the moment of battle came nearer confusion and uncertainty set in and it is probable that hooker's self-confidence simply deserted him [Music] at the time when he collided his troops collided with jackson on the way from chancellorsville i think that in his mind hooker collided with robert e lee and he couldn't handle that hooker tried to put the best face on his decision with typical bombast he told his second in command major general darius couch i have got lee just where i want him the enemy must ingloriously fly or come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground where certain destruction awaits him but couch would later write i retired from his presence with the belief that my commanding general was a whipped man hooker was correct that he did have a strong defensive position he had given up the initiative but now if lee was to attack he would have to do so through the tangled maze of the wilderness the battle of chancellorsville was fought in the wilderness a second group forest with short trees and jungle-like undergrowth as you can see it was difficult for even an individual to push through these woods much less thousands of men and wagons and artillery throughout the war robert e lee would always face overwhelming numbers to counter this he had long ago adopted a strategy of being aggressive rather than defensive attack keep the enemy off balance now he would go after joe hooker's army the only question was where jeb stewart lee's colorful cavalry commander would provide the answer by the night of may 1st the confederates succeeded in seizing the initiative from joe hooker they pushed him back to chancellorsville where hooker was now digging in and so natalie and jackson having the initiative had to decide what to do with it uh obviously they they needed to do something they knew the union cavalry was heading toward their rear and within a matter of days we would be cutting their supplies lee knows he has to move fast he has to find a way to get as he says at these people he's looked at the union left he looked in front and all of a sudden stuart arrived stuart has been out recon ordering he's been out talking to people and he's come with information that the union right is in the air in the air in military parlance meant that a defensive line was not anchored to a river mountain or other natural feature the right end of hooker's line was held by the eleventh corps commanded by major general oliver howard expecting success from the attack to the east howard's line to the west had been allowed simply to end in the woods with no preparation to receive an attack it was vulnerable stewart's report presented lee with a great opportunity well obviously then this was the spot to attack so lee and jackson uh now knowing where to attack they simply had to decide whether it was possible now in order to get their army from the point that was then at over two the unarmy right flank would require them to have a system of roads the roads had to be close enough to the union army so that the confederates could make that march and do it all in a single day and the roads had to be far enough away from the union army so that the march would not be detected [Music] jackson's map maker was sent to talk to local people he soon returned with a hand-drawn sketch of rural back roads which would lead around the front of hooker's army to his right flank virtually all of it would be out of sight of the yankees as the rest of the army slept lee and jackson studied the map by the light of the campfire jackson said he wished to try this route and attack the union right they asked him how many men he would take jackson answered his entire core in other words what jackson is proposing is to take two-thirds of lee's army on this daylight gamble all the way across the front of the union army around to their flank leaving lee with just fifteen thousand men uh to hold back what we now know was upwards of seventy thousand men of joe hooker's army lee had already taken a huge risk in splitting his army now he was considering splitting it again and sending his second in command on a 12-mile march away from the front in the middle of a battle if his army was attacked along the march jackson could not easily deploy his infantry or use his cannon effectively on the narrow back roads lee himself would be virtually defenseless what lee contemplated now could mean disaster for his army and for the confederacy lee had great confidence in his soldiers they had outmarched and outfought a numerically superior enemy for two years he thought for only a moment before he said to jackson will go on these words would set in motion one of the greatest gambles in military history lee was the quintessentially aggressive soldier his persona is almost grand as we look at him in the illustrations handsome and dignified and quiet and almost aloof looking but beneath there was the spirit of a riverboat gambler and so he was willing to do this kind of thing when driven to it more than any other officer in the war and jackson obviously was the perfect foil for this the perfect executive officer to carry out a daring notion like this jackson had hoped to get underway by 4 am but the sun was up by the time the lead units took to the road [Music] at 8 am jackson's forces left their camps and proceeded along this road however the road in 1863 didn't look then as it does today it looked much more like this small woodland road it was barely wide enough for one wagon to pass through and yet over this small path jackson's forces had to move thirty thousand men uh dozens of ambulances and wagons and more than a hundred pieces of artillery it was quite an undertaking we're rolling along on the route that stonewall jackson's second core took on its famous flank march here at chancellorsville in a column eight miles long which stretched out to about 12 miles when you include all of the support trains so if you count in the trains the 12 miles is almost the total distance of the march so by the time the first infantry detachment got where it was going you've got the trains are just leaving