Despite Hooker's successful flanking maneuver, Lee seized control and held it for two months

One of the most interesting facts about the Battle of Chancellorsville we want to introduce to you is that despite Hooker's successful flanking maneuver, Lee seized control and held it for two months. Many senior Federal officers believed that Lee's only option was to retire southwards towards Richmond after Hooker's successful crossing of the Rappahannock. Hooker withdrew eastward and out of the Wilderness on May 1, 1863, with the majority of his army safely positioned at the Chancellorsville crossroads. The area to the east was much more open, allowing the Federal army to fully utilize its overwhelming numerical strength.

However, General Stonewall Jackson's men crashed into them on the Orange Turnpike before the Yankees could clear the woods. Hooker ordered a general retreat from this wide land after a furious, brief skirmish with Jackson's forces on the Union right flank. The first day at Chancellorsville was a tiny deed with far-reaching consequences. The next day, deep amid the tangled Wilderness, Hooker's lethargic army failed to discover Lee's ambitious plan to maneuver a heavy column onto their right using the woodland roads to the south. This type of maneuver would have been impossible to pull off on the wide ground.