The Battle of Chancellorsville, Day 2 - May 2, 1863 - 157 years ago today

JACKSON'S FLANK ATTACK

The first day of the Battle of Chancellorsville had been a moderate-sized engagement involving the XII Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac, as well as elements of the XI and V Corps. They had faced off against the divisions of Richard Anderson and Lafayette McLaws of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Instead of pressing the battle and holding onto the high ground around Zoan Church, Major General Joseph Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac, had ordered a withdrawal back into the Wilderness. This move had angered Hooker's key subordinates. Nevertheless, the Union army began digging entrenchments around the crossroads known as Chancellorsville.

Despite retiring behind strong defensive works, Robert E. Lee - commanding the Army of Northern Virginia - was ever the aggressor and wanted to attack Hooker while his opposite number was least expecting it. On the evening of May 1, it was decided that Stonewall Jackson would take a force of roughly 28,000 men on a circuitous march and attack the exposed Union right flank - held by the XI Corps, under the command of Major General Oliver O. Howard. This would leave Lee with just 13,000 men to defend against the balance of Hooker's 75,000 men.

The march was scheduled to begin at dawn, May 2, but delays kept the march from starting until 7:30 AM. As the flanking march got underway, it came under fire of artillery from federal positions at Hazel Grove. Thinking this large body of Confederates marching on the road signaled a retreat, Daniel Sickles - commander of the III Corps - petitioned Hooker for permission to chase after them. That permission was given and Sickles attacked the rear of Jackson's column was David Birney's division. They were soon joined by elements of the XI and XII Corps.

Jackson's corps slowly snaked around the right flank of the Army of the Potomac, with the head of the column arriving at the jump off point on the Orange Turnpike sometime around 3 PM. It would take almost two full hours for Jackson's men to form into line of battle. His opponent - the XI Corps - had reason to believe that a large body of Confederate infantry lay directly in front of them in the woods. Despite numerous reports from front line soldiers and officers, Howard - the XI Corps commander - and Hooker refused to believe that Confederates were in force on the right. As a result, the XI Corps remained "in the air" and facing the wrong direction.

At 5:30 PM, Jackson ordered his 28,000 men forward and they fell directly on the flank of the XI Corps - causing the extreme right division under the command of Charles Devens to collapse almost instantaneously. The next division in line, under the command of Carl Schurz, was able to hold for 20 crucial minute before giving way to the weight of Confederate numbers. Adolph von Steinwehr's division was next in line and, while they put up a good effort, they too broke for the rear.

The sudden collapse of the XI Corps line went unnoticed by most of the rest of the Army of the Potomac. It wasn't until fugitives from that corps started to stream into the grounds of the Chancellor mansion that anyone at army headquarters realized a crisis had befallen Howard's corps. Hooker and a division commander in the II Corps, Winfield Hancock, quickly went about reorganizing the panicked men into a strong defensive line to be sent back toward the rising sound of battle.

The Confederate forces under Jackson were just as disorganized in victory as the XI Corps was in defeat. About a half mile to the east of the original line held by the XI Corps, Jackson was forced to waste valuable time getting his men reorganized in the fields around Wilderness Church before continuing their advance against the fleeing Federals. Just before sundown, however, Jackson's two lead divisions had run out of steam. So he called upon the Light Division of A.P. Hill to continue the advance and cut off the Union army's line of retreat by capturing the U.S. Ford road. Hill obeyed his orders to carry on the advance by darkness soon called a halt to his attack short of the objecting Jackson had laid out for him.

While Jackson's flank attack, the most famous of the American Civil War, had been a smashing success...tactically and strategically...it accomplished very little. The XI Corps had been routed from the field but the I Corps would be on the field by morning to replace those losses. The battle was still far from over and now Lee's army was effectively split into two.

Casualties between the two forces in the assault were lighter than you would expect. The XI Corps suffered 2,400 casualties (killed, wounded, or captured) while Jackson's corps suffered some 1,000 casualties (killed and wounded). When the amount of men captured are subtracted from the total, the numbers are 1,600 vs. 1,000 - not a statistically different amount.

The Battle of Chancellorsville, Day Two - May 3, 1863


THE WOUNDING OF STONEWALL JACKSON

Frustrated by his corps' failure to deal a crushing blow to the Army of the Potomac, Jackson executed a dangerous night reconnaissance beyond his own lines as a precursor to a rare night attack against the Union positions. While observing the sounds of Union soldiers digging entrenchments, Jackson concluded that a night attack was off the table. He and his staff turned around and went back the way they came. The time was 9:15 PM.

Jackson and his staff were incorrectly identified as Union cavalry as they returned to their lines, and the men of the 18th North Carolina opened fire. Jackson was hit with three non-life threatening injuries, but his arm was broken and was diagnosed as needed to be amputated. Jackson was rushed from the field and command of his corps passed to A.P. Hill, but he would hold it only for a few minutes.

Union gunners at Fairview, about 1,600 yards from Hazel Grove, heard the gunfire emitting from where Jackson was wounded and opened fire with artillery. One shell ended up wounding Hill and thus command of Jackson's corps passed from Hill to Jeb Stuart - Lee's able cavalry commander.

While Jackson had inflicted chaos on the Union lines on May 2, his flank attack failed in its objective to crush the Union army. The Army of the Potomac was still safe behind its entrenchments and still outnumbered Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia by a count of 75,000 to 45,000. What was worse? Lee's army was now effectively cut in two and could be destroyed in detail should Hooker attack. As a result of this, Lee would have to take the offensive on May 3.

The bloodiest day of fighting of the Battle of Chancellorsville was mere hours away.