The Battle of Chancellorsville in the Civil War

The Battle of Chancellorsville in the Civil War Conflict Dates: The Battle of Chancellorsville was fought May 1-6, 1863, and was part of the American Civil War. Armies Commanders: Union Major General Joseph Hooker133,868 men Confederate General Robert E. Lee60,892 men Background: In the wake of the Union disaster at the Battle of Fredericksburg and subsequent Mud March, Major General Ambrose Burnside was relieved and Major General Joseph Hooker given command of the Army of the Potomac on January 26, 1863. Known as an aggressive fighter in battle and a severe critic of Burnside, Hooker had compiled a successful resume as a division and corps commander. With the army encamped on the east bank of the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Hooker took the spring to reorganize and rehabilitate his men after the trials of 1862. Included in this shakeup of the army was the creation of an independent cavalry corps under Major General George Stoneman. To the west of the town, General Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia remained in place along the heights they had defended the previous December. Short on supplies and needing to protect Richmond against a Union thrust up the Peninsula, Lee detached over half of Lieutenant General James Longstreets First Corps south to aid in gathering provisions. Operating in southern Virginia and North Carolina, the divisions of Major Generals John Bell Hood and George Pickett began funneling food and stores north to Fredericksburg. Already outnumbered by Hooker, the loss of Longstreets men gave Hooker over a 2-to-1 advantage in manpower. The Union Plan: Aware of his superiority and utilizing information from his newly-formed Bureau of Military Intelligence, Hooker devised one of the strongest Union plans to date for his spring campaign. Leaving Major General John Sedgwick with 30,000 men at Fredericksburg, Hooker intended to secretly march northwest with the rest of the army, then cross the Rappahannock in Lees rear. Attacking east as Sedgwick advanced west, Hooker sought to catch the Confederates in a large double envelopment. The plan was to be supported by a large-scale cavalry raid conducted by Stoneman which was to cut the railroads south to Richmond and sever Lees supply lines as well as prevent reinforcements from reaching the battle.   Moving out on April 26-27, the first three corps successfully crossed the river under the guidance of Major General Henry Slocum. Pleased that Lee was not opposing the crossings, Hooker ordered the remainder of his forces to move out and by May 1 had concentrated around 70,000 men around Cha ncellorsville (Map). Lee Responds: Located at the crossroads of the Orange Turnpike and Orange Plank Road, Chancellorsville was little more than a large brick house owned by the Chancellor family which was located in a thick pine thicket forest known as the Wilderness. As Hooker moved into position, Sedgwicks men crossed the river, advanced through Fredericksburg, and took up a position opposite the Confederate defense on Maryes Heights. Alerted to the Union movement, Lee was forced to divide his smaller army and left Major General Jubal Earlys division and Brigadier General William Barksdales brigade at Fredericksburg while he marched west on May 1 with around 40,000 men. It was his hope that by aggressive action, he would be able to attack and defeat part of Hookers army before its larger numbers could be concentrated against him. He also believed that Sedgwicks force at Fredericksburg would only demonstrate against Early and Barksdale rather than pose a legitimate threat. That same day, Hooker began pressing east with the goal of getting clear of the Wilderness so that his advantage in artillery could come into play. Fighting soon erupted between Major General George Sykes division of Major General George G. Meades V Corps and the Confederate division of Major General Lafayette McLaws. The Confederates got the better of the fight and Sykes withdrew. Though he retained the advantage, Hooker halted his advance and consolidated his position in the Wilderness with the intention of fighting a defensive battle. This change in approach greatly irritated several of his subordinates who sought to move their men out of the Wilderness and take some of the high ground in the area (Map). That night, Lee and Second Corps commander Lieutenant General Thomas Stonewall Jackson met to develop a plan for May 2. While they talked, Confederate cavalry commander  Major General J.E.B. Stuart arrived and reported that while the Union left was firmly anchored on the Rappahannock and their center heavily fortified, Hookers right was in the air. This end of the Union line was held by Major General Oliver O. Howards XI Corps which had camped along the Orange Turnpike. Feeling that desperate action was needed, they devised a plan which called for Jackson to take the 28,000 men of his corps on a wide flanking march to attack the Union right. Lee himself would personally command the remaining 12,000 men in an attempt to hold Hooker until Jackson could strike. In addition, the plan required the troops at Fredericksburg to contain Sedgwick. Successfully disengaging, Jacksons men were able to make the 12-mile march undetected (Map). Jackson Strikes: In position by 5:30 PM on May 2, they faced the flank of the Union XI Corps. Comprised of largely inexperienced German immigrants, the XI Corpss flank was not fixed on a natural obstacle and was essentially defended by two cannon. Charging from the woods, Jacksons men caught them completely by surprise and quickly captured 4,000 prisoners while routing the remainder. Advancing two miles, they were within sight of Chancellorsville when their advance was halted by Major General Daniel Sickles III Corps. As the fighting raged, Hooker received a minor wound, but refused to cede command (Map). At