Chancellorsville and Gettysburg | Page 2

OF MAY
CHAPTER IV.
THE ROUT OF THE ELEVENTH CORPS
CHAPTER V.
JACKSON'S ADVANCE IS CHECKED
CHAPTER VI.
SICKLES FIGHTS HIS WAY BACK--ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST
CORPS
CHAPTER VII.
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD OF MAY

CHAPTER VIII.
MAY FOURTH--ATTACK ON SEDGWICK'S FORCE
CHAPTER IX.
PREPARATIONS TO RENEW THE CONFLICT
CHAPTER X.
BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION (FLEETWOOD)
GETTYSBURG
CHAPTER I.
THE INVASION OF THE NORTH
CHAPTER II.
HOOKER'S PLANS--LONGSTREET OCCUPIES THE GAPS IN
THE BLUE RIDGE-- ALARM IN RICHMOND--HOOKER
SUPERSEDED BY MEADE
CHAPTER III.
STUART'S RAID--THE ENEMY IN FRONT OF
HARRISBURG--MEADE'S PLAN
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRST DAY OF THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG,
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1863
CHAPTER V.
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG--THE SECOND DAY

CHAPTER VI.
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD DAY--JOHNSON'S DIVISION
DRIVEN OUT
CHAPTER VII.
GENERAL RETREAT OF THE ENEMY--CRITICISMS OF
DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE OFFICERS APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B INDEX
LIST OF MAPS.
FIELD OF OPERATIONS IN VIRGINIA OPERATIONS ON THE
FIRST OF MAY, 1863 JACKSON'S ATTACK ON HOWARD, MAY
1 BATTLE OF THE THIRD OF MAY SEDGWICK'S POSITION
FROM THE POTOMAC TO HARRISBURG DIAGRAMS OF
POSITIONS IN THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG: I. II. III. IV.
GETTYSBURG: FINAL ATTACK OF THE FIRST DAY AND
BATTLE OF THE SECOND DAY DIAGRAM OF THE ATTACK
ON SICKLES AND SYKES
CHANCELLORSVILLE.

CHANCELLORSVILLE.
CHAPTER I.
THE OPENING OF 1863.--HOOKER'S PLANS.
After the great disaster of Fredericksburg, General Burnside, the
Commander of the Union Army, was superseded by Major-General
Joseph Hooker, a graduate of West Point, who having formerly held a
high position on the staff of General Gideon J. Pillow in the war with
Mexico, was supposed to be well acquainted with military operations
on a large scale. He had subsequently left the army, and had been

engaged in civil pursuits for several years. He was a man of fine
presence, of great personal magnetism, and had the reputation of being
one of our most efficient and successful corps commanders.
When the campaign of Chancellorsville commenced, the Army of the
Potomac was posted on the left bank of the Rappahannock, opposite
Fredericksburg, among the Stafford hills, in a position which was
considered almost impregnable. It rested upon the Potomac River, and
as all of its supplies came by water, they were not subject to delay or
interruption of any kind; nor were they endangered by the movements
of the enemy.
At the period referred to, General Hooker had under him a force of
about 124,500 men of all arms, 11,500 of which were cavalry.
On the opposite side of the river, the Army of Northern Virginia, under
General Robert E. Lee, numbered, according to their official reports,
about sixty-two thousand men, three thousand of which were cavalry;*
but the difference was amply compensated by the wide river in front of
the enemy, and the fact that every available point and ford was well
fortified and guarded. General Thomas J. Jackson, commonly called
Stonewall Jackson, held the line below Hamilton's crossing to Port
Royal. Two out of four divisions of Longstreet's corps were absent. The
fourth, under Major-General Lafayette McLaws, was posted from
Hamilton's crossing to Banks' Ford. Still farther up and beyond the
front of either army, the crossing-places were watched by the rebel
cavalry under Major- General J. E. B. Stuart, supported by the Third
Division of Longstreet's corps, that of Anderson.
[* Napoleon says 100,000 men on the rolls are only equivalent to about
80,000 muskets in action. It is doubtful if Hooker had over 113,000
men for actual combat. Lieut.-Colonel W. T. Forbes, Assistant Adjutant
General, who has had access to the records, after a careful estimate,
places the number as follows. First Corps, 16,000; Second Corps,
16,000; Third Corps, 18,000; Fifth Corps, 15,000; Sixth Corps, 22,000;
Eleventh Corps, 15,000; Twelfth Corps, 11,000; total infantry and
artillery, 113,000; Pleasanton's cavalry, 1,500; total effective force,
114,500. He estimates Lee's army at 62,000, which the Confederate

authorities, Hotchkiss and Allan, place as follows: Anderson's and
McLaws' divisions of Longstreet's Corps, 17,000; Jackson's Corps,
33,500; Stuart's Cavalry, 2,700; Artillery, 5,000; add 4,000 on engineer,
hospital duty, etc. This estimate is exclusive of Stoneman's force.]
Both armies had spent the winter in much needed rest, after the
toilsome and exhausting marches and bloody battles which terminated
Lee's first invasion of Maryland. The discipline of our army was
excellent, and it would have been hard to find a finer body of men, or
better fighting material than that assembled on this occasion, in
readiness to open the spring campaign. Hooker was justly popular with
his troops. They had confidence in his ability as a general, and he had
gained their good will by anticipating their wants, and by generously
grating furloughs to those who were pining from home- sickness;
trusting that old associations and the honor of the men would induce
them to rejoin their colors when the leaves