Part 11 - Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863 was a major battle that also kept turning the ride to the Union favor.  The battle is called 'Lee's Perfect Battle' because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force. Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid performance in combat combined to result in a significant Union defeat. The Confederate victory was tempered by the mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson.

May 1st and 2nd

The Battle of Chancellorsville began with the crossing of the Rappahannock river on April 27, 1863 by the Federal Army of the Potomac under Gen. Joseph Hooker.  The army then crossed the Rapidan River and concentrated their forces near Chancellorsville on April 30th and May 1st.
By May 1, Hooker had approximately 70,000 men concentrated around Chancellorsville. From his Fredericksburg headquarters, Lee decided to violate one of the generally accepted 'Principle's of war' and divide his force in the face of a superior enemy, hoping that aggressive action would allow him to attack and defeat a portion of Hooker's army before it could be fully concentrated against him, it worked.  So Lee left behind a brigade and a division at Mayre's heights to contest any assault that came from Union General Sedgwick's corps.  Lee ordered Stonewall Jackson to march west and link up with Maj. Richard Anderson, assembling 40,000 men to confront Hooker at Chancellorsville.  Providentialy for the Confederates, heavy fog the Rappahannock masked some of these westward movements and Sedgwick chose to wait until he could determine the enemy's intentions.

At the same time General Jackson was marching west to join with Anderson on the morning of May 1, Hooker ordered an advance to the east to strike Anderson, pushing his men out of the impenetrable thickets that characterized the area.  Hooker did this because in the wilderness his advantage of Artillery would be minimized. Despite being in a potentially favorable situation, Hooker halted his brief offensive. His actions may have demonstrated his lack of confidence in handling the complex actions of such a large organization for the first time (he had been an effective and aggressive division and corps commander in previous battles), but he had also decided before beginning the campaign that he would fight the battle defensively, forcing Lee, with his small army, to attack Hooker's larger one.  Lee then prepared for the attack.
For Lee's attack to work, three things had to happen. First, Jackson had to make a 12-mile (19 km) march via roundabout roads to reach the Union right, and he had to do it undetected. Second, Lee had to hope that Hooker stayed tamely on the defensive. Third, Early would have to keep Sedgwick bottled up in Fredericksburg. And when Jackson launched his attack, he had to hope that the Union forces were unprepared.

May 3rd

All of these conditions were met.  The Confederates smashed the Federals.  However, on May 3rd after heavy fighting the Union troops retreated out of Chancellorsville.  Still, Lee could not declare victory, nor was Hooker conceding defeat. During the height of the fighting at Chancellorsville on May 3, he called on Sedgwick to break through and attack Lee's rear. Again that general delayed until it was too late. That afternoon, he finally did attack Early's position (after Early at one point abandoned it himself because of a misinterpreted order from Lee), and broke through. But he did it too late in the day to help Hooker. In fact, a single Alabama brigade slowed the already sluggish advance. 

May 4th

On the evening of May 3 and all day May 4, Hooker remained in his defenses while Lee and Early battled Sedgwick. After breaking Early's defenses on May 3rd, Sedgwick foolishly neglected to secure Fredericksburg. Early simply marched back and reoccupied the heights west of the city, cutting Sedgwick off.
Sedgwick, as it turned out, was as strong on the defensive as he was weak on the attack, and he stood his ground that day before withdrawing back across the Rappahannock at Banks's Ford during the pre-dawn hours of May 5. This was another miscommunication between him and Hooker; the commanding general had wanted Sedgwick to hold Banks's Ford, so that Hooker could withdraw from the Chancellorsville area and re-cross the river at Banks's to fight again. When he learned that Sedgwick had retreated back over the river, Hooker felt he was out of options to save the campaign, and on the night of May 5–6, he also withdrew back across the river.
In the end Jackson was dead after taking friendly fire then being dropped on a root which punctured his lung.  Jackson then contracted Pneumonia.  13,000 casualties for the Confederates and 17,000 for the Federals.