In his centennial history of the Civil War, Never Call Retreat, Catton titles his chapter on Chancellorsville, "The Darkness, and Jackson, and Fear".
In looking for the causes of the loss of Chancellorsville, the primary ones were that Hooker expected Lee to fall back without risking battle. Finding himself mistaken he assumed the defensive, and was outgeneraled and became demoralized by the superior tactical boldness of the enemy.Here is a wealth of study links
The map below shows troop dispositions at the final stages of the battle when Hooker (blue) planned his retreat back across the river in defeat. Those of you interested in military tactics and strategy may see here signs of the moral dominance Lee held over Hooker. What does this map tell you?
What would Lee have done here if he commanded the blue formations instead of the red? What would you have done with the two Corps of Reynolds and Howard?
A soldier's account: "Among the rank and file of largely uneducated Union Soldiers in the Civil War, Sergeant Rice C. Bull was an exception--a sensitive and perceptive man whose diary vividly describes the training, daily routine and combat that was the life of an infantryman. Among the memorable passages are those of the Battle of Chancellorsville and of marching with Sherman through a devastated Georgia to the sea."
Review of this book:
Rice Bull's regiment: 123rd New York
West Point study of the Battle of Chancellorsville Quick View of this study
From Student of the American Civil War: The Chancellorsville Campaign
3 comments:
I have a couple of questions.
You say "This battle was not so much a battle of the Army of Northern Virginia vs. the Army of the Potomac as it was a moral struggle between Robert E. Lee and General Joseph Hooker."
In another thing that you posted, you said: "Those of you interested in military tactics and strategy may see here signs of the moral dominance Lee held over Hooker."
Could you explain how you're using the phrase "moral dominance" here? How could a map show Lee's morals and how they dominated the morals of Joe Hooker?
The second question is how could this map show the troops' dispositions (meaning attitudes, character, etc). Or do you mean "positions"?
Thanks,
Eric
http://www.civilwarnews.com/reviews/2010br/oct/chickamauga-powell-b101020.html Troop dispositions:
"There are 16 map sets, each containing from five to 15 maps, showing troop dispositions and movements, with a facing page of text discussing the action depicted on each map."
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2013/042013/04282013/754813/index_html?page=4 Moral domination of Hooker: "....is the perfect collapse of the moral courage of Hooker as soon as he found himself in the actual presence of Lee & Jackson."
And: http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Road-bloody-Fredericksburg-Gettysburg/dp/B0007FA7YW; "....after a most promising start under Hooker, that intriguer's star fell with his inability to exercise moral courage at Chancellorsville."
I'll be happy to give you more if you like, Eric. Thank you.
Okay, so when you say "morals" as in "moral courage" and "moral domination," you don't mean that Lee's morals were higher/better than Hooker's morals and that's why he won the battle.
To have moral courage is to take risks, etc due to your convictions. Hooker lost confidence in himself and his abilities.
I guess it's just a strange way to word it. It's a very victorian way, of course. But strange given the use of the word "moral" these days. For instance, both Lee's and Hooker's morals kind of sicken me. Though, I do believe that Lee fought for his morals and Hooker was just doing his job/duty. When you're just doing your job, it's easy to lose morale when things go wrong. But if you truly believe in your cause, you're more likely to stick to your guns under adversity.
Is this what you mean by "moral domination"?
As for "disposition," I think it's just a common misuse of the word "position." Positions are physical and can be shown on maps. Dispositions are subtle and generally can't be. It's a little thing, but just trying to clarify. I was mostly interested in the "moral" idea.
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