The Battle of Chancellorsville Facts
The Battle of Chancellorsville Facts
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| Interesting The Battle of Chancellorsville Facts: |
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| General Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac fought General Robert E. Lee's Army of Virginia near Chancellorsville, Virginia. It was the main battle in the Union's Chancellorsville Campaign. |
| Hooker had recently taken over for General Ambrose Burnside, who was soundly defeated at the Battle of Fredericksburg. |
| The battle was fought from April 30, 1863 until May 6, 1863. |
| The South won the battle, despite being greatly outnumbered. The Union had over a 2 to 1 advantage, with 133,000 men to the South's 60,000. |
| Hooker's troops attacked Lee's army in an area called "The Wilderness." The dense forest made it difficult for soldiers to see clearly. |
| Hooker did not have his cavalry because it had been sent to Lee's rear to try and prevent a retreat. Without his cavalry, Hooker could not track Lee's movements. |
| Going against conventional wisdom, Lee split his army to launch a counterattack from the Union's rear. General Stonewall Jackson led 30,000 Confederate troops toward the right side of the Union flank. |
| Hooker was taken by surprise and eventually forced to retreat after his troops were badly defeated. |
| Jackson was shot in the left arm by friendly fire as he returned from a reconnaissance mission in the Union line. Confederate soldiers mistook him for a Union soldier. |
| Jackson's arm was amputated at a field hospital. A few days later, he developed an infection and he died of pneumonia. |
| Jackson's amputated arm was buried in his family cemetery. |
| Meanwhile, Union troops had crossed the Rappahannock River with the intent of attacking the other half of Lee's troops from the east. The Confederates held off this attack at the Battle of Salem Church. |
| The Union had 17,000 casualties and the Confederates had 12,000. However, the loss of Jackson was a major blow to the South. |
| Immigrants from Germany made up a large portion of the Union's Eleventh Corps. There was a great deal of suspicion about immigrants and they were blamed for the Union defeat. |
| The victory at Chancellorsville led to Lee's decision to attack the Union in the North. He believed that his army was unbeatable. The result was the Battle of Gettysburg later that year. |
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