This could possibly be The greatest UA-cam channel I've ever found that I wasn't looking for. What started out as an annoying sponsor ad on UA-cam shorts, ended up being one of the greatest channels I had no idea I needed that I'm currently binging from episode 1. Amazing content
Thank you Dan and Fred! I love this one. J.E.B. Stuart is part of our family’s ancestry on my mother’s side. I’m grateful to the relatives who meticulously researched our family history so far back (to just before the days of William the Conqueror). History is riveting, and listening to Fred narrate history on this channel is fantastic. You make it come alive, sir!
It's amazing how the availability of food impacted strategy. An ancestor of mine from Mississippi died on the Orange Plank road about a year later under A.P. Hill. A long way from home.
The popular opinion is that it was his finest hour. Others point to other battles. Lees old warhorse James Longstreet considered Chancellorsville a flashy spectacle of the kind the Confederacy could ill afford in the long run. Taking insane chances against bad odds, costing the army some of its best men and officers and which could very easily have been a total disaster. Longstreet instead pointed to the victory at second Manassas as the almost "perfect" battle with Lee at the helm.
I've always thought that Lee was a horrible choice, it's due to one thing only, hubris. I believe Longstreet or even Nathan Bedford Forrest would have been the best choices, even though Forrest was a little too reckless at times.
Second Manassas/Bull Run was the best in terms of major gains without major losses. Chancellorsville is the tactical masterpiece because he was so outnumbered, but the costs were extremely high, more than the ANV could afford in the long run. It was just the only alternative to having to surrender the entire Rappahannock line and fall back to the Richmond defenses, just like he ultimately would have to a little over a year later.
Audacity resulting in a spectacular victory does not automatically qualify as a "finest hour", and Lee hardly considered Chancellorsville to be his. Second Bull Run was a greater victory and at a far lower cost in lives, but a solid case can be made that Lee's finest hour took place at Fredericksburg- where he inflicted three times as many casualties on the AotP as his own army suffered. The Confederates needed to turn in that level of performance in every battle.
The South was able to better maneuver its strategies in its invasions of the North, but Lee was paralyzed and lost more than the British generals themselves in 1778.
Robert E Lee was a fine General. Unfortunately, he had to make a horrible choice to either slaughter his relatives or use his amazing talent to defend them. I am not in any position to ever have to bare this burden. I would be arrogant and short sighted to ever think I could understamd the complexities involved in this painful time in America's history. Out maned and out funded and against all odds... He fought like no other. I would hold more of a grudge for the slaughter of countless native americans by Union Army.
I've looked at many pictures of the Civil War. Not a single picture of the North fighting the South. Paintings? Why? I mean not a single fight with a photo?????? Answer me!!!!
Thanks for this well-done video. Yes, the battle of Chancellorsville may have been Gen. Lee's finest example of generalship and strategy, but it came at quite a cost. Losing Jackson may have been the turning point of the war. These were great men who generations of Southerners consider heroes to this day, including yours truly.
Agreed. Both are iconic American heroes. I'm not only a Southerner but also a Virginian. These men were revered here by my and previous generations. It is only of late that they were targeted by the iconoclastic vandals of the left as traitors and bad people. The removal of statues and all the negative talk has been a difficult thing to endure. Hopefully we're going to get past that now. History is history, it is what it is. It exists for us to study and learn from, not to relitigate and fight over.
Wow, that's so messed up. You guys think these men are heroes?! You're the kind of person we unfortunately allowed to continue being a thing after the civil war and are the major reason we are such a horrible country today.
Pyrrhic victory. HE lost his most aggressive general which had a major effect on the first day at Gettysburg. Second, it confirmed in Lee's own mind that he and his army was invincible. He took HUGE risks in this battle that a competently led Union Army could have turned on him to make this his worst defeat. All this combined to spell disaster three months later.
Lee would have done better to put JEB Stuart in charge of Jackson's Corps, instead of Ewell. There were plenty of good cavalry officers to replace Stuart as the Cavalry Corps Commander.
One reason Lee reorganized was that he felt that the corps in their present form and size were possibly too large for single commanders to effectively manage in the field. Plus, I don’t think they realized just how strong their cavalry commanders under Stuart were until Stuart was gone.
Hell yea, I have always been under this impression as well. Obviously, JEB was the best Calvary officer in the East. But, Wade Hampton or one of the Lee’s could have done a good job keeping the Calvary going. Stuart would have been a great choice in 2nd Corp. and Hill (DH Hill😉) as 3rd Corp. Maybe give AP like 8,000-12,000 men to keep the foot Calvary alive. Some of his marches were legendary.
Mosby and Forrest are the best calvary, Stuart was to worried about his reputation and let it fail in carrying out his orders and yes Ewyell was never a good choice to replace Jackson, personally Early would have been a great choice
Hooker did more for the Army of the Potomac in way of making it a well organized army. It was his organization that allow mead to take Hookers beaten army and defeat Less with it. Of not for Hooker the Union would of been done. Ya he lost b/c he did not have a feel for a battlefield. I always wonder what would of happened if Hooker was made head of organizing Army while Mead was in command and mead allowed him to do it.
The intro-rightfully!-stated that this would be one of Lee's most costly victories. Ultimately, Lee's continual tactical (vs strategic) thinking meant that this "victory" emboldened him to invade the North again, directly leading to the defeat at Gettysburg. It also led to Jackson dying, though it's debatable how much he could have affected the war going forward. Modern scholarship consistently hammers home the tactical victory/strategic defeat dichotomy.
