Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville
Lsn 11
Lincoln’s Command Problems
• After Antietam, McClellan
kept the army in western
Maryland until Oct 1862
– Lincoln could not find a
general that would
aggressively fight the war
– He’d already been through
McDowell, McClellan,
Pope, and McClellan again
– On Nov 7, he relieved
McClellan and replaced
him with Ambrose Burnside
Fredericksburg
• In spite of his early
success on the North
Carolina coast,
Burnside was very
modest and did not
think he was up for the
job
• He tried to decline the
responsibility, but
Lincoln insisted
Fredericksburg
• Within a week of assuming
command, Burnside launched
a new “On to Richmond”
campaign
• The plan was to slide past
Lee’s right flank and cross the
Rappahannock River at
Fredericksburg, about fifty
miles north of Richmond
• Burnside would have to cross
the Rappahannock quickly
before the Confederates could
oppose him in force
Fredericksburg
• In order to cross the river
Burnside would need to
build a pontoon bridge but
the necessary materials did
not arrive until December
• By then Lee had plenty of
time to concentrate in and
around the town
• This development made
Burnside’s plan obsolete
but he continued with it
anyway
• On Dec 11 the Federals
began crossing the river
Fredericksburg
• Lee did not contest the
town, instead basing
his defense on the
nearly impregnable
positions on Marye’s
Heights just west of
Fredericksburg
• One of Longstreet’s
artillerists commented,
“A chicken could not
live on that field when
we open fire on it.”
Marye’s Heights
Fredericksburg
• Defending the town itself was
Brigadier General William
Barksdale and 1,600
Mississippians
• Burnside unleashed a huge
artillery bombardment to try to
protect his engineers’ efforts to
build bridges
• Barksdale’s men took shelter in
basements, emerged virtually
unharmed, and continued to
harass the engineers
William Barksdale
Fredericksburg
• Eventually Burnside
realized artillery alone
wouldn’t do the job and
launched a makeshfit
amphibious assault
• Barksdale continued to
harass the infantry and
made an orderly street
by street withdrawal,
falling back to the
Confederate position at
Marye’s Heights
The Mississippians taught the
Federals “the lesson which artillerists
must learn anew in each generation–
that a bombardment which will
destroy buildings will not necessarily
keep brave defenders from fighting on
amid the wreckage.” (Bruce Catton)
Fredericksburg
• Lee had some 20,000 men
under Longstreet on Marye's
Heights behind a stone wall at
the crest of the ridge
• To guard against a Federal
crossing downstream, south of
the city, Lee had the rest of his
men to the south under
Jackson along hills in another
excellent defensive position
• On Dec 13, Burnside made six
major assaults against Marye’s
Heights
– All failed
Fredericksburg
• The constricted
battlefield prevented
Lee from
counterattacking the
weakened Federal
army
• The Federals lost over
12,500 men
• The Confederates
less than 5,500
– Lee summarized, “It is
well that war is so
terrible, or we should
grow too fond of it.”
The Stonewall at Fredericksburg
Frontal attack
• The frontal attack is
frequently the most costly
form of maneuver, since it
exposes the majority of the
attackers to the concentrated
fires of the defenders.
• As the most direct form of
maneuver, however, the
frontal attack is useful for
overwhelming light defenses,
covering forces, or
disorganized enemy
resistance.
Fredericksburg
• After Fredericksburg,
Burnside desperately tried
to flank Lee with a
surprise crossing of the
Rappahannock south of
Fredericksburg by his
main army and a cavalry
raid crossing at Kelly’s
Ford and striking Lee’s
supply lines
• Burnsides’ subordinates
had lost confidence in him
and they notified Lincoln
of the plan
• Lincoln put a halt to it as
being too risky
Joseph Hooker was among those
whose criticism of Burnside
bordered on insubordination
Fredericksburg
• Burnside revised the
plan to move upstream
and cross at Banks’
Ford
• He began on Jan 23,
1863 and heavy rains
produced a two-day
“Mud March” that
stymied the offensive
• Amid more complaints
from his subordinates,
Burnside returned to
camp near
Fredericksburg
“The Mud March” by Mort Kunstler
Chancellorsville
• Hooker replaced Burnside after Fredericksburg
• “You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds,
does good rather than harm; but I think that during
General Burnside’s command of the Army you have
taken counsel with your ambition, and thwarted him as
much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to
the country…. I have heard, in such way as to believe
it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the
Government needed a Dictator. Of course it was not
this, but in spite of it, that I have given you command.
Only those generals who gain success can set up
dictators. What I now ask of you is military success,
and I will risk the dictatorship…”
– Abraham Lincoln
Chancellorsville
• Hooker had about
110,000 troops and
Lee has just 59,500
• Hooker planned to
envelop Lee with
Sedgwick fixing Lee
across the
Rappahannock from
Fredericksburg and
Hooker moving
southeast from
Chancellorsville to
crush him
Chancellorsville
• Lee discovered
Hooker’s plan,
concluded
Hooker’s divided
army presented
an opportunity,
and plannned his
own envelopment
• “[Lee’s] very name
might be
Audacity!”
– Colonel Joseph
Ives
Chancellorsville
• As Lee began to attack,
Hooker lost his nerve and
ordered a withdrawal
• Hooker’s generals couldn’t
believe it
– “Nobody but a crazy man
would give such an order
when we have victory in
sight! I shall go and see
General Hooker myself,
and if I find out that you
have spoken falsely, you
shall be shot on my
return.”
• General Henry Slocum to
the messenger who
delivered him Hooker’s
order
Chancellorsville
• In the Civil War, the cavalry served an important
intelligence-gathering function, acting as the
commanders “eyes and ears”
• Especially at the beginning of the war, the
Confederacy enjoyed a marked advantage in
cavalry
– Jeb Stuart in particular provided valuable and timely
reconnaissance for Lee
– Stuart had a great knack for interpreting what he saw
on his rides and providing Lee with a perceptive
intelligence summation
– The Federal Army had no counterpart equivalent to
Stuart, and Federal commanders had great difficulty in
determining the location and strength of Confederate
forces
Chancellorsville
• Hooker had ill-advisedly
dispatched his cavalry on a
raid against Lee’s
communications
– Hooker therefore had no good
intelligence about Lee
• On the other hand, Stuart
had brought Lee information
that Hooker’s flank was “in
the air”
Chancellorsville
• Lee planned an
envelopment
• Kept 14,000
men to attack
Hooker’s front
and sent
Jackson with
28,000 to
attack Hooker’s
flank
Chancellorsville
• Jackson crashed into the
exposed Federal right
flank
– “…. every sort of
organization that lay
in the path of the mad
current of panic
stricken men, had to
give way and be
broken into
fragments.”
• Major General Oliver
Howard, commander
XI Corps
Chancellorsville
• Brilliant Confederate
victory
– But at the cost of
Jackson who was
mistakenly shot by his
own men while on
reconnaissance
– Jackson “has lost his left
arm; but I have lost my
right arm.”
• Lee on learning of
Jackson’s wound
Chancellorsville: Leadership
• Why did Hooker fail?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Shell shocked?
Coward?
Drunk?
Not drunk?
Nervous breakdown?
Out-generalled?
Unintelligent?
Afraid of Lee?
Chancellorsville: Leadership
• “For once I lost confidence in Hooker, and
that is all there was to it.”
– Hooker explaining his performance at
Chancellorsville
• …. but, if superior leadership won
Chancellorsville for the Confederates, the
loss of Jackson would present profound
future leadership challenges for Lee
Next
• Gettysburg