Fredericksburg, Sedgwick received orders to advance late in the day, but held off as he believed he was outnumbered. As the front stabilized, Jackson rode forward in the darkness to scout the line. While returning, his party was fired on by a group of North Carolina troops. Struck twice in the left arm and once in the right hand, Jackson was carried from the field. As Jacksons replacement, Major General A.P. Hill was incapacitated the next morning, command devolved to Stuart (Map). On May 3, the Confederates launched major attacks all along the front, forcing Hookers men to abandon Chancellorsville and form a tight defensive line in front of United States Ford. Under heavy pressure, Hooker was finally able to get Sedgwick to advance. Moving forward, he was able to reach Salem Church before being halted by Confederate troops. Late in the day, Lee, believing that Hooker was beaten, shifted troops east to deal with Sedgwick. Having foolishly neglected to leave troops to hold Fredericksburg, Sedgwick was soon cut off and forced into a defensive position near Banks Ford (Map). Fighting a superb defensive action, he repelled Confederate attacks through the day on May 4 before withdrawing across the ford early on May 5 (Map). This retreat was the result of a miscommunication between Hooker and Sedgwick, as the former had wished the ford held so that main army could cross and renew the battle. Not seeing a way to save the campaign, Hooker began retreating across United States Ford that night ending the battle (Map). Aftermath: Known as Lees perfect battle as he repeatedly broke the tenet of never dividing ones forces in the face of a superior enemy with stunning success, Chancellorsville cost his army 1,665 killed, 9,081 wounded, and 2,018 missing. Hookers army suffered 1,606 killed, 9,672 wounded, and 5,919 missing/captured. While it is generally believed that Hooker lost his nerve during the battle, the defeat did cost him his command as he was replaced by Meade on June 28. While a great victory, Chancellorsville lost the Confederacy Stonewall Jackson who died on May 10, badly damaging the command structure of Lees army. Seeking to exploit the success, Lee began his second invasion of the North which culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg. Selected Sources Fredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military Park: Battle of ChancellorsvilleCWSAC Battle Summary: Battle of ChancellorsvilleBattle of Chancellorsville Maps

A History of Ancient Greek Physics

A History of Ancient Greek Physics In ancient times, the systematic study of fundamental natural laws was not a huge concern. The concern was staying alive. Science, as it existed at that time, consisted primarily of agriculture and, eventually, engineering to improve the daily lives of the growing societies. The sailing of a ship, for example, utilizes air drag, the same principle that keeps an airplane aloft. The ancients were able to figure out how to construct and operate sailing ships without precise rules for this principle. Looking to the Heavens and the Earth The ancients are known perhaps best for their astronomy, which continues to influence us heavily today. They regularly observed the heavens, which were believed to be a divine realm with the Earth at its center. It was certainly obvious to everyone that the sun, moon, and stars moved across the heaven in a regular pattern, and its unclear whether any documented thinker of the ancient world thought to question this geocentric viewpoint. Regardless, humans began identifying constellations in the heavens and used these signs of the Zodiac to define calendars and seasons. Mathematics developed first in the Middle East, though the precise origins vary depending upon which historian one talks to. It is almost certain that the origin of mathematics was for simple recordkeeping in commerce and government. Egypt made profound progress in the development of basic geometry, because of the need to clearly define farming territory following the annual flooding of the Nile. Geometry quickly found applications in astronomy, as well. Natural Philosophy in Ancient Greece As the Greek civilization arose, however, there came finally enough stability - despite the fact that there still frequent wars - for there to arise an intellectual aristocracy, an intelligentsia, that was able to devote itself to the systematic study of these matters. Euclid and Pythagoras are just a couple of the names that resonate through the ages in the development of mathematics from this period. In the physical sciences, there were also developments. Leucippus (5th century B.C.E.) refused to accept the ancient supernatural explanations of nature and proclaimed categorically that every event had a natural cause. His student, Democritus, went on to continue this concept. The two of them were proponents of a concept that all matter is comprised of tiny particles which were so small that they could not be broken up. These particles were called atoms, from a Greek word for indivisible. It would be two millennia before the atomistic views gained support and even longer before there was evidence to support the speculation. The Natural Philosophy of Aristotle While his mentor Plato (and  his  mentor, Socrates) were far more concerned with moral philosophy, Aristotles (384 - 322 B.C.E.) philosophy had more secular foundations. He promoted the concept that observation of physical phenomena could ultimately lead to the discovery of natural laws governing those phenomena, though unlike Leucippus and Democritus, Aristotle believed that these natural laws were, ultimately, divine in nature. His was a natural philosophy, an observational science based on reason but without experimentation. He has rightly been criticized for a lack of rigor (if not outright carelessness) in his observations. For one egregious example, he states that men have more teeth