Timeline (Dixie Triumphant)

The Battle of Chancellorsville: May 1-2, 1863
The Battle of Chancellorsville, the result of the Army of the Potomac's latest attempt to outflank and defeat the Army of Northern Virginia, began in earnest about midday on May 1, as elements of the Union II, V, and XII Corps made contact with Confederate units under the command of Lieutenant General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson along the eastern edge of a dense forest known as "the Wilderness," about a dozen miles west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. For reasons still not fully understood, the Union commander, Major General Joseph Hooker, decided to halt his forces within the Wilderness, rather than push further east onto open ground where his numerical superiority could be brought to bear. By late afternoon, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had brought up the rest of the army except for a covering force at Fredericksburg, some 50,000 men in all; Hooker, meanwhile, took up a defensive position around the small hamlet of Chancellorsville, as if expecting a frontal attack.

Although Lee seems to have initially considered such an attack, reports from his engineers and from his cavalry chief, Major General J.E.B. Stuart, convinced him to instead attempt a strike upon the Union right flank, by sending Jackson along little-known roads well south of Hooker's position and counting upon the thick woodlands to screen his movement. Jackson proposed to attempt the maneuver with his entire corps, about two-thirds of all the Confederate soldiers on hand. Lee hesitated but agreed, even though this would leave the remaining force, confronting Hooker's front, outnumbered at least three to one.

Jackson began his march at 8:00 a.m. on May 2. After a mostly uneventful march of about twelve miles, by late afternoon he had most of his corps in position along the Orange Turnpike, facing eastward at right angles to the unprotected flank of Major General Oliver O. Howard's XI Corps, numbering about 13,000 men (including one brigade detached earlier in the day) and completely unaware of the Rebels' presence. The troops in gray were arranged in two lines under Major Generals Robert Rodes and Raleigh Colston, with the men of Major General A.P. Hill's division beginning to form a third line behind that. At about 5:15 p.m., wishing the attack to get underway before sunset, Jackson turned to Rodes and asked, "Are you ready?" "Yes, sir." "You can go forward then."