March the Union Army of the pomac under the command of Major General Joseph Hooker was recovering from the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 hooker known for his aggressiveness and reformist approach was tasked with revitalizing a demoralized army he successfully reorganized the Army improved Soldier morale and planned an vicious campaign to outflank Lee's army of Northern Virginia hooker's plan involved a multi-pronged approach he intended to send a significant portion of his Force to cross the rapan and Rapidan rivers west of Frederickburg aiming to cut off Le supply lines and force him into an open battle concurrently a smaller Force Under General John segwick was to engage Le's forces at fredburg preventing them from reinforcing their main body on the Confederate side General Robert elely faced significant challenges his army although Victorious at Frederickburg was outnumbered under supplied and facing a union Force invigorated by new leadership however Le's audacity and tactical Ingenuity were his greatest Assets in the face of hooker's offensive Lee planned to use the dense Wilderness of the region known as the Wilderness of span syania to neutralize the numerical superiority of the Union forces [Music] by the time of the battle the army of the pomac commanded by General Joseph Hooker had 133,134 men and 413 guns General Robert Lee's army of Northern Virginia fielded 6,298 men and 220 guns on April 27th the initial Three core of the army of the pomac began their March under the leadership of slaka they they began to concentrate on April 30th around the Hamlet of Chancellorsville which was little more than a single large Brick Mansion at the junction of the orange Turnpike and orange Plank Road hooker arrived late in the afternoon on April 30th and made the Mansion his headquarters pleased with the success of the operation so far and realizing that the Confederates were not vigorously opposing the river crossing hooker ordered sickles to begin the movement of the third Corp from Falmouth the night of April 30th by May 1st hooker had approximately 70,000 men concentrated in and around Chancellorsville the federals had encountered virtually no opposition to this point hooker however decided to Halt at Chancellorsville and await the arrival of additional Union troops this fateful decision disheartened the federal officers on the scene who recognized the urgency of maintaining the momentum they had thus far sustained Confederate Commander Stonewall Jackson left the Fredericksburg lines in the early morning of May 1st he arrived at Z Church 5 hours later there he found two divisions of Confederate infantry under the command of Major General Richard H Anderson and Major General Lafayette mclaw who were fortifying a prominent Ridge covering the turnpike and Plank Road although his core had not yet appeared Jackson ordered Anderson and mcla to drop their shovels pick up their rifles and advance to the attack Jackson's audacity was a key factor that dictated the shape of the battle of Chancellorsville hooker finally authorized an Eastward movement late in the morning of May 1st these troops on the turnpike can Plank Road engaged with the [Applause] Confederates Union Frontline commanders had not expected this kind of resistance they sent anxious messages to Hooker who quickly ordered his generals to fall back to the Wilderness and assume a defensive posture late in the day the union built entrenchments in circling hooker's Chancellorsville headquarters and Major General Darius couch approached his Superior as the Army senior core Commander couch had advocated an offensive strategy and shared his comrades opinions which were similar to his it is all right couch hooker reassured him I have got Lee just where I want him he must fight me on my own ground Confederate Scouts verified the federals strong positions extending from the rapan river around Chancellorsville to the high open ground at Hazel Grove the southern Army could not afford a costly frontal attack against prepared fortifications later that night Lee's Cavalry Chief Jeb Stewart brought decisive intelligence the Union right flank was completely exposed from that moment on the generals thought of nothing but how to gain access to hooker's vulnerable flank Before Dawn Lee and Jackson studied a hastily drawn map and decided to undertake one of the biggest campal in American military history Jackson's core about 30,000 troops would follow a series of country roads and woods paths to reach the exposed Union right Le with the remaining 14,000 infantry would occupy a position more than 3 Mi long and divert hooker's attention during Jackson's flanking move once in position Jackson would smash the federals with his full strength while Lee would hold his position the army of Northern Virginia would thus be fractured into three pieces counting ear's contingent at Frederickburg any one of which might be subject to route or Annihilation if the union resumed the offensive Jackson LED his column past the bivwak early on the morning of May 2nd he conferred briefly with Lee then trotted down the Furnace Road with the fire of battle kindled in his eyes the federals notified hooker of the enemy movement hooker correctly identified Jackson's maneuver as an effort to reach his right flank he advised the area Commander Major General Oliver Howard to be on the lookout for an attack from the West as the morning progressed however the union Chief grew to believe that Lee was actually withdrawing instead of attempting to flank them in worries about his right disappeared instead he ordered his