The Battle of Chancellorsville was one of the most significant battles of the American Civil War and is considered by many historians to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest military victory. Fought from April 30th to May 6th, 1863, near the town of Chancellorsville in Virginia, it saw Lee’s outnumbered Confederate army defeat a much larger Union force through a series of bold and daring maneuvers. However, the Confederate victory came at a steep price, as the battle resulted in the mortal wounding of General Stonewall Jackson, one of the most important Confederate commanders of the entire war.
What Was the American Civil War?
The Battle of Chancellorsville took place during the third year of the American Civil War, which was one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of the United States. The Civil War was fought between the Northern states, known as the Union, and the Southern states, known as the Confederacy, from 1861 to 1865. At its heart, the war was driven by the issue of slavery, which had divided the country for decades. By the spring of 1863, the war in the Eastern Theater had produced a series of difficult defeats for the Union army. Most recently, the Union had suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862, where the Army of the Potomac had launched repeated frontal assaults against a well-fortified Confederate position and suffered nearly 13,000 casualties. Following this defeat, a new Union commander was appointed and a new plan was developed to finally defeat Lee’s army. The Battle of Chancellorsville was the result of that plan.
Battle of Chancellorsville – Background and Causes
Following the defeat at Fredericksburg, President Abraham Lincoln replaced General Ambrose Burnside with Major General Joseph Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac in January of 1863. Hooker spent the winter months rebuilding and reorganizing his army, and by late April of 1863 he had assembled a force of approximately 130,000 soldiers. Hooker developed an ambitious plan to defeat Lee. He would send approximately 40,000 troops under General John Sedgwick to cross the Rappahannock River directly opposite Fredericksburg, keeping Lee’s attention focused there. At the same time, Hooker would lead approximately 70,000 soldiers on a wide flanking march to the west, crossing the river upstream and swinging around behind Lee’s left flank. If the plan succeeded, Lee’s army would be caught between two large Union forces and destroyed.
The opening stages of the campaign went well for the Union. By April 30th, Hooker had moved his flanking force across the river and into position near a crossroads community called Chancellorsville, which sat in the middle of a dense forest region known as the Wilderness. Lee’s situation appeared desperate. His army of approximately 60,000 soldiers was already smaller than usual because his First Corps commander, Lieutenant General James Longstreet, was away on a supply mission with roughly 15,000 soldiers. Facing a Union army more than twice his size, Lee made the bold decision to divide his army and fight on two fronts at once. He left approximately 12,000 soldiers under General Jubal Early to hold the Confederate position at Fredericksburg against Sedgwick, and moved the rest of his army west to confront Hooker directly.
Battle of Chancellorsville – Hooker Loses the Initiative
On May 1st, Hooker began advancing his forces eastward out of the Wilderness toward more open ground. Confederate forces under Stonewall Jackson struck the Union columns almost immediately and fierce fighting broke out along the main road. At this point, Hooker made a decision that would cost the Union the battle. Despite his overwhelming numbers, he ordered his entire army to pull back into the Wilderness and take up defensive positions around Chancellorsville. By retreating into the dense forest, Hooker gave up the advantage that his superior numbers in men and artillery had given him, since the thick trees and undergrowth made it nearly impossible to use large formations effectively.
Lee recognized the opportunity immediately. He made the extraordinary decision to divide his already outnumbered army a second time. He ordered Stonewall Jackson to lead approximately 28,000 soldiers on a 12-mile flanking march around the entire Union right flank, while Lee himself held Hooker’s attention at the front with only around 14,000 men. It was an extremely risky plan. If Hooker had launched an attack at any point during the day, Lee’s divided forces could have been overwhelmed. However, Hooker remained passive, and despite Union soldiers spotting portions of Jackson’s column moving through gaps in the trees, the reports were not acted upon.
Battle of Chancellorsville – Jackson’s Flank Attack
At approximately 5:15 in the evening on May 2nd, 1863, Jackson’s corps swept out of the forest and crashed into the exposed right flank of the Union army. The Union XI Corps under General Oliver Howard was completely unprepared for the attack. Many soldiers were cooking their evening meals when the Confederate assault hit them from an unexpected direction. The XI Corps collapsed quickly, with thousands of Union soldiers fleeing through the Wilderness in panic. The Confederate advance slowed as darkness fell and movement through the dense forest became difficult, but the damage to the Union army had been done.
