Robert E. Lee: C-in-C 1863

BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
MAY 1st, 1863
10:00-10:30a.m.
Union Side

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General George Sykes ducked as rebel bullets ripped through the foliage. Well, this is fun. Leave it to Hooker to make a boast about something he knows nothing about. Skyes had received a message from Solcum, telling him that his corps was being engaged by rebel infantry. Sykes watched as one of his brigades charged forward, driving rebels before them, only to fall back when the rebels deleveried a brutal volley. I don't like this. No telling how many rebels there are in front of me. I know from prisoners that the rebels facing me are from Anderson's Division of Longstreet's Corps, and where there is Longstreet, Jackson is soon to follow. About this time, a courier from one of his brigades rode forth. "General Sykes! my commander reports that there are more rebel troops apporaching! This time from the northeast!" Sykes cussed, "DAMN! okay, this what we will do, you go back to your commanding officer and tell him to hold." the officer nodded and rode off. "orderly! rid back to chancellorville and find meade. tell him that i need support and im sure that solcum could use it as well. inform meade of the situation and get reinforcments back here asap! Now go!" the officer kicked his horse and rode like hell toward chancellorsville. I only hope that we can hold on! Sykes thought.

10:30-11:00a.m.
Confederate Side

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Men of Anderson's Division holding back Solcum's and Syke's advance

"That's it boys! give those yankee sons of bitches what for! Stonewall is coming! Once he gets here, we'll show those bastards how to fight!" Major General Richard H Anderson knew that his division was in one helluva fix. Prisoners confirm that my boys are going up against two divisions, with a third possibly latter. I sure hope that Jackson gets here soon, otherwise, my boys are going to be in real trouble! Anderson shook his head. He had been fighting for about an hour or more. Anderson kept looking down the Orange Turnpike Road in vain, hoping to see Jackson's men coming to the rescue. No such luck. Anderson was about to ride to another brigade, when at that moment, a courier rode up to him. "Sir! General Jackson's compliments! He has told me to tell you that he will be hear shortly with reinforcements." Anderson looked at the courier and shook his head. "Son, i would expect that Jackson's reply was more than that." The courier smiled. "Actually sir, His correct words was: 'tell General Anderson to give them the bayonet! I am comming!'" Anderson laughed. " Now that sounds like Jackson! Good Job son! Tell General Jackson that I will do just that!" As the courier rode off, Anderson felt a new wave of confidence. "Boys! Hold on and give them the bayonet! Stonewall is Coming!" the men responded with hearty cheers and Anderson smiled.
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Well, that's it for today. tell me what you think!
 
no update today guys! been busy. By they way, why are all mymaps and pictures not working? Anyone know how to fix it?
 
I'm reading it and enjoy it what little there is, but not enough time has passed for it to be really interesting. Keep it up, though!
 
Not to be completely facetious, but I see that at least for now things are relatively well-balanced. So please don't let this good story fall into the "Confederacy takes Maine, Minnesota, and California" category.:rolleyes: We really do have enough of those.
 
I'll try not to. glad everyone is enjoying it. Now, how the heck do i fix the problem of my maps and pics? A little help here please!
 
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
MAY 1st, 1863

Confederate Side
11:00am - 12:00 pm

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Stonewall Jackson conferring with Anderson as Rodes's Division deploys


The arrival of "Stonewall" Jackson at Chancellorsvile was one of those moments in history. It seemed that just as Anderson's tired men were starting to be pushed back, Stonewall Jackson and three divisions appeared and saved the day. Jackson, after talking with Anderson, deployed Rodes's Division to the right, A.P. Hill's Division to the left, and finally, Lafayette McLaws's Divsion to the right of Rodes. These three divisions, added with Anderson's gave the total number of men under Jackson's command at around 42,000 men. This immediantly impacted the fighting that took place.​

Action
11:30am - 12:00pm

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men of Hill's Division slugging it out with William's Division of Solcum's XII corps


