After the trouncing of the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg in December 1862 by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee, both armies went into winter quarters. Burnside was on one side of the Rappahannock, Lee on the other. The defeat was just one of a long series of humiliating setbacks that the Northern army suffered since the beginning of the war starting with the first battle at Bull Run (Manassas). The only semi-bright spot was when they turned back Lee's invasion at Antietam.
Now, Lincoln had had enough. He wanted a general that could defeat Lee. All previous efforts with previous generals had failed either due to timidity or incompetence, or both.
So now it was the turn of "Fighting Joe" Hooker to take the reigns of the Army of the Potomac.
Lee, in the meantime, was on the defensive. He couldn't just stay in place across the Rappahannock, but had to cover the crossings over it to ensure he wouldn't be outflanked come spring.
But he also needed supplies. He sent a large part of Longstreet's First Corps out towards Norfolk to forage. In addition, there was a potential Federal threat from that direction towards Richmond, so additional troops were siphoned off to deal with that.
Lee was unhappy with this situation as his army was scattered all over Northern Virginia, elements of which were more than a week's march away and therefor too far away to be under his direct control.
As it turned out, he need not have worried.
But it started out well for Hooker.
First of all, the army's Bureau of Military Intelligence was totally overhauled, and it began to give Hooker a more accurate appraisal of Lee's army.
Secondly, Hooker came up with a superior plan.
This plan called for a double envelopment of Lee's army. It called for a strong force of 30,000 men under Maj. General John Sedgwick to cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and hold down the Confederate forces there.
In the meantime, Hooker would take four Federal corps on a stealthy march northeast, cross the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers, turn east, and strike Lee's army in the rear.
In addition, a strong force of Federal cavalry was sent out to harry Lee's supply lines.
If executed properly, it was indeed a good plan.
On April 27-28, 1863, Hooker and four Federal corps crossed the Rapidan, and Rappahannock into an area of Northern Virginia known as "The Wilderness" centered around the small hamlet of Chancellorsville.
It was a hamlet in name only as it consisted mainly of a large mansion at the junction of the Orange Turnpike, and Orange Plank Road.
The Wilderness itself is an almost impenetrable area consisting of brush entanglements and heavily wooded areas of scrub pine. It is a very difficult area to maneuver in.
In the meantime, Sedgwick's corps crossed the Rappahannock into Fredericksburg.
So far, so good.
By May 1st, Hooker had 70,000 men in and around Chancellorsville.
But Lee also had good intelligence. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry spotted Hooker as they were crossing the river.
Armed with the knowledge of Hooker's movements, Lee decided to violate one of the principle maxims of war -- Never divide your forces in the face of a numerically superior enemy.
Gambling that a force of 12,000 men under General Jubal Early, plus an additional brigade under General Barksdale could hold off the enemy at Fredericksburg, Lee and General Stonewall Jackson led a force of 40,000 men and marched west after Hooker.
Fortunately for Lee, heavy fog along the river masked most of the movements of his army.
Also fortunately for Lee, Sedgwick, after crossing the river, failed to attack on the grounds that he was unsure of the Confederate strength arrayed against him.
On May 1st, Hooker ordered an advance to the east to engage a small advance Confederate force under General Anderson.
Hooker was now in a potentially favorable position. He was out of the Wilderness where he could now use his artillery effectively.
But Hooker halted the advance, and retreated back into the Wilderness. His probable reason for this is that he wanted to force the Confederates to attack him.
He was remembering the bloodbath caused from frontal assaults that were made at Fredericksburg, and Antietam causing massive Union casualties. He was daring Lee to either attack him, or retreat with a large enemy force at his back.
Lee accepted Hooker's gambit. He planned to attack the next day.
That night, Lee and Jackson came up with a daring plan.
Stuart had reported to Lee, that the Union right flank was "in the air" - that is, it was not anchored on some natural obstacle.
Lee would hold on to Hooker on the Union left flank with 14,000 men, and Jackson was to take his corps of 26,000 men and swing around in a wide flanking movement to strike the exposed Union right flank and then perhaps even roll up the entire Union position.
That meant that Lee would divide his army for the second time.
There was a potential problem with this plan. Jackson must not be seen on his march to get around the flank, or the surprise would be lost, and Jackson didn't know a good route to take in order to get there.
Plus if Jackson was seen, Hooker could attack Lee's much smaller force and annihilate him.
But a local resident volunteered to assist Jackson on his march. The march took most of the day, but Jackson got his men into position virtually undetected.
The Union corps on the right flank of the Union line was General Oliver Howard's XI Corps. It consisted mainly of German immigrants, many of whom could not speak English.
In addition, many of these men had no combat experience, and of those that did, none was ever in a winning battle. It was a corps of low morale, and the rest of the army looked down on them
Hooker had ordered Howard to construct breastworks at his position but he failed to do so. No provision was made against a surprise attack.
At 5:30pm on May 2nd, Jackson struck. The attack came down on Howard's men like a whirlwind.
The XI corps was in the middle of cooking dinner when the attack began. More than 4,000 men surrendered without firing a shot. Only one division of the corps made a stand, but it was soon driven off.
By nightfall, Jackson had driven more than two miles and was nearly in site of Hooker's headquarters at Chancellorsville. And he was almost united again with Lee.
Jackson wanted to press the attack that night by the light of a full moon and went out along Orange Plank Road to assess the situation. On his return, he and his staff were mistakenly identified as Federal cavalry by his own men and were fired upon. Jackson fell, wounded in the arm.
The wound was not life threatening, and he was taken to the rear where his arm was amputated.
Over the next three days, the Confederates kept the pressure on. On the night of May 5-6, Hooker withdrew his army back over the Rappahannock ending his campaign.
Jackson was recovering from the amputation, but then contracted pneumonia, and died on May 10th.
Just before death, it was reported that a smile of sweetness spread over his face as he said "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."
