Battle Of Chancellorsville Essay

The Battle of Chancellorsville lasted for 7 days from April 30 - May 6, 1863. Fought in the Wilderness region of Virginia, Chancellorsville was General Robert E. Lee’s greatest defensive victory, an outstanding example of command partnership and the misuse of strategic initiative. On April 30, Lee found 80,000 enemy troops behind him, thanks to a brilliantly executed march and river crossing by Union major general Joseph Hooker, who proclaimed Lee could either “ingloriously fly” or give “battle on our ground.” Unnerved by sharp counterattacks delivered by the outnumbered Confederate rear guard, Hooker squandered his advantage by halting to erect defenses near the Chancellor farm. Early on the morning of May 2, having heard of Union troop movement,

Around 5 P.M. Jackson released his troops on the right flank. While screaming the “Rebel Yell,” Jackson and his troops devastated the Union 11th corps and pushed them back for 2 miles, however, the feeling of victory was short lived. Stonewall Jackson fell mortally wounded when his own men opened fire on him while he and his fellow leaders of the corps returned from a recon mission to reorganise his troops and find the Union lines because they thought it was a Union charge. The skirmishes and games of wits of the first two days gave way to a huge slugging match on May 3rd on 3 sides of the Chancellorsville intersection. General Hooker abandoned a key position in a move of naϊveness while the Confederate artillery bombarded the surrounding area from a high-ground position. General Hooker was knocked unconscious when an artillery round hit a pillar that he was leaning on and almost killed him, which most of the veteran corps commanders wished upon their general so they could unleash their forces in an onslaught against the confederates. By mid-morning, Southern infantry broke through the last line of resistance and united in the Chancellorsville