Against the Odds - 55 - Lee's Greatest Victory

The Chancellorsville campaign, which took place in and around Virginia’s Wilderness in May 1863, is considered by many to be Robert E. Lee’s masterpiece, a true triumph “against the odds.” Opposing Lee was Union commander Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker, who had devised a plan that seemed assured of success. His cavalry would raid deep behind Confederate lines, cutting Lee’s supplies, while Hooker and four of his seven infantry corps would march west, then south, and appear behind the Confederate defenses opposite the city of Fredericksburg. Lee would be compelled to withdraw south, in which case he would be pursued, or he would be compelled to attack with his numerically inferior army to avoid being crushed between the hammer and anvil of Hooker’s forces. “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none,” Hooker declared.