Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 3.

[17]

Chapter 1: operations in Virginia.--battle of Chancellorsville.--siege of Suffolk.

• Position of the Army of the Potomac
-- its condition, 17. -- the strength of the Army of the Potomac -- influence of the Peace Faction, 18. -- Army officers opposed to the policy of the Government concerning slavery -- reorganization of the Army -- condition of the Army, in April, 1868, 19. -- Corps badges -- condition of the Confederate Army, 20. -- discipline and equipment of the Confederate Army -- composition of the opposing forces, 21. -- cavalry battle at Kelly's Ford -- Moseby, the guerrilla chief, 22. -- Stoneman's raid -- movement for flanking the Confederates, 23. -- Hooker's exultant order -- the Nationals at Chancellorsville -- the movement masked by Sedgwick, 24. -- Lee prepares for battle -- he moves on Chancellorsville, 25. -- battle near Chancellorsville -- Lee foiled, 26. -- the opposing leaders in council -- Hooker on the defensive -- bold project of “Stonewall Jackson,” 27. -- flank movement by Jackson -- the Nationals deceived -- Jackson's attack on Hooker's right, 28. -- Hooker's right crumbles into fragments, 29. -- flight and pursuit of disordered troops, 30. -- attack on Hooker's left and center -- death of “Stonewall Jackson,” 31. -- Hooker's new line of battle, 32. -- the battle of Chancellorsville, 33. -- Lee takes Chancellorsville, 34. -- the Heights of Fredericksburg captured, 35. -- battle at Salem Church -- Sedgwick in peril, 36, 37. -- the National Army recrosses the Rappahannock, 38. -- another raid by Stoneman, 39, 40. -- National troops at Suffolk -- fortifications there, 41, 42. -- the siege of Suffolk by Longstreet, 43. -- Peck's defense of Suffolk -- Longstreet driven away -- services of the Army at Suffolk, 44.

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While a portion of the National troops were achieving important. victories on the banks. of the Lower Mississippi,¹ those composing the Army of the Potomac were winning an equally important victory,

July, 1863.

not far from the banks of the Susquehannah, We left that army in charge of General Joseph Hooker, after sad disasters at Fredericksburg, encamped near the Rappahannock;² let us now observe its movements from that time until its triumphs in the conflict at Gettysburg, between the Susquehannah and the Potomac rivers.

During three months after General Hooker took command of the army, no active operations were undertaken by either party in the strife, excepting in some cavalry movements, which were few and comparatively feeble. This inaction was caused partly by the wretched condition of the Virginia roads, and partly because of the exhaustion of both armies after a most fatiguing and wasting campaign. The Army of the Potomac, lying at Falmouth, nearly opposite Fredericksburg, when Hooker took the command, was weak and demoralized. Despondency, arising from discouragement on account of recent disasters, and withering homesickness, almost universally prevailed, and desertions averaged two hundred a day. The relatives and friends of the soldiers, at home, were equally despondent, and these, anxious for the return of their loved ones, filled the express trains with packages