the the starting point [Applause] jackson had hoped to escape detection but with such a large force it wasn't long before his column was spotted the key to jackson's flank march was surprise and yet surprise was the very first thing that was lost here on may 2nd as jackson's forces moved past this point they were spotted by union forces on hazel grove roughly one mile to my right the trees were much shorter at that time and so it was much easier to see jackson's column then than it is today hooker's forces shell jackson's column forcing the confederate troops to hurry past this point when he heard the enemy was moving hooker thought the confederates were doing exactly what they were doing trying to flank him he claimed that he sent a message to general howard telling him to be prepared for an attack on the right flank howard would say after the battle that he never received such a message but hooker soon changed his mind and convinced himself that lee was retreating this would conform with his original plan for how the confederates would react no matter what the evidence this day hooker would insist that the southern army was leaving the field the center of the union line was commanded by major general dan sickles who now requested permission to attack jackson's column hooker agreed but urged him to be [Music] cautious so although a spirited fight did break out near a local iron furnace sickles attack did little to stop jackson's progress sickle's men did manage to take some prisoners and one of them bragged to his captors you think you've done a big thing just now but y'all just wait until jackson gets around to your rear sadly for the union army no one took the prisoners boast seriously jackson's march continued jackson's men really did love him but they had not at the outset he was not necessarily popular because he exacted so much from them but success breeds such popularity and jackson had been so successful so long that the men really did adore him they came to recognize that it was better to sweat than to bleed it was a perfect day for marching no dust and no mud the temperature would be above 80 so it would be a rugged march but the men were in high spirits they might have sensed that their eccentric commander was again up to something special they were just civilians under arms and they did not have a particularly awe struck view toward their leaders necessarily it was almost obligatory to make fun of the staff as they rode by and if the staffer was young they would shout hey little fellow does your mommy know you're out and if you had a big hat they would yell come out from under the hat i can see you in there your legs were sticking out but jackson's mood was not jovial he was focused and intense as he always was when battle approached he knew his men would have to cover these 12 miles and attack before dark even hooker would not give them another day jackson rode along the line of marching men telling them press forward press on press on he urged his officers to keep the men moving if you leave lewis run you only cross one watercourse and there have to post provosts there to keep the men from hauling and filling canteens because as the column goes jackson can see that sun beginning to pass the zenith and start moving toward the west by three o'clock the head of the column reached the orange turnpike and began to move into position but it would take another two hours for the entire core to arrive at the point of the attack unaware of the danger they were in on the very western end of the union line were the men of howard's eleventh corps more than two-thirds of them were german-speaking immigrants or regiments of mixed nationality the german corps as it was inaccurately called was not popular with the rest of the army they had an undistinguished record fighting in the shenandoah valley and they had rejoined the army of the potomac after the battle of fredericksburg so they did not share that bond with the men in other units [Music] the prejudice against the 11th corps before chancellorsville was primarily based on they were foreign in a nutshell that's it they spoke funny they had very heavy accents they had generals who were trained outside of america who had different ways of fighting [Music] now some of these outcast germans were noticing large numbers of confederates moving to the west and south a few of the officers of the 11th tried to alert their superiors [Music] colonel riley sent his lieutenant colonel friend with an urgent message but general devin said he had no such news from core headquarters and did not believe it colonel friend then went to court headquarters where he was laughed at and warned not to spread panic lieutenant hartwell osborne 55th ohio captain hubert dilger a former german officer was almost captured when he stumbled onto a large group of confederates he raced to report to howard's headquarters where he was told to go to hookers there he was ridiculed and refused permission to see the commanding general [Music] by the end of the afternoon the last of jackson's column finally arrived at their destination he does not attack immediately he wants it to be a blow like a sledgehammer and he deploys four brigades of robert rose's north and south of the road the orders to his men were advance and keep advancing do not halt the men were ordered to maintain silence as they moved to their places through the dense brush they slowly spread out into three battle lines each stretching over two miles in length less than half a mile ahead of them was the end of hooker's line the men of the 11th corps had been poorly prepared by their commanders for what was about to happen some were cooking their evening meal others slept or played cards weapons were stacked in some regiments as evening approached jackson's men were in place the plan had worked all was ready at 5 15 general jackson looked at his watch he turned to the commander of the lead division robert rhodes and asked if he was ready rhodes said he was considering he was about to launch one of the most famous attacks in the history of warfare jackson's