050 - Lee’s Finest Hour: Chancellorsville

About this episode: 

In mid-April of 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker oozed with confidence. So assured was he about his offensive preparations to defeat and, in his mind, destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, he remarked to a group of his officers, "My plans are perfect, and when I start to carry them out, may God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none." This is not the story of Joseph Hooker's greatest success, but that of the man he faced. For our 50th podcast, this is the story of Robert E. Lee's greatest and, perhaps, costliest victory. This is the story of Chancellorsville.

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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:

Joseph Hooker

Daniel Butterfield

George H. Sharpe

Robert E. Lee

James Longstreet

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson

George Meade

 

Additional Resources:

Hooker's Plan

 

Military Situation, April 30th 1863 and Movements Since April 27th

 

Actions, May 1st, 1863

 

Actions, May 2nd, 1863

 

Actions, Early Morning May 3rd, 1863

 

Actions, 10am - 5pm May 3rd, 1863

 

Actions, May 4th - May 6th, 1863

 

Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

 

**Title Image by Time Life

**Map Images 1 & 3-7 by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

**Map Image 2 by United States Military Academy

 

Producer: Dan Irving

 

Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org