Many sources consider the Battle of Chancellorsville to be one of confederate army’s greatest victories over the union army. The battle unfolded with the confederate army of Northern Virginia dividing in two separate forces and successfully defeating Hooker’s Army of the Potomac, nearly twice its size. General Robert E. Lee was able to surprise General Hooker by the risky split of his forces, and although Hooker still held numerical superiority, he failed to use it to his advantage. Hooker, instead, fell back to establish defensive positions in attempt to gain a tactical advantage. When Lee once again split his forces and attacked, Hooker was forced to retreat back across the Rappahannock River.
General Hooker’s commanders’ activity can be analyzed to help better understand why he made the decisions he made, retreating to a defensive posture and failing to use his numbers to his advantage to attack or conduct a successful counter attack. It is important to first understand how Commanders drive the operations
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They seek to understand the operational environment and the problem, direct forces and war fighting functions throughout preparation and execution. As a very broad aspect to consider, the leadership of General Hooker was by no means lacking, but his execution and understanding of his own forces was minimal. Many critics have said that Hooker had no real intention of entering into a decisive battle with the Army of Northern Virginia during his first major action as the Commander of the Army of the Potomac. The main force behind Hooker’s hesitation was pressure from President Lincoln, who remained disturbed by the lack of Union progress and by his inability to make decisions resulting in successful campaigns. This shaped Hooker’s perspective and lead him to attempt to minimize all possible risks in developing the plans in order to establish himself as a worthy