26. The Civil War General Willing to Gamble Against Conventional Wisdom
Joseph Hooker stole a march on Robert E. Lee, and crossed the Rappahannock River to bring his forces behind the Confederates at Fredericksburg. However, Lee was not one to leave the initiative to his enemy if he could help it. When he discovered what his enemy had done, Lee divided his army, already seriously outnumbered by that of his opponent, and left a small rearguard behind in Fredericksburg. He then set out with the bulk of his men, about 45,000 Confederates, to meet Hooker.
In so doing, Lee violated conventional wisdom against dividing one’s forces in the face of a numerically superior enemy. He was willing to defy conventional wisdom, however, and it worked for him. When he neared Chancellorsville, Lee doubled down on violating conventional wisdom by further dividing his already outnumbered army. He confronted 70,000 Union soldiers with only 13,000 Confederates east of Chancellorsville, and sent his chief lieutenant, General Stonewall Jackson, on a flanking march to fall on Hooker’s right flank.