Ok. The first battle at Fredericksburg was December, 1862, Lee against Burnside
The
next battle was five months later, April 27 - May 6, 1863, Lee against
Hooker. It was actually a dual attack at Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville. I suppose it's referred to only as Chancellorsville
so as not to confuse folks with the first battle.
Union General Sedgwick DID take the stone wall on Sunken Road at
Fredericksburg this time - only to have it taken back by the rebels
pretty quickly.
Meanwhile,
10 miles west, Lee discovered Hooker's main force trying to advance in
the area around Chancellorsville. Now, just because a name ends in
"ville" doesn't mean it's a village.
Chancellorsville was actually nothing more than a huge home at a
crossroad.
Those Southern ladies stood on their balcony throwing verbal
misery at Hooker and the Union army that was taking over their home. Ultimately,
the house would burn down and those same ladies would be begging those
same Union soldiers to save them - and they did.
Everyone
was jubilant about Hooker's plan - so much so that Lincoln tried to
moderate feelings by saying, "The hen is the wisest of all creation
animals - she doesn't cackle until after she's laid her egg."
Lee
realized Hooker's weak spot was his right flank. So, Lee sent one of
his favorite general's, "Stonewall" Jackson, meandering in the dark (but
very, very quickly in the dark) down 12 miles of skinny backroads to
strike at that Achille's heel. (Does everyone know why it's called an
Achille's heel? Check your mythology.)
In
the dark, Jackson came upon some other Confederates and was shot by
friendly fire. His arm was amputated and buried there (a shrine was
built over the spot ) (eeew), and Jackson died shortly thereafter from
pneumonia from the injury and surgery. Lee won a great victory because
of Jackson's late night ride, but lost a great general in the process.
These back to back victories propelled Lee to the North in June to a little town called Gettysburg...
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