User:The Duckster

Lee’s masterpiece: The Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-6,1863 This May is the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Chancellorsville. It is considered the best battle Lee ever fought. To this day it is still studied and analyzed by military scientists. In the face of a much larger enemy, Lee used unusual tactics to find a path to victory. In the battle, Lee’s opponent was General Joseph Hooker. Hooker was a republican who had a strong hatred for the Confederacy. Hooker said, “May god have mercy for General Lee, for I shall have none.” Hookers boast was understandable. At the start of the battle, Hooker had 134,000 men while Lee only had only 62,000 men. Hooker was expected to win. Hooker’s objective was to divide his army against his much smaller opponent. On May first, Hooker took three corps to flank Lee. He left his other three corps to keep Lee busy at Fredericksburg and his attention away from Hooker’s flanking movement. As Hooker’s troops moved to seal off all of Lee’s escape routes, they were given little resistance. Lee sent General Early with 12,000 men to hold the Union troops at bay at Fredericksburg while he and General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson took the rest of the army to battle Hooker at Orange Plank Road. Hooker sent several divisions to slow Lee but was surprised by the success of the smaller Confederate forces resistance. Hooker lost his nerve and withdrew his two forward corps back to Chancellorsville. On May second, Confederate scouts found that the Union right flank was open, so Lee took 33,000 men to battle the unprotected Union army. Lee only kept 14,000 men at Chancellorsville to protect against a possible attack from Hooker. Hooker had actually seen the Confederate flanking movement but had thought it was a retreat. Union scouts had seen Confederate forces massing in the wilderness but Union General Howard, one of Hooker’s officers, dismissed the scouts assessment of the potential threat. Just before nightfall, Lee attacked the 8,500 Union soldiers on the right flank with his Confederate army. The Union soldiers were shocked by the surprise attack. The only reason much of the Union army got away was because Brigadier General Carl Schurz (another of Hooker’s officers) and the Third German Division’s stand at the Wilderness Church bought time for the other Union troops. On May third Confederate artillery started a devastating barrage of fire on the Union forces occupying the clearings of Fairview and Chancellorsville. The Confederate infantry also attacked the Union troops who were weakly fortified in the woods to the North and South of Fairview. Hooker, who could have committed two of his units who were in reserve, into battle against Lee’s smaller 12,000 men at Chancellorsville, missed the opportunity and instead he simply retreated. The Battle of Chancellorsville was a glorious victory for Lee and the Confederacy. However, they lost one of Lee’s best commanders, Stonewall Jackson, to friendly fire. This would prove to be a huge loss for the South later in the war.