1863
The Killer Angels
Key Terms: Skirmish Line, Mortar
Key People: Winfield Hancock, George Meade, Joseph Hooker, John Pemberton, William Rosecrans
Key Places: Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chancellorsville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga
By 1863, people were already saying that the war would last forever. There were already over 200,000 casualties, or a little more than all the casualties suffered in World War One by the U. S. Over 100,000 men were dead, and another 50,000 were crippled for life. The rest of the men were well enough to return to battle, many of them to be killed or wounded later.
In the Union, Abe Lincoln was aspiring to find a general who could win a battle, but he wouldn't find one until June. In the South, Jeff Davis was happy with the way things were going, especially since England and France were about to side with the Confederacy.
In early 1863, Lincoln replaced Burnside with Gen.
See-ming Lee / 20070208.10D.41106 / SML
See-ming Lee, 1999
See-ming Lee, 2005-04-14Joseph 'Fighting Joe' Hooker. A smart and aggressive corp commander, he seemed able to battle 'Marse Robert,' or Robert E. Lee. Hooker immediately conceived a plan, which would turn Lee's flank, or go around Lee's flank and get in his rear, and position Hooker in the right place to end the war. The plan started out fine, Hooker leaving 30,000 men at Fredricksburg to occupy Lee while he marched over 100,000 men around Lee's flank. Hooker was in the perfect position to destroy Lee, but he waited. Lee split his 60,000-man army into two wings of 45,000 and 15,000 respectfully.
Lee then attacked Hooker's main body, stopping it. Lee then divided up his 45,000 men into two groups of 20,000 and 25,000 men. Gen. Thomas Jackson took the 25,000 men around Hooker's right flank; crashing into the Union and driving them back two miles before being stopped.