That night, Jackson rode forward in front of his lines with several staff officers to scout the ground for a planned night attack. As he returned in the darkness, Confederate soldiers mistook the group for Union cavalry and opened fire. Jackson was struck by three bullets, two in his left arm and one in his right hand. His left arm was amputated that night in the field. Command of Jackson’s corps passed to General J.E.B. Stuart, the Confederate cavalry commander who was the senior officer present.
Battle of Chancellorsville – The Final Days
On May 3rd, Stuart continued the Confederate attack on the Union right while Lee pressed from the front. The fighting that day was some of the most intense of the entire Civil War, as Confederate forces captured an important piece of high ground called Hazel Grove and used it to establish a powerful artillery position. Hooker was briefly knocked unconscious when a Confederate artillery shell struck a pillar of the building where he had set up his headquarters. Though he recovered, he remained disoriented for much of the rest of the battle and made few effective decisions. By the afternoon, Hooker had pulled his army back to a defensive position near the river crossing.
At Fredericksburg, Sedgwick’s Union force captured the Confederate position at Marye’s Heights on May 3rd and began marching toward Chancellorsville. Lee turned part of his army to meet this new threat and stopped Sedgwick at the Battle of Salem Church, then pushed him back across the Rappahannock River by May 5th. With Sedgwick’s force dealt with, Lee turned back toward Hooker, but the Union commander had already decided to withdraw. On the night of May 5th to 6th, 1863, the Army of the Potomac retreated back across the Rappahannock River. The battle was over.
Battle of Chancellorsville – Death of Stonewall Jackson
The most significant consequence of the Battle of Chancellorsville for the Confederacy was not the victory itself but the loss of Stonewall Jackson. After the amputation of his left arm, Jackson initially appeared to be recovering. However, he developed pneumonia in the days that followed and his condition steadily worsened. He died on May 10th, 1863, at Guinea Station, Virginia. Upon hearing the news, Lee reportedly said that he had lost his right arm. Jackson’s death was a devastating blow to the Confederate cause. He had been Lee’s most trusted and effective subordinate, the general whose aggressive leadership and remarkable ability to move troops quickly had made many of Lee’s greatest victories possible. His absence would be felt deeply in the campaigns that followed, and most notably at the Battle of Gettysburg just two months later.
Battle of Chancellorsville – Casualties and Aftermath
The Battle of Chancellorsville resulted in approximately 30,000 total casualties, making it one of the bloodiest battles of the entire Civil War. Union forces suffered approximately 17,197 casualties, including around 1,606 killed, 9,672 wounded, and 5,919 missing or captured. Confederate forces suffered approximately 12,764 casualties, including around 1,665 killed and 9,081 wounded. Despite winning the battle, the Confederacy lost a higher percentage of its soldiers than the Union did, a reflection of how costly the aggressive tactics had been for Lee’s smaller army.
Hooker remained in command of the Army of the Potomac for several more weeks. When Lee began moving north into Pennsylvania in June of 1863, a dispute over troop positions led Hooker to offer his resignation, which Lincoln accepted. General George Meade replaced him on June 28th, 1863, just three days before the Battle of Gettysburg. For Lee, the victory at Chancellorsville reinforced his confidence in his army’s ability to defeat larger Union forces and contributed to his decision to launch a second invasion of the North, a campaign that would end in defeat at Gettysburg.
Significance of the Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville is considered by many historians to be Robert E. Lee’s greatest military victory and one of the most impressive tactical achievements of the American Civil War. With an army roughly half the size of his opponent’s, Lee outmaneuvered and defeated the Union army through bold decision-making and aggressive action. At the same time, the battle carried significant consequences for the Confederacy. The loss of Stonewall Jackson was a blow from which Lee’s army never fully recovered, and the overconfidence that the victory produced contributed to the costly decisions that led to defeat at Gettysburg two months later. The Battle of Chancellorsville therefore stands as both Lee’s greatest triumph and the beginning of the Confederacy’s long decline in the Eastern Theater of the war.
