The Civil War: The Battle Of Chancellorsville

The American Civil War has become a point of controversy and argument when discussing key events in shaping America. The arguments that arise when discussing the war tend to focus on whether the Confederate was constitutionally justified in seceding, or whether the North had the right to prevent the secession. However, when discussing the America Civil War and the idea of separation, it is important to be mindful that separation did not simply end at the state level. Letters written by Jesse Rolston, Jr. and Jedediah Hotchkiss portray two significantly different attitudes toward the war, despite the fact that the writers both fought for the Confederate States and give accounts of the same battle, one of which ended in the Confederate’s favor. When examining the documents, both writers express different viewpoints on life on and off the battlefield. This significant difference represents a division amongst the Confederate army.

Civil War historians view the Battle of Chancellorsville as General Robert E. Lee’s “greatest and most remarkable” victory (Sears 1). Lee, facing an army twice his size, defies all military doctrine and divides his army multiple times in order to out-maneuver and surprise the Union forces. The daring maneuver succeeds and ultimately forces the Union’s Army of the Potomac to retreat. The victory was another major blow to Union troops, but it came at a huge cost to the Confederacy: the loss of General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. By evaluating the battle through the lens of the mission command activities, one can see how Lee’s daring maneuver was actually very calculated and his only option for victory. Throughout the rest of this paper, I will describe the timeline of the battle and how General Lee used the mission command activities of understand, visualize, assess, and lead to ultimately achieve victory at Chancellorsville.

The battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia was fought from April 30 through May 6, 1863. It was fought between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Federal Army of the Potomac commanded by Major General Joseph Hooker. The intent of this battle was for Major General Hooker’s Union force to cross the Rappahannock River west of Chancellorsville in order to gain control of the Virginia Central and Fredericksburg rail lines; these rail lines were essential to the Army of Northern Virginia because they were the main supply lines to Richmond, the capitol of the Confederate states. The Union knew that by gaining the supply line to Richmond and defeating General Lee, was crucial because this would cause the Confederate strategic center of gravity to fall, essentially leading to an end of the Civil War. However, the Army of the Potomac lost the battle of Chancellorsville against General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and the Civil War raged on. The battle of Chancellorsville is generally viewed as General Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory of the Civil War. General Lee expertly demonstrated mission command by leading his troops into an unlikely battle, understanding the battle, visualizing, and directing his troops in a victory for the Confederacy.

The Battle of Chancellorsville started on April 30, 1863 and lasted through May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In this battle General Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate), while Major General Joseph Hooker led the Army of the Potomac (Union). Before the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Potomac army was led by General Ambrose Burnside, who only commanded in the battle at Fredericksburg which led Lincoln to put Major General Hooker in command. With Hooker in charge the Potomac army was in “tip-top condition, and with more strength than ever before.” With the Potomac being double the size and much stronger than Lee’s army, Hooker made the first move.

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought towards the beginning of the American Civil War that spanned over the course of four years, April 1861- April 1865 and consisted of 50 major battles and thousands of minor battles. The Battle of Fredericksburg lasted exactly five days, December 11-15, 1862. Its location was centered on Fredericksburg, VA and surrounding areas along the Rappahannock River including Falmouth, Marye’s Heights, Stafford Heights, Prospect Hill, and Hamilton’s Crossing (Yandoh, 2001). The Federal Union and Confederates had the same goal. To preserve their way of life, but that’s where the similarities stopped. Both sides wanted a different way of life preserved. The Confederates goal was to gain independence from the politically oppressive North and to establish an independent nation that allowed slavery (Olson-Raymer, 2014). The Federal Union’s initial goal was to restore the Union. But, its goal changed when it became obvious they would lose the war. The Union decided to reunite states under a banner in which slavery was no longer acceptable or tolerated. “The war from beginning to end would be a noble crusade for democracy for all people, not just in America, but throughout the world” (Olson-Raymer, 2014).