The first Union soldiers to feel the weight of the Confederate reinforcments were William's Division of Solcum's XII corps. Hill's men slamed into the federals and fierce hand to hand fighting erupted. Williams was desperate for men and called on Solcum for more men. Solcum, in turn, asked Darius Couch for help. Couch released one division, the men of Windfield Scott Hancock's Division. Hancock's Division, added with William's slowed Hill's assault to a sudden halt. Hill ordered his men to dig in and hold their ground. At this point, both sides slackened off and the fighting went down to a trickel.​

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men of Rodes's division met the men of French's division

On the other hand, the fighting on the right was drag-down knock-out fight. General George Syke's division had been fighting parts of Anderson's Division, but know they fought themselves against Robert Rodes's men as well. Sykes asked for immediant support. It was not long in coming. Major General William French's Division of Couch's II corps and Rodes's men went at it like two boxers in a ring. Fighting was sever and brutal. McLaws's division, on the other hand, was digging in. Since there was no enemy in front of them, McLaws decided to fix his lines and prepare for the attack that was sure to come. Meanwhile, the Federal commanders recieved a huge shock when they were given an order to withdraw back into Chancellorsville. They man that deievered the message was Major General Joseph Hooker, commander of the Army of the Potomac, and he was not happy!​

Okay folks, that's it for today, more hopefully tommorrow! Please post comments!​
 
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BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
MAY 1st, 1863


Union Side
11:30-12:00 pm

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Major General Joseph Hooker Commander, AOP

Major General Joesph Hooker was fumming mad. His plan to destroy Lee was in shambles. I told them not to bring on a general engagment, but no! They cannot even obey a simple command! The plan was to draw Lee into the Wilderness and have him throw his men at our brestworks. NOW I see that they are pushing the rebels instead of drawing them in. Hooker rode up to XII corps commander, Henry Solcum. "Solcum! What the HELL are you doing? You are suppose to draw those bastards in, not attack them! Explain yourself!" Solcum seethed. "SIR! I am facing men of Longstreet's corps! Also, word is that Jackson's men are here also. If we can concentrate enough force, we can push them back and drive them back to Fredricksburg! Please sir! For the love of god, let us attack them!" Hooker, who had brought along Major General George Meade, turned to him and asked, "What do you say George?" Meade looked at Hooker and said, "Sir if we can't hold the top of a hill, then we certainly can't hold the bottom of it! Let me get my boys in, along with Couch's Second, and we can drvie them sir! If something happens and we have to pull back, then so be it." Hooker's anger vanished. Is it possible? Can we really beat Lee here and now? Meade, Couch, and Solcum are all yelling to advance. Do i let them? Well i might as well. If we are defeated, I'll blame it on them. Hooker smiled. "You all are correct. We have the numbers and the men. Forgive my outburst Solcum. You may advance."​

ACTION
12:00-1:00pm

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Federal advance and Confederate Withdrawl

Once Hooker had ordered an advance, Meade, Couch, and Solcum organized their men. Solcum tightened up William's and Geary's Divisions, one behind the other. Couch sent all of his men except Gibbon's division which was kept as a reserve. Meade threw in his entire corps, which unfortunatly fell on McLaws men. McLaws had recieved orders from Jackson telling him not to give ground. Meade's men battered their way through and McLaws decided to pull back. What happened next is a controversy that exists even today. McLaws men ran! The did not stop untill they were at Zoan Church, were Stonewall himself rallied them. The collapse of McLaws men unhinged the Rebel line. Jackson realized that his men were endanger of being outflanked. Jackson ordered a fighting retreat toward Zoan Church.​
 
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Does anybody know what the hell is going on with my maps and pics? Is there something that i am doing wrong? How do i fix it?:mad:
 

pnyckqx

Banned
Does anybody know what the hell is going on with my maps and pics? Is there something that i am doing wrong? How do i fix it?:mad:
Unfortunately not. i've never tried to do any such thing on a Vb type of board. HTML is what i am used to dealing with.

You may want to cruise some threads where such things are posted, PM the person who posted them and ask how they did it.
 
