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Battle Of Chancellorsville Essay

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SUBJECT:
The Battle of Chancellorsville, fought from April 30 through May 6, 1863 was a monumental battle on many different levels. The battle which took place in Chancellorsville, VA, in Spotsylvania County, located west of Fredericksburg, near the Rappahannock River, resulted in a Confederate victory that stopped an attempted flanking by Major General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac against General Robert E. Lee Army of Northern Virginia.
WHAT WAS SUPPOSE TO HAPPEN
By the spring of 1863, after the terrible defeat at Fredericksburg, the Union was ready to settle political differences. Lincoln, commanded his generals to destroy the Confederate army. It was never that easy; while the Union had far greater numbers, the Confederacy had greater …show more content…

The infantry did march upstream and the remaining Union contingency did cross the river at Fredericksburg. At this point, Lee should have retreated to escape Hooker’s much larger army that was threatening to encircle them. Lee refused to relent and, instead, met the Union advance full force. Lee split his army to go in three different directions to halt the Union offensive. Lee left only 10,000 men in the Fredericksburg area at a little road junction called Chancellorsville. The rest went west to clash with Hooker’s columns that were slowly descending upon them. Meanwhile, Hooker’s massive army was moving in the opposite direction to meet Lee’s forces, however, Hooker decided to stop at Chancellorsville instead of pushing on until they reached the Confederates. This delay gave Jackson the opportunity he was looking for. Along with two other Confederate divisions, Jackson attacked the stalled Union army and, though they had fewer weapons, they had more fighting spirit. Hooker ordered his Generals to retreat into the woods and form a defensive position. He thought it best to wait for the Confederates to attack them at the location of his

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