than women which is certainly not true. Still, it was a step in the right direction. The Motions of Objects One of Aristotles interests was the motion of objects: Why does a rock fall while smoke rises?Why does water flow downward while flames dance into the air?Why do the planets move across the sky? He explained this by saying that all matter is composed of five elements: FireEarthAirWaterAether (divine substance of the heavens) The four elements of this world interchange and relate to each other, while Aether was an entirely different type of substance. These worldly elements each had natural realms. For example, we exist where the Earth realm (the ground beneath our feet) meets the Air realm (the air all around us and up as high as we can see). The natural state of objects, to Aristotle, was at rest, in a location that was in balance with the elements of which they were composed. The motion of objects, therefore, was an attempt by the object to reach its natural state. A rock falls because the Earth realm is down. Water flows downward because its natural realm is beneath the Earth realm. Smoke rises because it is comprised of both Air and Fire, thus it tries to reach the high Fire realm, which is also why flames extend upward. There was no attempt by Aristotle to mathematically describe the reality that he observed. Though he formalized Logic, he considered mathematics and the natural world to be fundamentally unrelated. Mathematics was, in his view, concerned with unchanging objects that lacked reality, while his natural philosophy focused on changing objects with a reality of their own. More Natural Philosophy In addition to this work on the impetus, or motion, of objects, Aristotle did extensive studies in other areas: created a classification system, dividing animals with similar characteristics into genera.studied, in his work Meteorology, the nature not only of weather patterns but also geology and natural history.formalized the mathematical system called Logic.extensive philosophical work on the nature of mans relation to the divine, as well as ethical considerations Aristotles work was rediscovered by scholars in the Middle Ages and he was proclaimed the greatest thinker of the ancient world. His views became the philosophical foundation of the Catholic Church (in cases where it didnt directly contradict the Bible) and in centuries to come observations that did not conform to Aristotle were denounced as a heretic. It is one of the greatest ironies that such a proponent of observational science would be used to inhibit such work in the future. Archimedes of Syracuse Archimedes (287 - 212 B.C.E.) is best known for the classic story of how he discovered the principles of density and buoyancy while taking a bath, immediately causing him to run through the streets of Syracuse naked screaming Eureka! (which roughly translates to I have found it!). In addition, he is known for many other significant feats: outlined the mathematical principles of the lever, one of the oldest machinescreated elaborate pulley systems, reputedly having been able to move a full-size ship by pulling on a single ropedefined the concept of the center of gravitycreated the field of statics, using Greek geometry to find equilibrium states for objects that would be taxing for modern physicistsreputed to have built many inventions, including a water screw for irrigation and war machines that helped Syracuse against Rome in the First Punic War. He is attributed by some with inventing the odometer during this time, though that has not been proven. Perhaps Archimedes greatest achievement, however, was to reconcile Aristotles great error of separating mathematics and nature. As the first mathematical physicist, he showed that detailed mathematics could be applied with creativity and imagination for both theoretical and practical results. Hipparchus Hipparchus (190 - 120 B.C.E.) was born in Turkey, though he was a Greek. He is considered by many to be the greatest observational astronomer of ancient Greece. With trigonometric tables that he developed, he applied geometry rigorously to the study of astronomy and was able to predict solar eclipses. He also studied the motion of the sun and moon, calculating with greater precision than any before him their distance, size, and parallax. To aid him in this work, he improved many of the tools used in naked-eye observations of the time. The mathematics used indicates that Hipparchus may have studied Babylonian mathematics and been responsible for bringing some of that knowledge to Greece. Hipparchus is reputed to have written fourteen books, but the only direct work that remains was a commentary on a popular astronomical poem. Stories tell of Hipparchus having calculated the circumference of the Earth, but this is in some dispute. Ptolemy The last great astronomer of the ancient world was Claudius Ptolemaeus (known as Ptolemy to posterity). In the second century C.E., he wrote a summary of ancient astronomy (borrowed heavily from Hipparchus - this is our main source for knowledge of Hipparchus) which came to be known throughout Arabia as  Almagest  (the greatest). He formally outlined the geocentric model of the universe, describing a series of concentric circles and spheres upon which other planets moved. The combinations had to be exceedingly complicated to account for the observed motions, but his work was adequate enough that for fourteen centuries it was seen as the comprehensive statement on heavenly motion. With the fall of Rome, however, the stability that supports such innovation died out in the European world. Much of the knowledge obtained by the ancient world was lost during the Dark Ages. For example, of the 150 reputed Aristotelian works, only 30 exist today, and some of those are little more than lecture notes. In that age, the discovery of knowledge would lie to the East: to China and the Middle East.