re: The Will of a Southerner to a roaring Confederacy victory - The Battle of Chancellorsville

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Lee didn't just want to defeat Hooker at Chancellorsville, he wanted to destroy him. While the South rejoiced after their victory at Chancellorsville, Lee lamented at having failed to deal a decisive blow to the Army of the Potomac.

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Understood, and that was Lee’s goal at Gettysburg.

What was Hooker’s goal? To flank Lee’s strong defensive position at Fredericksburg and take Richmond. He was in position to do that had Lee not boldly split his army and left a minimal force at Fredericksburg and surprised the cautious Hooker at Chancellorsville.

The winning play was for Hooker to push to Richmond while communicating with Sedgwick at Fredericksburg to use their superior numbers to beat Lee who could not defend against both forces.

Hooker’s incompetence allowed Lee to take the offensive and almost envelope a stronger Union force at Chancellorsville. Lee went all in on the attack risking a huge loss in hopes of pulling off a military miracle. He failed to destroy Hooker, but he put the North on the defensive until Gettysburg where he lost any chance to threaten the North by once again trying to destroy a superior force.