third core to harass the tail end of Le's retreating Army Major General Daniel sickles commanded the third Corp in mid-afternoon the union attacked Jackson's rear guard in an area along an unfinished Railroad the union successfully overwhelmed these Confederate troops capturing nearly an entire Georgia regimen this engagement had attracted a large number of Union troops from elsewhere thus effectively isolating Howard's 11th core on the right with no nearby support meanwhile the bulk of Jackson's column marked along Uncharted Trails Jackson continued to make hooker think that the Confederates were retreating by turning away from the union line on two occasions the exhausting March which altogether traversed more than 12 mil ended about 3:00 p.m. when Jackson's troops began to ploying into battle lines asri the turnpik the all inspiring Confederate front measured nearly 2 mi across although individual Northern officers and Men warned of Jackson's approach the union 11th Corp headquarters dismissed the reports as frightened exaggerations hooker's shortage of Cavalry hampered the Federal's ability to penetrate the Wilderness and uncover the Confederate presence with certainty only two small regiments and half a New York Battery faced West in the direction of Jackson's Corp Jackson's core erupted from the trees and charged at the union troops [Applause] along the road it was pandemonia recalled a Massachusetts Soldier and on the side of the road it was chaos [Applause] most of Howard's men fought Gravely drawing three additional battle lines across Jackson's pack but the overmatched union troops occupied an inable position the screaming gray Legions overwhelmed each Union stand and eventually drove the 11th core completely from the field the increasing disorganization of Jackson's men forced Jackson to call a reluctant halt to the Advance about 750 he summoned Major General AP Hill's division to the front determined to renew his attack despite the darkness while Hill brought his brigades forward Jackson rode ahead of his men to scout out the position when he attempted to return a North Carolina regiment mistook his small party for Union caval Jackson was shot and wounded and he succumbed to his injuries 8 Days Later despite his Misfortune on May 2nd hooker still held the advantage at Chancellorsville he was still able to take out each part of the Confederate Army if he went on the aggressive he received reinforcements during the night and the third Corp moved back from Catharine furnace to reoccupy Hazel grow the Confederate commanders understood the need to connect their divisions and Stewart prepared an allout assault against Hazel Grove at dawn as the Southerners approached the far crest of Hazel Grove they witnessed sickle's men retiring in an orderly fashion hucker had directed that his troops surrender the key ground and fall back to fairw the Confederates immediately exploited the opportunity by placing 31 cannons on Hazel Grove combined with artillery located west along the turnpike the Gunners at Hazel Grove pounded Fairview with a spectacular bombardment the federals responded with 34 pieces of their own the bloodiest fighting of the battle occurred between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. on May 3rd the Confederates launched Brigade after Brigade against entrenched Union lines on both sides of the turn pack the back and forth fighting began to favor the sers as one by one Union artillery pieces dropped out of the contest hooker failed to resupply his Cannon Wars with ammunition or shift sufficient infantry reserves to critical eror a Confederate projectile hit a pillar at Chancellor's Ville throwing the union Commander violently to the ground the impact stunned hooker physically removing him from a battle the Confederates pressed forward first to fair and then against the remaining Union units at Chancellor's Ville Lee's Wing Advanced simultaneously from the south and east Lee was cheered on by his men who recognized him as the architect of their improbable Victory the southern Commander wasted little time on reflection he prepared to pursue hooker and seal the success achieved since Dawn however a courier bearing news from Fredericksburg shattered Lee's plans the the union had pressed forward at Fredericksburg and now threatened the Confederate rear this changed everything Le assigned Stuart to watch hooker's host and sent mclaw Eastward to deal with the Union Menace the Confederates who retreated from Frederickburg met up with the Confederates under the command of mclaw 4 miles west of town at Salem Church a union attacked this Confederate position [Applause] however a Confederate Counterattack drove them back ending the day's [Music] combat [Applause] the next da shoved the union back across the Rapa hanock at Banks Fort and once again focused on the main Union Army in the wilderness hooker however had seen enough despite the objections of most of his core commanders he ordered a withdrawal across the river the union troops conducted their Retreat under cover of darkness and arrived back in Stafford County on May 6th the union had been defeated but not decisively enough to end the war some 40,000 federals had done no fighting whatsoever the union suffered more than 177,000 casualties and the Confederates suffered 13,000 casual Le's Triumph at Chancellorsville imbued him with the belief that his army was invincible he convinced the Richmond government to endorse his proposed offensive into Pennsylvania within 6 weeks the army of Northern Virginia confidently embarked on a journey northward to a place called gettsburg