The battle of Chancellorsville took place on April 30th to may 6th 1863. It was fought in Chancellorsville, Virginia.This was was fought to stop General Joseph Hooker’s attempt to flank General Lee’s men. In this battle the Union suffered 14,000 and the Confederates suffered 10,000.The Confederates also lost General Jackson, a major loss which will eventually feel the cost of losing him. Over this 7 day battle some major generals were in battle. Some of these names include General Robert E. Lee, Joseph Hooker, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Robert E. Rodes, William Mahone and George Sykes. To start the war General Sykes and General Mahone meet at the orange turnpike. General Sykes men seem to be forcing the the Confederates back. General Rodes

The battle of Fredericksburg happened in December 11-15 1862.It was one of the largest and deadliest battles in the civil war. Union and confederate soldier fought in the streets of Fredericksburg. Nearly 200,000 combatants no other civil war battle featured a larger concentration of soldiers.The union army’s main assault against Stonewall Jackson produced initial success and held the promise to destroy the confederate right. In the meantime Burnside’s “diversion” against veteran Confederate soldiers behind a stone wall produced a similar number of casualties but most of these were suffered by the union troops. Wave after wave of Federal soldiers marched forth to take the heights, but each was met with devastating

Jackson orders General Anderson’s men to drop their shovels pick up their rifles and advance west to meet General Hooker’s union army now at Chancellorsville. The battle of Chancellorsville has begun (civilwar.com)

The Battle of Chancellorsville was one the most important encounters between the Union and the Confederates in what’s known as the Chancellorsville Campaign.

The Battle of Chancellorsville, one of the most famous battles of the Civil War, took place in Virginia in the spring of 1863. For months, the two armies had been staked out on opposite banks of a narrow river. The Confederate troops were led by perhaps the most revered military tactician in American history, General Robert E. Lee. The Union soldiers were led by "Fighting" Joe Hooker. In appearance, personality, and lifestyle, these men were nearly perfect opposites. Lee, an older man in poor health with a gray beard, had a somber, measured demeanor. Hooker was a blond, strapping young man whose vanity over his appearance was but one aspect of his egotism. Hooker had used spies, analysts, and even hot air balloons to compile a vast amount

The Battle of Chancellorsville had many distinguishing aspects, as did many of the other battles during the Civil War. Three main points came from this battle. It is best known as “Lee’s Masterpiece” or “Lee’s Greatest Victory.” That description pretty much gives away the end result of the battle, but I plan on giving a more detailed description about how it came to be known as Lee’s “masterpiece” of a plan. Stonewall Jackson also was accidentally shot and killed by his own men at Chancellorsville.

1. Crane’s approach was written in third person, but the reader knows what Henry is thinking and feeling.

The Battle of Chancellorsville is an illustration that the perfect battle plan with a superior number of forces will not always prevail. General Lee’s forces were out numbered and initially out maneuvered, but because of General Lee’s quick decision-making and leadership, he was able to take advantage of General Hooker’s hesitation. Also helping General Lee get his perfect victory was the fact that his forces were fighting to protect their homes and their family from an invading force. I think that this should be in any leader’s mind when they plan to go to battle. What are they going to battle for and what are their enemies fight for? I believe that this is one reason why the people of Afghanistan have never been conquered and why the

The articly is the American Civil War the Battle Gettysburg I got it on http://www.ducksters.com/history/battle_of_gettysburg.php. The Battle of Gettysburg was on July 1-3 1863 near the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Southern Army’s leaders were General Robert E. Lee, and General Longstreet and Pickett. The Northern Army’s leader was General George Meada. The battle was three days long. On the first day the south outnumbered the north, the north then retreated. Then General Lee wanted to continue to attack. However, his men waited and the north had time to up their defenses. By the second day the armies from both sides were now at full force. Lee attacked and there was fierce fighting though the day with both sides taking heavy losses.

Gettysburg was fought during the Civil War between the Union Army of the Potomac led by General Meade, and the Confederate Army commanded by General R.E. Lee. The battle only was waged over the course of three days, but it would prove to be the most costly of the entire Civil War. In this paper, we will show how the Confederacy failed to identify certain principles of war, which lead them to incorrectly conduct a center of gravity and critical vulnerability analysis on the Union. Because of this failure, the Confederacy opened the door for the Union to score a decisive victory.