Chancellorsville+8

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Chancellorsville was a battle fought in the American Civil War that lasted from April 30 to May 6 1863. Joseph Hooker was put in command of the Army of the Patomac. Hooker sent 10,000 cavalry to attack Robert E. Lee's rear and sent 36,000 of his men across the Rappahannock River with orders to occupy Chancellorsville between the Confederate army and Richmond. Their movements were disguised by an advance on Lee's army by Hooker's left flank, led by General Sedgwick, and they were well into their march before Lee realized his upcomming doom and sent Major General Jubal Early to deal with those troops. The troops reached Chancellorsville, in an area known as The Wilderness on the evening of April 30, 1863. For some reason, Hooker stopped in the middle of his march, and adopted a defensive setup. Unexpectedly, instead of Lee retreating into Richmond when he sensed a trap he went attacked Hooker first while he paused. "Stonewall" Jackson attacked Hooker's left flank and crushed the XI corps. Even though this probably was the desisive victory for Lee's victory, it came at the cost of his life, as he was accidentally shot by his own soldiers. On May 3rd, Lee gathered his troops and artillery at Hazel Grove and broke in Hooker's front lines. He gave the Union a viscious blow and the Confederates an impressive victory. Total Casualties were 17,197 Union and 13,303 Confederate compared to the beginning numbers of 133,868 Union and 60,892 Confederates. This was Considered Lee's greatest victory ======



Sources: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/battle-chancellorsville.htm http://civilwarhome.com/chancell.htm http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/va/va032.html