Chancellorsville, Battle of

The Battle of Chancellorsville is a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign.

It is fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville.

Two related battles are fought nearby on May 3 in the vicinity of Fredericksburg.

The campaign pits Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army less than half its size, General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because his risky decision to divide his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force results in a significant Confederate victory.

The victory, a product of Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid decision making, is tempered by heavy casualties, including Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.

Jackson is hit by friendly fire, requiring his left arm to be amputated; he dies of pneumonia eight days later, a loss that Lee likens to losing his right arm.

Lee's difficulty in replacing his lost men as well as his inability to prevent the Union Withdrawal effectively lead to his great victory being regarded as a Pyrrhic one.

The Chancellorsville Campaign begins with the crossing of the Rappahannock River by the Union army on the morning of April 27, 1863.

Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. George Stoneman begin a long distance raid against Lee's supply lines at about the same time.

This operation is completely ineffectual.

Crossing the Rapidan River via Germanna and Ely's Fords, the Federal infantry concentrate near Chancellorsville on April 30.

Combined with the Union force facing Fredericksburg, Hooker plans a double envelopment, attacking Lee from both his front and rear.

On May 1, Hooker advances from Chancellorsville toward Lee, but the Confederate general splits his army in the face of superior numbers, leaving a small force at Fredericksburg to deter Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick from advancing, while he attacks Hooker's advance with about four-fifths of his army.

Despite the objections of his subordinates, Hooker withdrasw his men to the defensive lines around Chancellorsville, ceding the initiative to Lee.

On May 2, Lee divides his army again, sending Stonewall Jackson's entire corps on a flanking march that rout the Union XI Corps.

While performing a personal reconnaissance in advance of his line, Jackson is wounded by fire after dark from his own men close between the lines, and cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart temporarily replaces him as corps commander.

The fiercest fighting of the battle—and the second bloodiest day of the Civil War—occurs on May 3 as Lee launches multiple attacks against the Union position at Chancellorsville, resulting in heavy losses on both sides.

This same day, Sedgwick advances across the Rappahannock River, defeats the small Confederate force at Marye's Heights in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, then moves to the west.

The Confederates fight a successful delaying action at the Battle of Salem Church and by May 4 have driven back Sedgwick's men to Banks' Ford, surrounding them on three sides.

Sedgwick withdraws across the ford early on May 5, and Hooker withdraws the remainder of his army across U.S. Ford the night of May 5–6.

The campaign enda on May 7 when Stoneman's cavalry reach Union lines east of Richmond.

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