[85], The attack began about 5:30 a.m. supported by the newly installed artillery at Hazel Grove, and by simultaneous attacks by the divisions of Anderson and McLaws from the south and southeast. Meade exclaimed, "My God, if we can't hold the top of the hill, we certainly can't hold the bottom of it!" Stuart to take command, notifying Lee after the fact. In 1927, the rebuilt house was destroyed by fire. 39; Salmon, pp. However, McLaws was reluctant to take any action. He hoped to come up behind Confederate trenches near Fredericksburg and catch the enemy by surprise. Respectfully, T.J. Jackson.” Jackson's attack was the turning point of the battle. 35–36; Gallagher, pp. Hooker’s gambit was outdone by General Robert E. Lee’s quick thinking.

He rode out onto the Plank Road that night to determine the feasibility of a night attack by the light of the full moon, traveling beyond the farthest advance of his men. Lee then undertook a second invasion of the North. There were three primary roads available for this west-to-east movement: the Orange Plank Road, the Orange Turnpike, and the River Road. He sat in the full realization of all that soldiers dream of—triumph; and as I looked at him in the complete fruition of the success which his genius, courage, and confidence in his army had won, I thought that it must have been from some such scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of gods.

Immediately following the vote, the Civil War Trust and other Coalition members began working to acquire the battlefield. General Ambrose Burnside, having lost the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg the previous December, had been replaced by General Joseph Hooker. Although he hoped to be able to call on them, these men would not arrive in time to aid his outnumbered forces. Such arguments actually emphasize the salient factor on May 1: Getting out of that wilderness of course was the very essence of the general's needs. [114], Lincoln later told Connecticut Representative Deming that he believed the war could have been terminated at Chancellorsville had Hooker managed the battle better: specifically, "when Hooker failed to reinforce Sedgwick, after hearing his cannon...." However, he added, "I do not know that I could have given any different orders had I been with them myself. Mackowski, Chris, and Kristopher D. White. 36–39; Welcher, p. 675. 228–30; Furgurson, pp. They would then proceed south and cross the Rapidan at Germanna and Ely's Ford, concentrate at the Chancellorsville crossroads, and attack Lee's army from the west. Goolrick, p. 158: In the council of war, Meade, Reynolds, and Howard voted to fight. This was followed by the crackle of musket fire, and then the unmistakable scream of the "Rebel Yell". 176–77; Gallagher, pp. [59], Given the communications chaos of May 1, Hooker was under the mistaken impression that Sedgwick had withdrawn back across the Rappahannock and, based on this, that the VI Corps should remain on the north bank of the river across from the town, where it could protect the army's supplies and supply line. General J. E. B. Stuart took over his command as doctors amputated Jackson’s left arm. Lee and Jackson’s most celebrated victory also led to Jackson’s death. [102], Sedgwick withdrew across the Rappahannock at Banks's Ford during the pre-dawn hours of May 5. The regiment's commander, Maj. Pennock Huey, received a notice that General Howard was requesting some cavalry. After nearly a year of campaigning, allowing these troops to slip away from his immediate control was Lee's gravest miscalculation. Fought in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Lee’s daring decision to face a force twice his size—Union General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac—by splitting his own army in two made the Battle of Chancellorsville go down in history as Lee’s most significant tactical victory. His death was a devastating loss for the Confederacy. Gen. William Mahone on the Turnpike, and Anderson's other brigades and Jackson's arriving units on the Plank Road. In the first two years of the war, four major attempts had failed: the first foundered just miles away from Washington, D.C., at the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) in July 1861. As a result of this the two divisions of Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood and Maj. Gen. George Pickett were 130 miles (210 km) away from Lee's army and would take a week or more of marching to reach it in an emergency. 104–105, 118; Sears, pp. They crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers as planned and began to concentrate on April 30 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. The corps suffered nearly 2,500 casualties (259 killed, 1,173 wounded, and 994 missing or captured), about one quarter of its strength, including 12 of 23 regimental commanders, which suggests that they fought fiercely during their retreat. Some historians and participants—particularly those of the postbellum Lost Cause movement—attribute the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg two months later to Jackson's absence. Lee split his army again, sending his right-hand man Thomas J. The fierce soldiers, with their faces blackened with the smoke of battle, the wounded crawling with feeble limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with a common impulse. "[92], Lee had left a relatively small force at Fredericksburg, ordering Brig. The engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched ...read more. Harry T. Hays and Robert F. Hoke) pushed back Sedgwick's left-center across the Plank Road, but Anderson's effort was a slight one and McLaws once again contributed nothing. An account by Hotchkiss recalls that Lee asked Jackson how many men he would take on the flanking march and Jackson replied, "my whole command. When he abandoned the chance to reach that desirable goal, Hooker at once passed the initiative, with all of its advantages, to Lee.

151–53. [105], The Union cavalry under Brig. Wilcox described the action as "a bloody repulse to the enemy, rendering entirely useless to him his little success of the morning at Fredericksburg." Gen. John Gibbon of the II Corps had crossed the Rappahannock north of town, and three divisions of Sedgwick's VI Corps—Maj. 9–10; Eicher, p. 474; Cullen, pp. He confused matters by issuing a second order to his subordinates to hold their positions until 5 p.m., but by the time it was received, most of the Union units had begun their rearward movements. After a miserable trek across Virginia in which Blenker's troops were provisioned inadequately and suffered from widespread hunger, disease, and desertion, they joined with Fremont in a campaign that resulted in them being soundly defeated by Stonewall Jackson. Welcher, pp.

A few men managed to get off a shot or two before fleeing. It pitted Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia against Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac and was ...read more, The battles of Cold Harbor were two American Civil War (1861-65) engagements that took place about 10 miles northeast of Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. But the ratio of rebels killed in their repeated attacks is far greater than the Union. 485–86. The Chancellorsville campaign began when Hooker secretly moved the bulk of his army up the left bank of the Rappahannock River, then crossed it on the morning of April 27, 1863. Lee, too, divided his force, retaining 10,000 troops led by Jubal Early to hold Fredericksburg before marching the rest of his army West to meet Hooker head-on. The audacious maneuver, which saw Lee violate basic military doctrine by dividing his forces in the face of a superior enemy, further cemented Lee’s reputation among both friend and foe. The victory, a product of Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid decision-making, was tempered by heavy casualties, including Lt. Gen. Thomas J. After a confused fight, the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry retreated to the safety of the Chancellorsville clearing with the loss of 30 men and three officers. They were overwhelmed by 5 p.m. and most were captured. McGowen, Stanley S. "Battle of Chancellorsville." [57], Although Hooker's left flank was firmly anchored by Meade's V Corps on the Rappahannock, and his center was strongly fortified, his right flank was "in the air."

Meade's other two divisions made good progress on the River Road and were approaching their objective, Banks's Ford.

He consulted with Brig. 166–68, 172; Sears, pp. [66], Most of Jackson's men were unaware of the small action at the rear of their column. 132–136 and Eicher, p. 475; Furgurson, p. 88, Kennedy, p. 197: "about 130,000 to 60,000. [46], Jackson's men began marching west to join with Anderson before dawn on May 1. Second, Hooker had to stay tamely on the defensive. 14–15; Hebert, pp. What will the country say?" 480–82; Sears, pp. Esposito, text for map 91; Foote, p. 315; Hebert, p. 199. Krick, p. 41; Sears, pp. Jeb Stuart's cavalry was cut off at first by Stoneman's departure on April 30, but they were soon able to move freely around the army's flanks on their reconnaissance missions after almost all their Union counterparts had left the area.