Union General Daniel Sickles

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On April 27, 1863, Hooker sent three army corps on a wide flanking movement to cross the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers and get on Lee’s left flank and rear. His cavalry force, under Brig. Gen. George Stoneman, would swing south toward Richmond to disrupt Lee’s lines of communication and supply. Two corps would remain in front of Fredericksburg to confuse Lee as to Hooker’s real intentions. The remaining two corps, including Sickles’, were held in reserve, ready to go wherever they might be needed.

Over the next two days, the three advanced corps crossed the rivers, and by the evening of April 30 they were encamped at their designated rendezvous site around the tiny crossroads hamlet of Chancellorsville, 11 miles west of Fredericksburg. There, brimming with enthusiasm at the initial success of his plan, Hooker established his headquarters in the Chancellor house and issued General Order No. 47 to his army. He announced, The operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him.

The next morning, May 1, brought with it an incomprehensible change in Hooker’s spirit and behavior. As his advanced units waited anxiously for orders to attack, Hooker somehow lost his nerve. After his advanced corps made initial contact with Rebel forces, he issued orders to fall back, dig in and await Lee’s attack. Hooker, who had sneered at the caution and hesitation of previous commanders, now was himself overwhelmed by caution and hesitation. With Lee finally aware of the Federal threat and turning to meet it, Hooker shifted from the offensive to the defensive. At that moment, with his army on the brink of victory, he surrendered the initiative to Lee, who immediately seized it.

Early that same morning, Sickles’ corps marched up the Rappahannock from its position across from Fredericksburg, crossed the river at U.S. Ford and arrived at Chancellorsville shortly after noon. Upon arrival, the 19,000-man corps was placed behind the lines in reserve. The prospect of holding his corps as a reserve force did not appeal to Sickles’ combative nature. He soon discovered what looked like a weak spot in the army’s defensive line between the XI and XII corps, and with Hooker’s approval, he ordered Brig. Gen. David Birney to move his division into the line to fill the gap. The divisions of Maj. Gens. Hiram Berry and Amiel Whipple remained in reserve.

By daybreak on May 2, most of the army was entrenched around Chancellorsville. The V Corps anchored the left of the Union line on the Rappahannock, facing southeast. The II and XII corps, curving south and then west around the crossroads, faced east and south. The XI Corps held the right flank, strung out to the west along the Orange Turnpike, facing south. Between the XII and XI corps, Sickles’ III Corps held a line that bulged to the south at the elevated clearing of Hazel Grove.

At about 8 a.m., Birney’s lookouts in the treetops at Hazel Grove spotted a Confederate column moving west and south on the Catherine Furnace Road, about 1,600 yards away. Birney dispatched messengers to inform Sickles, who hurried to Hazel Grove to evaluate the situation for himself. Sickles later claimed that he realized that the Confederate movement was no feint and concluded that the Rebels were either in full retreat or were marching around the Union right flank. His aggressive instincts were aroused, and watching a continuous column of enemy troops moving across his front was more than Sickles could tolerate. He reported the movement to Hooker and appealed for permission to attack.

News of the enemy movement perplexed Hooker, who unhappily realized that Lee was not going to cooperate with his carefully devised plan. Presented with a chance to regain the initiative, Hooker, not knowing whether Lee was retreating or moving to flank him, again hesitated. He sent an order to Maj. Gen. Oliver Howard, commander of the XI Corps, warning him to prepare for a possible flank attack from the west.

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Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures

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