This Day In History | Civil War May 2, 1863 Jackson flanks Hooker at Chancellorsville

Stonewall Jackson administers a devastating defeat to the Army of the Potomac. In one of the most stunning upsets of the war, a vastly outnumbered Army of Northern Virginia sent the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General Joseph Hooker, back to Washington in defeat.

Hooker, who headed for Lee's army confident and numerically superior, had sent part of his force to encounter Lee's troops at Fredericksburg the day before, while the rest swung west to approach Lee from the rear. Meanwhile, Lee had left part of his army at Fredericksburg and had taken the rest of his troops to confront Hooker near Chancellorsville. When the armies collided on May 1, Hooker withdrew into a defensive posture.

Sensing Hooker's trepidation, Lee sent Jackson along with 28,000 troops on a swift, 14-mile march around the Union right flank. Splitting his army into three parts in the face of the mighty Army of the Potomac was a bold move, but it paid huge dividends for the Confederates. Although Union scouts detected the movement as Jackson swung southward, Hooker misinterpreted the maneuver as a retreat. When Jackson's troops swung back north and into the thick woods west of Hooker's army, Union pickets reported a possible buildup; but their warnings fell on deaf ears.

In the evening of May 2, Union soldiers from General Oliver Otis Howard's 11th Corps were casually cooking their supper and playing cards when waves of forest animals charged from the woods. Behind them were Jackson's attacking troops. The Federal flank crumbled as Howard's men were driven back some two miles before stopping the Rebel advance.

I really enjoy these fascinating posts on our history that is continuously fading...

Off Topic, but I forgot to post this one the other day. I work literally on the battlefield. There is a park next door that commemorates the battle as it was the cemetary. Almost all the people in Toronto forgot to mark the anniversary with exception to historian Mike Filey (article), and a Newfoundland Regiment that placed a beautiful wreath at the memorial to remember the dead of both sides.

I found an account on microfiche that gives a much more accurate history on the battle (albeit it's bias is heavily on the Canadian side). Essentially, every able-bodied man in York picked up a gun for the fight. They held up pretty well as the casualty numbers attest, but the US Navy had 40-plus 32-pounder cannons bombarding all day out of range of a few UC 6-pounders (The Brit Navy was locked in by ice in Kingston). That's the smart way to win a battle!

Here is what Wikipedia has to say (it's somewhat distorted, so I added some things):

Battle of York

Part of the War of 1812

Date: April 27, 1813

Location: Present day Toronto, Ontario

Result: Pyrrhic American victory

Combatants

Britain(& Upper Canadian Citizens)/United States

Commanders:

UC: Roger Sheaffe, USA: Zebulon Pike †, Isaac Chauncey, Henry Dearborn

Strength:

Upper Canada: 400 regulars, militia, and natives USA: 2,000

Casualties: UC: 150 dead or wounded, USA: 320 dead or Wounded

The Battle of York was a battle of the War of 1812 on April 27, 1813, at York, Upper Canada, which was later to become Toronto, Ontario.

Background

The Americans planned on sailing from Sackett's Harbor across Lake Ontario to Kingston, but the British learned of the plan and sent reinforcements from New Brunswick. Although Kingston was more important from a military perspective, Commodore Isaac Chauncey and General Henry Dearborn planned instead to sail to York.

Landings

British General Roger Sheaffe saw the Americans coming, but was unsure of their landing spot; the fleet landed west of York on April 27. Unfortunately Sheaffe's troops did not arrive at the landing site before the approximately 2000 American troops had already come ashore. Dearborn placed Brigadier-General Zebulon Pike in charge of the landing.

The battle

Under fire from the much larger American force, Sheaffe's troops retreated back into Fort York. When Sheaffe realized he couldn't stop the Americans he blew up the hundreds of barrels of gunpowder in the fort and set fire to HMS Isaac Brock, which was being constructed in the harbour. The explosion mortally wounded General Pike. Another frigate, HMS Duke of Gloucester, was completed and sailed away from York days before the battle. Sheaffe then retreated, leaving the York militia to surrender.

Results

The Americans pillaged and burned York, and captured supplies meant for use on Lake Erie and the Detroit frontier. (Canada's first Parliament Buildings - The Legislative Assembly, the Senate and the Library - were burned to the ground) American troops, seeking redress for past losses in the province, looted and vandalized homes and burned public buildings. Dearborn deplored the worst of the atrocities in his letters, but he was nonetheless unable or unwilling to rein in his soldiers. He declared the province conquered, but his superiors criticized his failure to capture the frigate Isaac Brock. Both the American and British generals soon lost their commands. Although the captured supplies allowed for the success at the Battle of Lake Erie later in 1813, the attack also helped provoke the burning of Washington, D.C. in 1814. The United States, in failing to attack and take Kingston, never gained full control over Upper Canada; in fact, the Americans only held York for five days before abandoning it.

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