The Campaign of Chancellorsville

A major Civil War battle-and Lee's triumph

The Battle of Chancellorsville was one of the principal engagements of the American Civil War. It was fought between Hooker's Army of the Potomac and Lee's Army of Northern Virginia which was half the size of the enemy. Battle was joined in Spotsylvania County, Virginia on April 30th 1863 and it raged until May 6th. Irrespective of the eventual outcome of the war, Chancellorsville has remained a text book battle for military historians. Lee, always renowned for command capability, here showed military nerve and audacity by dividing his army in the face of a vastly numerically superior enemy. Further, he demonstrated the maxim of 'know your opponent' for he clearly had the measure of the timid prevaricating Hooker. The outcome was an overwhelming Confederate victory and won the accolade, 'Lee's Perfect Battle'. The edge was taken off the success by the death of 'Stonewall' Jackson-a military genius both Lee and the Confederate cause could ill afford to lose. Dodge's history, written from a Union perspective, provides interesting mitigating circumstances concerning Federal actions and personalities-usually absent from later histories-for the student of the period to evaluate.