Battle of Chancellorsville • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The Battle of Chancellorsville was fought in the first days of May, 1863. Chancellorsville was little more than a roadside inn at a crossroads ten miles west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Here Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeated the much larger army of Union Major General Joseph Hooker. Many historians consider this to be Lee’s greatest battle.
At the time the Battle of Chancellorsville was the costliest battle of the Civil War. In two months the Battle of Gettysburg would take away that distinction, but Chancellorsville remains today the fifth deadliest battle of the war. The loss of Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson might have been its most significant result. This was the man Lee called “his right arm.” Jackson planned and executed the flanking attack that turned Chancellorsville into a Confederate victory. But he was badly wounded by his own men at the height of the attack and died a few days later.
Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center
On this website
Tour the Battlefield following two virtual tours. One starts at the Visitor Canter and follows the National Park Auto Tour. The second follows the route of Jackson’s Flank March that led to the stunning surprise attack on the Union 11th Corps..
Explore the monuments and historical markers of the park. Each page has photos and a transcription of the text from the monument or marker as well as its map location.
The Armies at Chancellorsville provides the Order of Battle for the Federal Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. There are also links to more in-depth information about the individuals and units on a companion website, CivilWarintheEast.com.
Who fought in the Battle of Chancellorsville?
The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
57,400 men commanded by General Robert E. Lee
The Federal Army of the Potomac
97,400 men commanded by Major General Joseph Hooker
Hooker enjoyed an almost two to one advantage in numbers. Lee had detached two of his divisions under Longstreet to the south of of Richmond. He was also forced to scatter some of his cavalry and artillery to find fodder after a hard winter. Lee planned to bring most of these men back in the event of a Union assault. But Hooker moved so rapidly Lee was forced to fight the battle with the men he had.
 General Robert E. Lee
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 Major General Joseph Hooker |
How many people died in the Battle of Chancellorsville? How many casualties were there?
The Confederacy lost 1,724 killed, 9,233 wounded and 2,503 missing; about 13,500 total.
The Union lost 1,694 killed, 9,672 wounded and 5,938 missing; about 17,300 total.
Chancellorsville was the fifth costliest battle of the Civil War, and the bloodiest Civil War battle up to that time.
When was the Battle of Chancellorsville? How long did it last?
The Battle of Chancellorsville was fought at the end of April and the beginning of May in 1863. There are several different definitions for the start and end of the battle.
April 28-29: Hooker began his river crossings on the evening of the 28th and continued the next morning. The first shots were fired.
April 30: Hooker halted his advance and consolidated around Chancellorsville. The National Park Service considers this as the start of the battle.
May 1: Many historians consider this the true start of the battle, when the first fighting started between large bodies of infantry.
May 2 and 3: Saw the heaviest fighting. By the end of May 3 Hooker had been forced out of Chancellorsville and into a defensive perimeter around United States Ford. This was the last major fighting around Chancellorsville itself, and some historians consider May 3 the last day of the battle. In and around Fredericksburg Union forces stormed and captured the heights on May 3 They then advanced a few miles toward Chancellorsville.
May 4: Both armies were quietly on the defensive around Chancellorsville. West of Fredericksburg outnumbered Union forces fought a bloody battle around Salem Church and Bank’s Ford before retreating across the Rappahannock. Some historians consider this to be the last day of the battle.
May 5 and 6: Hooker’s main force retreated across the river with hardly a shot fired. Some historians (including the National Park Service) consider the 6th to be the final day of the battle.
See a more detailed timeline of the battle.
Where was the Battle of Chancellorsville fought?
The Battle of Chancellorsville was fought around Fredericksburg, Virginia. This is almost exactly half the hundred miles distance between Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. Fredericksburg is on the south bank of the Rappahannock River, a major water obstacle that could only be crossed at a handful of locations. Combined with several miles of low bluffs that followed the river, it was an excellent defensive position for Lee’s army.
The main Chancellorsville battlefield is about ten miles west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Other parts of the battle were fought just outside the town of Fredericksburg, often called the Second Battle of Fredericksburg. There was heavy fighting about four miles west of Fredericksburg, known as the Battle of Salem Church.
