WAR!!!!!

1)                                                              April 26 - May 1, 1863

        Morale in the Federal Army of the Potomac rose with the appointment of Joseph Hooker to command. Hooker wanted to strike at Lee's army while a good portion was detached under Longstreet in the Suffolk area. The Federal cavalry would open the campaign with a raid on Lee's line of communications with the Confederate capital at Richmond. Convinced that Lee would have to retreat, Hooker trusted that his troops could defeat the Confederates as they tried to escape his trap. On April 29, Hooker's cavalry and three army corps crossed Kelly's Ford. His columns split; with the cavalry pushing to the west while the army corps secured Getmanna and Ely's fords. The next day these columns reunited at Chancellorsville. Confederate reinforcements under Stonewall Jackson marched to help block the Federal advance, but did not arrive until May 1. The Confederates had no intention of retreating as Hooker had predicted. Hooker's troops rested at Chancellorsville after executing what is often considered to be the most daring marches of the war. They had slipped across Lee's front undetected. To some the hardest part of the campaign seemed to be behind them; to others, the most difficult had yet to be encountered. The cavalry raid had faltered in its initial efforts and Hooker's main force was trapped in the tangles of the Wilderness without any cavalry to alert them of Lee's approach.

As the Federal army met at Chancellorsville, General Hooker expected Lee to retreat from his forces, which totaled 115,000. Although heavily outnumbered with just under 60,000 troops. The Confederate commander divided his army: one part remained to guard Fredericksburg, while the other raced west to meet Hooker's advance. When the van of Hooker's column clashed with the Confederates' on May 1, Hooker pulled his troops back to Chancellorsville, a lone tavern at a crossroads in a dense wood known locally as The Wilderness. Here Hooker took up a defensive line, hoping Lee's need to carry out an uncoordinated attack through the dense undergrowth would leave the Confederate forces disorganized and vulnerable. Striking two hours before dusk, Jackson's men routed the astonished Federals in their camps. In the gathering darkness, amid the brambles of the Wilderness, the Confederate line became confused and halted at 9 p.m. to regroup. Riding in front of the lines to reconnoiter, Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot and seriously wounded by his own men. Later that night, his left arm was amputated just below the shoulder. On May 3, Jackson's successor, General J.E.B. Stuart, initiated the bloodiest day of the battle when attempting to reunite his troops with Lee's. Despite an obstinate defense by the Federals, Hooker ordered them to withdraw north of the Chancellor House. The Confederates were converging on Chancellorsville to finish Hooker when a message came from Jubal Early that Federal troops had broken through at Fredericksburg. At Salem Church, Lee threw a cordon around these Federals, forcing them to retreat across the Rappahannock. Disappointed, Lee returned to Chancellorsville, only to find that Hooker had also retreated across the river. Chancellorsville is considered Lee's greatest victory, although the Confederate commander's daring and skill met little resistance from the inept generalship of Joseph Hooker. Using cunning, and dividing their forces repeatedly, the massively outnumbered Confederates drove the Federal army from the battlefield.                                       

I was important to the war first of all because it killed off a lot of union troops including General Hooker who was accidentally shot by his own men. It also lowered the moral of the union because they were beaten by a much smaller force. It was also one of Lee’s greatest victory.

The battle was fought because the Union army crossed the Rappahannock River, causing the Confederate army to retaliate.

Some key figures were General Robert E. Lee, General Joseph Hooker, and General Stonewall Jackson

2) The first drawing of modern santa claus is published in harpers weekly-jan.3 (Harvard University)

ground is broken for construction of first transcontinintel railroad in sacramento-jan. 8 (North Carolina Business)

first section of london underground railroad under construction-jan. 10 (Harvard University)

Alason crane patents a fire extinguisher- feb. 10 (Harvard University)

 

3) Losses – over 30,000 for both sides

    Food was in very short supply. Even though the farms and plantations of the South could produce enough to feed the Confederate Army, the limited transportation system made it difficult to send the food where it was needed before it spoiled. In addition, some Southern farmers found that their crops were ruined by violent battles and military movements. As a result of these factors, the Confederate soldiers ate mostly cornbread and beef and were hungry much of the time. The men sometimes gambled their paychecks for extra food rations and could trade food for such luxuries as tobacco or stationery. Despite the hardships they faced, however, the troops from both the North and the South managed to keep their spirits up. "On each side the soldier realized that he personally was getting the worst of it, and when he had time he felt very sorry for himself," Bruce Catton wrote in The Civil War. "But mostly he did not have the time, and his most frequent mood was never one of self-pity. Mostly he was ready for whatever came to him."

Civil war Union – $59,631 million

Civil War: Confederacy – $20,111 million

Spanish American War – $9,034 million

World War I – $334 billion

World War II – $4,104 billion

Korea – $341 billion

Vietnam – $738 billion

Persian Gulf War – $102 billion

General "Stone Wall" Jackson

General Joseph Hooker

General Robert E. Lee

Works Cited

Chadwick, Randy. The Battle of Chancellorsville - May 1st to May 5th, 1863. 2001. History of Revisions. 7 february 2012 <http://www.brotherswar.com/Chancellorsville-11.htm>.

Daggett, Stephen. "Costs of Major U.S. Wars." Costs of Major U.S. Wars. Ed. Congressional Research Service. Trans. Congressional Research Service. Prod. Congressional Research Service. Congressional Research Service, 29 June 2010.

Davis, Burke. The Price in Blood! Casualties in the Civil War. 2000. 7 february 2012 <http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm>.

Heron, Fritzi. Clyde Heron Gallery. Ed. Clyde Heron Gallery. 24 february 2011. Clyde Heron Gallery. 7 february 2012 <http://www.heronartconnection.com/clydegallery.php>.

Museum, The California State Military. Major General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. Ed. The California State Military Museum. 4 December 1998. The California State Military Museum. 7 february 2012 <http://www.militarymuseum.org/Hooker.html>.

OTVS, LLC. Stonewall Jackson American Civil War general . Ed. LLC OTVS. 2002. LLC OTVS. 7 February 2012 <http://www.onthisveryspot.com/find/intro.php?ent_web_name=Stonewall_Jackson>.

Records, The Official. The Battle of Chancellorsville. Ed. The Official Records. 2001. The Official Records. 7 February 2012 <http://www.civilwarhome.com/chancell.htm>.