Chancellorsville+Bl+3

=**Chancellorsville**= By: Jesse Griffith

1. My battle is called the battle of Chancellorsville 2. It happened from April 30 to May 6, 1863. 3. The location was Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania, VA 4. The United States commander was Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, and the Confederate South commanders were Gen. Robert E. Lee and Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson.



5. There were 154,734 total troops at the battle, 97,382 being U.S. forces and 57,352 being C.S. forces. 6. On April 27th the U.S. V, XI, and XII Corps turned to the Confederate left flank in the area. On April 30th and May 1st, Confederate troops concentrated around Chancellorsville. Both armies were clashing in Fredericksburg while the big battle was to take place elsewhere. With Gen. Robert E. Lee's army advancing swiftly towards Chancellorsville, Hooker was forced to take a defensive position holding the town. On May 2nd, Lt. Gen T.J. Jackson took his forces and moved against the Federal's left flank. Sporadic fighting occured until just before evening, when confederates crippled the Union XI Corps. The Federals rallied and attacked back until night fell.

At night, Jackson was badly wounded by his own men while trying to make a reconnaissance. J.E.B. Stuart temporarily took command of his forces. On May 3, the Confederates made a large offensive attack with both wings of the army and artillary. The U.S. forces were forced to back out of Chancellorsville. A few commanders on both sides were killed or wounded. On the night of May 5-6, Hooker took his forces and headed north. 7. A decision that changed the outcome of the battle was that Hooker and his forces just waited and defended the town of Chancellorsville. One other thing that helped decide the outcome was that there were two towns in the area to worry about, and both sides had to plan out where to move and how many troops to leave with. 8. This battle is regarded as a huge Confederate victory and as Gen. Lee's biggest accomplishment.

9. 24,000 troops were killed in action during the battle. 14,000 troops were U.S. and 10,000 were C.S. troops. 10. This battle bettered the Confederate's standings in the area and proved that General Lee was a force to beware of. I don't think this battle had an extreme significance in the course of the entire war, though.

Information gathered from the following website: http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va032.htm.