The main battle centered around a crossroads settlement on the turnpike called Chancellorsville. This was a single large brick building that served as an inn as well as the home to a large family. Much of the fighting was in the dense woods and a few small clearings of an area of scrubby second growth forest known as the Wilderness. The armies would return to this area ten months later in 1864, fighting another major battle a short distance to the west.
Why was the Battle of Chancellorsville fought?
This was the third attempt the North made to break through Lee’s lines along the Rappahannock River to take Richmond. The first, under Major General Ambrose Burnside, had led to the slaughter of thousands of Union soldiers at the foot of the high ground at Fredericksburg. Burnside’s second attempt had fizzled out in the infamous Mud March.
Hooker’s Plan
After Hooker replaced Burnside he devised a plan that would move his army across the river, away from the deadly bluffs of Fredericksburg. He left part of his army at Fredericksburg to threaten a crossing and keep Lee’s army pinned in place. Most of his army would move upstream behind Lee’s flank and cross the river at several fords. They would then swing back toward Lee’s rear. This would force Lee to either fight in the open ground behind the bluffs, or more likely, to fall back toward Richmond. Hooker looked forward to the fight. Unlike his predecessors, he had very accurate information on Lee’s strength, and he knew he had the larger army. Hooker believed he could defeat Lee in a defensive battle.
Lee’s Response
The plan started out amazingly well. Hooker’s army moved fast and appeared on Lee’s flank before he could react to contest the fords or prevent Hooker’s forces from concentrating south of the river. But instead of obliging Hooker by retreating, Lee left a small covering force at Fredericksburg and moved to attack.
Lee’s army was already much smaller than Hooker’s. A quarter of Lee’s infantry had been detached south of Richmond and could not be brought back to the Rappahannock in time. But Lee split his forces even more. A small blocking force would try to hold the bluffs at Fredericksburg. Two divisions under Lee’s personal command would hold back Hooker around the crossroads at Chancellorsville. And Lee would send the majority of his army under Jackson on a march around the Union army to launch an attack into its flank and rear.
The flank march was Jackson’s plan, and it fell like a thunderbolt on the unsuspecting Union forces. It completely disrupted Hooker’s plans and gave Lee the initiative from that point on. Its fault was that it was launched late in the day, and as darkness fell the attack slowed and stalled. Jackson rode out ahead of his men to keep the momentum moving and to drive the Federals back acros the river – and was shot down by his own men in the darkness and confusion.
Who won the Battle of Chancellorsville?
The battle was a decisive Southern victory. The North lost more men. They abandoned their attack and withdrew back across the Rappahannock River to their starting point. But many on the Union side wondered why they retreated. There was still plenty of fight in most of the army. The Fifth Corps had only taken moderate losses and the First Corps had hardly been engaged. The answer was that Hooker lost his nerve. His army wasn’t beaten, but he was.
What were the results of the Battle of Chancellorsville?
Lee had stopped the larger Union army from advancing on Richmond. He took the initiative from Hooker, who lost the confidence of his army, his generals and the Lincoln administration. Hooker was unable to put together another advance, leaving Lee free to make the next move.
But the South lost one of its best generals, “Stonewall” Jackson, mortally wounded by friendly fire. What he might have done if he had lived can only be speculation. But there is no doubt he was sorely missed in the upcoming Gettysburg campaign.
Why was the Battle of Chancellorsville important?
Although it is generally considered his greatest battle, Lee was frustrated by Chancellorsville. He told a government official shortly afterward that he “was more depressed than after Fredericksburg; our loss was severe, and again we had gained not an inch of ground and the enemy could not be pursued.”
Lee came to believe that his only hope for victory was to strike into Northern territory and defeat his enemy in open country. A battlefield victory could then be followed up with the occupation of one or more major northern cities. This would lead to the collapse of the northern war effort. President Davis approved. In early June the Army of Northern Virginia began to slip away from the Rappahannock to begin the long march that would lead to Gettysburg.