words were very simple you may go forward then this is the spot where stonewall jackson's flank attack struck the union 11th court on this ground in may of 1863 was scrubby growth tiny little trees underbrush most of the 11th court troops were camped on this ground right behind me it caught the union soldiers completely by surprise out of the woods came the confederate skirmishers driving before them the animals sort of like beaters on an african safari that many men two miles long pushing through the thickets drove the rabbits and the quail and the turkey and the deer out in front of them through the woods they can see men approaching the cannons open fire boom boom then the rebel yell like a huge wave breaking on a beach 27 000 raging confederates crashed into the camps of the sleepy 11th corps soldiers [Music] the yankees tried to rally and make a stand but their defensive lines collapsed under the assault confusion turned into chaos until the entire 11th corps was swept up in a route to the right or left or in front as far as i could see everything was fleeing in panic it seemed that the whole army had gone to pieces all was lost oh my country can it be sergeant luther masnard 55th ohio howard himself tried to rally his men clutching a flag in the stump of his amputated arm he shouted i'm ruined i'm ruined no one listened and he was swallowed up in the panicked stampede of his core at his headquarters hooker at first could hear nothing of the fight but soon the commanding general was staring in disbelief at throngs of fleeing men and frenzied riderless horses pockets of federals put up heroic fights but only darkness would be able to stop jackson's attack [Applause] this was the culmination of everything a general would strive for he had routed an entire union court based on the brilliance of this one maneuver night fell confederate units had become tangled and confused but even as his attacks sputtered jackson wanted to push on shortly before 8 o'clock the general led his staff unnoticed through the confederate lines to search for roads leading to the river but their way was blocked by federal troops and jackson turned to go back to his lines sometime that night a rider galloped up to jeb stewart lee's invaluable cavalry commander the messenger announced that jackson had been hit and that stewart was now in charge of the second core the general who had only recently turned 30 immediately rode back to the battlefield to pick up the pieces of jackson's command when jeb stewart arrived in the middle of the night to take over command after jackson was wounded it was the first time he had ever taken over command of any infantry unit he wisely put off renewal of the attack until sunday morning the third many people think that the battle after stonewall jackson's flank attack is anticlimactic but most of the battle was yet to be fought may 3rd was going to be a day of frontal assaults where union confederate soldiers would bludgeon themselves literally face to face almost 70 percent of all the casualties occur within a five-hour window from 5 a.m to 10 a.m on may 3rd jackson's attack had severely pushed back the federal right but the attack had not been able to reunite the two wings of lee's army it had also not taken over crucial high ground at a spot called hazel grove which was now covered with union artillery from this spot the cannon would be able to pound stuart and keep him from connecting with lee there was no question at all that as of sunday morning this battle was still hookers to lose by feverishly working all night the federals had constructed formidable lines of defense by cutting trees and piling up underbrush to frustrate infantry attacks but the situation for the yankees on this morning should have called for them to use their massive advantage in numbers by attacking not defending but hooker once again refused to take the offensive instead he sent for help hooker sends uh an urgent plea to study work back at fredericksburg urging cedric to break through the confederate line there and to march out to chancellorsville to attack lee in the rear and this is and if you think about it rather a pathetic scene here a man with 70 to 80 000 men calling on a subordinate with 25 000 men to come to his assistance it really marks uh the change in the battle as far as joe hooker was concerned lee was alarmed that his army remained divided he sent a message to stewart urging him to somehow move to his right so that he could reconnect with the rest of the army hooker meanwhile was going to make stewart's job easier during the night dan sickles the commander of the forces at hazel grove sent a message asking for reinforcements hooker instead ordered sickles to abandon his position and fall back to fortify the main body of the union line it was a serious mistake because the confederates then brought artillery onto this position and were able to fire on the flank of the action as the day moved on the trees weren't nearly the way they are now in those days you could see all the way out to chancellorsville you could see fairview which is the farthest end of this clearing that we see now and and the artillery here could command those positions in spite of the advantage the confederate artillery now had each yard of ground on this day was fought for with ferocious attack and counter-attack by both sides it was some of the heaviest fighting of the war stifling clouds of smoke rolled back over us filled with fragments of bursting shells mangled the bodies of a man the groans of the dying mingled in horrid discord with the winning the wounded beasts and the shrill shouts of those who were continuing the fight captain charles wagon 124th new york the constant shelling this morning started dozens of fires in the tin to dry woods now the wounded had more to fear than their wounds then frantically tried to crawl away from the flames but many perished in the burning forest [Music] stewart was everywhere driving his men on with the words remember jackson and singing a jaunty parody of the old grey mare which went old joe hooker won't you come out of