Interesting Facts about the Battle of Chancellorsville
- Gen. Joseph Hooker had replaced the incompetent Ambrose Burnside after his frontal lunacy at Fredericksburg. Hooker quickly whipped the Army of the Potomac into shape and stole a march on Lee by crossing the Rappahannock River and descending on Lee’s left.
- Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was outnumbered more than two to one (133,000 to 60,000). And yet, he violated a principle of war by dividing his smaller army in the face of the enemy. He allowed Gen. Stonewall Jackson to take 30,000 men and make a twelve-mile march through the thick forest to attack Hooker’s right flank. Lee risked the entire Confederacy with this daring move and should have paid for it, but as usual the Union commander wimped out. Although the march was sighted, Hooker assumed Lee was retreating! He had already gone on the defensive when his much larger force met Confederate forces in the thick forest called the Wilderness.
- The first warning Hooker’s relaxing soldiers had on his flank was the deer, rabbits, etc. that were fleeing the soldiers advancing through their habitat. The animals running through their camp were followed soon after by the sound of the “rebel yell”. That was followed by an assortment of curse words from the surprised German-American solders who soon became known as the “Flying Dutchmen”.
- To win a spectacular victory, you need two things: a great general on the winning side and an incompetent general on the losing side. After allowing himself to shut down the momentum of a successful maneuver and allowing himself to be surprised on his flank, Hooker left high ground virtually unoccupied. When JEB Stuart rushed artillery to Hazel Grove, he was able to make Hooker’s position untenable.
- Lee’s greatest victory was marred by his worst loss. This is the battle where Stonewall Jackson was hit by friendly fire and died eight days later. He likely would have made a battle-winning contribution at Gettysburg.
- This is probably the battle in Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/10-facts-chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville – Library of Congress
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