Hey, any of you guys out there. When you read it, can you see the pics and maps? I am wondering if its something that my computer is doing.
 

pnyckqx

Banned
Hey, any of you guys out there. When you read it, can you see the pics and maps? I am wondering if its something that my computer is doing.
i see no images at all. i'm running Firefox under Linux. Have no problem with other threads on this board.

Something is wrong with the coding somewhere.
 
im going to update this soon. im trying to figure out wether or not im going to put pics and maps on this or not.
 
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
MAY 1st, 1863


Confederate Side
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Stonewall Jackson was not in a good mood. The confederate withdraw before the Union advance had almost turned into a rout. It seemed to Jackson that the only one responsible for this was right in front of him. Major General Layfette McLaws shifted nerviously in front of Jackson. Jackson was furious with him and he knew it. " Please explain, General how you allowed your division to be flanked by the enemy, thus exposing your line and that of the entire army?" McLaws opened his mouth to defend himself. "Sir, the enemy came at me with two divisions! I refused my line, but the yankees were everywhere! It was only a matter of time before..." Jackson exploded. "General McLaws!! I do not want to hear excuses! You should have thought about it before hand. And don't try to tell me that you couldn't handle two yankee divisions. General Anderson's men held against three yankee divisions and still manage to hold out! The battle will continue, but you sir, will kindly send a courier to inform General Kershaw that his is now in command of your division and you will report to General Lee. Now go!" McLaws angerly rode off, not knowing wether or not he would have a command in the future.
 
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
MAY 1st, 1863


Overview of fighting

With the arrival of Robert E Lee to the battlefield, along with two divisions, the fighting shifted to the confederate side. Leaving Hood's division around Zoan Church, Lee shifted Colston's division to the right of Mclaw's division (commanded by Kershaw) and deployed it parallel to the Mine Road. This meant that Colston was on the Union V corps flank, a perfect postion to be in. Lee gave Jackson control of the battle and Jackson, after sorting out his troops, arranged them from left to right: Hill, Anderson, Rodes, Mclaws, and Colston. Also, Jeb Stuart had arrrived with division of cavalry and was on Hill's left.

Meanwhile, the Federal troops were trying to sort themselves out. After driving back Jackson, the federal troops found themselves with mixed units. Joseph Hooker, who had doubts about continuing the advance, decided to halt it and reform the men. This took some time, time that Jackson used well. Finally, the Federal forces reorganized themselves. From left to right: Geary's and Williams's divisions of Solcum's XII corps, French's division of Couch's II corps, and finally, Sykes's and Griffin's divisions of Meade's V corps. Hooker was hoping to resume the offensive, but he had handed the initative to Jackson.

Jackson ordered an all out attack on the federal line around 2:30 pm. Unfortuantly, Solcum's XII corps choose that same time to attack. Thus Hill and Anderson went on the defensive, bleeding Solcum's divisions and buying time. Meanwhile, Colston's division hit the flank of Meade's V corps and after about a half hour, drove Griffin's division back. Kershaw at this time opened his assault by hitting Griffin's division from the front. This caused Griffin to order a retreat, but having been hit by two divisions, his division became routed. This unhinged the entire federal line and one after the other, the federal divisions fell back. Soon the retreat became a rout as Jackson's other divisions went on the offensive and drove the Federal back.

With the entire federal line in retreat, Hooker lost his will to win. He made no attempt to rally his men, instead, he gave the order to withdraw back to Chancellorsville and left his generals to do it. Meanwhile, George Meade arrived on the field in an attempt to rally his corps, but was struck by a minie ball that hit him in the forehead, killing him instantly. Command of the corps fell to Sykes, who managed to halt and reform the V corps. By the time the Federal line solidified, it was approaching dusk and the rebels, too tired from the fighting that had raged, decided to retire for the night. Thus, Day one of Chancellosville closed. The next two days would bring more bloodshed and would decided who would win or lose.

Hey guys, need some feed back please.

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