The Battle of Chancellorsville, from Jackson’s stunning flank attack to the withdrawal of the immense Union army under cover of darkness, is considered Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory. He had won it without Longstreet and with less than half as many soldiers as his enemy. But at terrible cost. There were 30,500 casualties in all in three days of fighting: 17,197 Union and 13,303 Confederate. And the indomitable Jackson was convalescing miles behind the lines. “Jackson has lost his left arm,” Lee told Lacy. “But I my right arm.”20 Fifty miles away, in Washington, Lincoln’s reaction to Hooker’s
...more
