After receiving the message, Jackson spent the day searching out the enemy’s positions by throwing forward skirmishing parties and in reconnaissance of the topography of the area. Information from reconnaissance proved that Hooker had his great army hidden in the densely wooded plains about Chancellorsville and had fortified his position only on three sides.
That night Jackson met with Lee at a spot that was nearly a mile in front of Hooker’s vast army and laid their plans for battle. Jackson suggested that he withdraw his troops toward the south at dawn, make a wide detour in order to avoid the prying eyes of the enemy’s pickets, and then surprise Hooker by striking his army from the rear. Lee, giving Jackson time to make the march, would then strike simultaneously at whatever strategic point of the front he thought best.
They agreed. The plan was adopted. General Stewart was assigned to patrol the area between Jackson’s line of march and the outposts of Hooker’s army so that the true purpose of the movement could be kept from the enemy.
At daybreak the next morning, Jackson’s army marched away. Union scouts reported the movement to Hooker, who supposedly remarked, “The disheartened Rebels are in full retreat toward Richmond, leaving only General Stewart’s handful of men as a decoy. Yes, by god! They will make their stand at Richmond.”
General Stewart’s patrol was eminently successful in the task of keeping the Yankees from knowing their plans. Jackson estimated he would be striking the enemy from the rear around five o’clock in the afternoon. At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jackson found himself six miles west of Chancellorsville and upon exactly the opposite side of the enemy to that occupied by General Lee. His march had covered fifteen miles when he called for a rest and sat down to address the last of his official notes to General Lee.
Near 3:00 p.m., May 2, 1863
General Robert E. Lee
General,
The enemy has made a stand at Chancellor’s farm, about two miles from Chancellorsville. I hope, as soon as practicable, to attack, and trust that an ever kind Providence will bless us with success.
General Hooker must have had a secure feeling that the heavy forest on his northwest flank and thick underbrush were the only protection he needed because there was no evidence of pickets in the area.
General Jackson spent the next two hours perfecting his plan of attack. So dense was the underbrush that the soldiers were required to creep through the thickets. In the thickest spots they had to crawl flat on their bellies, and many had their clothing nearly torn from their bodies. It was now between five and six o’clock, and Jackson’s men had advanced nearly two miles through the heavy underbrush when suddenly they came upon the right wing of Hooker’s army. There, in a beautiful open area under several large trees, free of underbrush, unsuspicious, in all security were the men scattered about the open places, joking and preparing their evening meal. Their arms were stacked and their accoutrements lay here, there, and everywhere. There was a shout, and Jackson’s advanced lines fired a full-scale volley into the unsuspecting encampment. Bodies reeled, staggered, and fell here, there, and everywhere. Another shout, another volley decided their utter rout.
Shouts echoes through the enemy lines, “It’s Jackson! It’s that praying son of a bitch—it’s Jackson! That coldhearted bastard! Run—run—he will kill everyone.”
Over three miles, Jackson’s army pursued the panic-stricken, utterly disorganized Union troops as they fled pell-mell through the woods, without hats, without muskets, without any accoutrements, and with but a single purpose in their minds—that of escape. The battle was one continuous forward and unresisted charge. Thousands of Hooker’s troops lay dead or dying. Thousands of Hooker’s surprised and terrorized men ran all the way through the entrenched camp, trampling whatever lay in their path, and did not pause until they reached the fords of the Rappahannock, and then only water slowed their retreat.
In the meantime, General Lee surprised Hooker and struck his front encampment as they were preparing their evening meal. By the time darkness came on, the great, boastful Northern giant was already knocked to his knees, dazed and groggy. Had there been another hour or two of daylight and Jackson had been spared the misfortune that befell him, it is reasonable to believe that Chancellorsville might have been the decisive battle of the war instead of Gettysburg.
The Battle of Chancellorsville was terminated the next day when Lee made a vigorous attack against the center and right of the Union line, under Generals Sickles and Slocum. Hooker became panic-stricken and ordered a general retreat across the Rappahannock.
The career of Stonewall Jackson was at an end. Riding forth in the darkness to inspect and survey the territory after his troops had settled for a restful night, Jackson, accompanied by members of his staff, encountered Northern pickets who fired on his party. Hastily they retreated toward his camp. He and his men were thought by Confederate outposts to be enemy cavalry, and a deadly fire was delivered. Several of his party fell dead on the spot. Jackson was hit three times. His left arm was broken just above the elbow, and the miniball crushed the bone and severed the main artery. A few minutes later he was assisted to dismount and, from loss of blood, fainted in his comrades’ arms. The volley had given the Union pickets a cue, and it went on for some time. They directed a withering fire upon the area, which delayed the removal of the wounded men from the sector, preventing prompt medical attention that may have saved his life. Finally, the Confederate troops silenced the enemy, and the beloved general was conveyed to the rear. His left arm was amputated, but complications developed, which caused his death near Chancellorsville, Virginia, on May 10, 1863.
His loss depressed the South as nothing else could. To his “praying army,” it was a strange dispensation of Providence, and there was no one to take his place. Without Jackson it seemed difficult to conceive another Bull Run—another Winchester—or another Fredericksburg.
It is reported that when President Lincoln received the news of Hooker’s defeat at Chancellorsville, walking the floor in his office at the nation’s capitol, he was overheard to declare out loud, “This is the darkest hour of the war. Dear Lord. Oh, what will the country say? What will the people think? Almighty God. This is your war. Our cause is your cause, and we have never needed your help as we need it now. We can’t stand another Chancellorsville. Amen.”
CHAPTER XX
Remember that Lieutenant Levi Campbell was a member of Jackson’s staff. By chance he was in the party when Jackson was wounded, but he escaped uninjured. After the general was cared for, Levi stayed close by the general all night. He was partaking of the morning chow when he decided to pen Molly a letter.
May 3, 1863
My dear little sister:
Yesterday we were a very happy lot because of our success against Hooker’s mighty army. Today we are saddened by the wounding of General Jackson. I spent the night in the hospital-tent close beside the general. Molly, it doesn’t look good. He has three serious wounds, and they have amputated his arm nearly at the shoulder. I hope and pray that God will spare him because his loss would be devastating to the South.
Last evening, after the battle had quieted down, I went with the general on a reconnaissance mission when we encountered Union pickets. At full gallop we retreated toward our lines, and our own troops fired on us. Can you believe that our own men wounded Stonewall? We were pinned down for at least half an hour with our own men firing volley upon volley on our position. He taught the men to pray, but I have not heard the first prayer on his behalf.