the wilderness with his plumed hat and redlined cape his confidence and bravado helped keep the confederates surging forward against blasts of cannon fire which cut their lines to ribbons lee and stuart at last united now little by little the union lines gave way as they backed up toward hooker's headquarters at the chancellor house but hooker was no longer there sometime during the morning's fight a single cannon shot changed his place in the battle [Music] hooker had been leaning against the pillar of that chancellorsville house a solid shot from a confederate cannon hit the pillar he was leaning against a wooden pillar split it knocked him to the ground after the incident of the pillar being knocked down having a slug of brandy he melted and the serious decisions after that were mostly made by his subordinates hooker would briefly turn the command of the army over to major general couch but only to organize a retreat to new lines north of the chancellor house at last the confederates had swept the field and lee rode toward the house that had been hooker's headquarters only a short time before one long unbroken cheer rose high above the raw of the battle and hailed the presence of the victorious chief i thought that it must have been from such a scene that men in ancient times rose to the dignity of gods major charles marshall aide to general lee it was the supreme moment in lee's life as a soldier but he was allowed little time to savor it [Music] lee's army had now driven the federals from chancellorsville to a series of horseshoe-shaped entrenchments backed up against the river but suddenly word of a new threat was brought to lean a young lieutenant came galloping up from down the river from fredericksburg with news that sedgwick had taken fredericksburg had taken marie's heights behind fredericksburg was on his way up the road toward lee's rear [Music] another point of serious danger for lee john sedgwick and his sixth corps had been left behind at fredericksburg to distract lee but after jackson's flank attack hooker had sent frantic calls for sedgwick to cross the rappahannock attack lee's rear and come to the rescue of the main army cedric was a good soldier and did as ordered lee had left behind only one reinforced division to protect his rear at fredericksburg but many men were behind the stone wall at marie's heights the scene of the army of the potomac's terrible battering in december [Music] just as lee was enjoying his victory at the chancellor's house sedgwick was driving west pushing southern defenders in front of him but lee does not blanch he immediately calls for general anderson and will start him back to salem church and the confederates will hold at salem church lee was confident that hooker was not going to attack for a third time he split his army to deal with sedgwick's threat this historic structure salem church was built in 1844 by its constituents baptists here in spotsylvania county virginia and less than two decades later in may of 1863 it was the focus for the bitter battle of salem church that's the rearguard action where lee's troops coming east from chancellorsville to get in the way of sedgwick's troops coming west from fredericksburg they met here on this hilltop and that church was a confederate fort it was full of wounded it is still riddled with bullet holes lee's quick action had stopped the union advance the following day as hooker's army remained behind their lines sedgwick's men were driven back to the river at midnight on may 4th joseph hooker called his core commanders together for a council of war he asked each of them whether they should stay and fight it out or withdraw across the river the majority wanted to fight but hooker's mind was made up he issued orders to retreat [Music] major general john reynolds angrily muttered to his fellow generals what was the use of calling us all together at this time of night when he intended to retreat anyway lee had been determined to try and destroy hooker's army and was prepared for enormous losses as he attacked the federal entrenchments but when he awoke on the sixth an aide brought him surprising news the union trenches were empty the enemy was gone the battle of chancellorsville was over [Music] 75 plus thousand troops combined with their artillery and their wagons all proceeded down this tiny little country lane that led them to the u.s ford as they headed back toward the river the soldiers of hooker's army must have wondered how things could have changed so much in just seven days most of the union soldiers in the army of the potomac at this point were angry they were frustrated but they were also confused many of the soldiers hadn't even seen action at chancellorsville they hadn't even fired their weapons and now they were compelled to retreat [Music] they might also have said that this battle ended for them on the very first day when fighting joe hooker pulled his forces back and refused to fight offensively [Music] why did hooker fall back into the wilderness i think in a word he didn't have what they used to call moral force today would be certitude character strength of purpose joe hooker when he gets in the wilderness he as he says i guess somewhat correct to president lincoln i guess i just lost confidence in joe hooker it's a problem all union generals except general grant have in the presence of robert e lee they all seem to develop an inferiority complex and lee did live up to his reputation at chancellorsville it was his finest hour his daring boldness here his honoring instinct for making the right decision in critical situations all combined to ensure his place as one of history's great battlefield commanders

Channel: Rebel Rally Point

Views: 187,882

Rating: 4.7838373 out of 5

Keywords: Battle of Chancellorsville, American Civil War, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Confederate, Unknown Civil War, Virginia, Chancellorsville, Civil War, Joseph Hooker, General, General Lee, Fighting Joe, Fighting Joe Hooker

Id: 5P9mk8NUves

Length: 46min 9sec (2769 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 29 2020