Too bad Lee made his whole reputation on this battle and he can thank Jackson at Chancellorsville, if not for Chancellorsville ...Lee's record in the Civil War is drenched in mediocrity
While this battle certainly helped his reputation, it wasn’t the basis of it. Lee confounded Union commanders for nearly two years (and four different commanders).
Hey bud, the expression of different opinions is a great part of our society, but perhaps coming to a thread like this with a clear agenda to start something isn’t the best use of anyone’s time.
Absolute lunacy to be against studying and admiring achievements of historical figures because you disagree with behavior and decisions made. Especially military commanders and their campaigns! Full stop. End of story. You are wrong. Sight a single example of burying the past that benefitted humanity. I’ll save you time, you can’t. History is the study of past. Not the good past only but THE past. Remember to feed your imaginary high horse.
Well, it was the 1860s and not 2024. If I or you were aloe and living in the south at that time there is a better than average chance we'd have severed in the Confederate Army. In his mind, he wasn't going to spill the blood of her kin. I don't think he was a traitor at all, but a man of his time and culture. I fully honor him and will Continue to do so!!
@ using that logic there would be no such thing as treason. Hell, Benedict Arnold wasn’t a traitor. Just a man of his times. They were all traitors and they did it to keep slavery. No honor for that.
Thank you for making this history so vivid and engaging to listen to.
This could possibly be The greatest UA-cam channel I've ever found that I wasn't looking for. What started out as an annoying sponsor ad on UA-cam shorts, ended up being one of the greatest channels I had no idea I needed that I'm currently binging from episode 1. Amazing content
Sir, you are a superb historical narrator, what en enjoyment to hear. My respects to you.
Thank y'all for what you and your team do
The narrator is enthralling in these historical stories. Really amazing what he does here.
Thank you Dan and Fred! I love this one. J.E.B. Stuart is part of our family’s ancestry on my mother’s side. I’m grateful to the relatives who meticulously researched our family history so far back (to just before the days of William the Conqueror). History is riveting, and listening to Fred narrate history on this channel is fantastic. You make it come alive, sir!
Hello from an ACW buff from Brazil 🇧🇷.
Thanks for this! Subbed, fantastic narrator
Another great story , thanks for you epic work!
Thanks!
It's amazing how the availability of food impacted strategy. An ancestor of mine from Mississippi died on the Orange Plank road about a year later under A.P. Hill. A long way from home.
Lee’s finest hour may have been his retreat from Gettysburg. That was a logistical tour de force.
Amazing. Thank you
Excellent video, this re-ignited my spark for US history
I have been waiting for this episode!
God Bless, “Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.” One of the Finest Armies ever Assembled. Merry Christmas…
Genuinely feel like Lee got lucky with this one
A reminder that luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
Very good indeed, as always.
Had no idea that O.O. Howard, so highly regarded by U.S Grant would perform so poorly at Chancellorsville, thanks for the great historical telling!
Awesome video!
Thanks you
Sickles remembered Hazel Grove at Gettysburg.
Agreed
General Butterfield wrote Taps. It has words
The popular opinion is that it was his finest hour. Others point to other battles. Lees old warhorse James Longstreet considered Chancellorsville a flashy spectacle of the kind the Confederacy could ill afford in the long run. Taking insane chances against bad odds, costing the army some of its best men and officers and which could very easily have been a total disaster. Longstreet instead pointed to the victory at second Manassas as the almost "perfect" battle with Lee at the helm.
I've always thought that Lee was a horrible choice, it's due to one thing only, hubris.
I believe Longstreet or even Nathan Bedford Forrest would have been the best choices, even though Forrest was a little too reckless at times.
@@kjemma Again, finest hour? How do traitors have finest hours?
@@jhosk Why would you think on who would have made the better traitor? That's weird
Second Manassas/Bull Run was the best in terms of major gains without major losses. Chancellorsville is the tactical masterpiece because he was so outnumbered, but the costs were extremely high, more than the ANV could afford in the long run. It was just the only alternative to having to surrender the entire Rappahannock line and fall back to the Richmond defenses, just like he ultimately would have to a little over a year later.
@@shondell1014if you are just here to be a troll then you're in the wrong lane. Please stay in the basement where you belong
18:25 "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT !" ~ Hooker
That stopped me cold.
Audacity resulting in a spectacular victory does not automatically qualify as a "finest hour", and Lee hardly considered Chancellorsville to be his. Second Bull Run was a greater victory and at a far lower cost in lives, but a solid case can be made that Lee's finest hour took place at Fredericksburg- where he inflicted three times as many casualties on the AotP as his own army suffered. The Confederates needed to turn in that level of performance in every battle.
The South was able to better maneuver its strategies in its invasions of the North, but Lee was paralyzed and lost more than the British generals themselves in 1778.
Damn, that was good.
Robert E Lee was a fine General. Unfortunately, he had to make a horrible choice to either slaughter his relatives or use his amazing talent to defend them. I am not in any position to ever have to bare this burden. I would be arrogant and short sighted to ever think I could understamd the complexities involved in this painful time in America's history. Out maned and out funded and against all odds... He fought like no other. I would hold more of a grudge for the slaughter of countless native americans by Union Army.
I've looked at many pictures of the Civil War. Not a single picture of the North fighting the South. Paintings? Why? I mean not a single fight with a photo?????? Answer me!!!!
Thanks for this well-done video. Yes, the battle of Chancellorsville may have been Gen. Lee's finest example of generalship and strategy, but it came at quite a cost. Losing Jackson may have been the turning point of the war. These were great men who generations of Southerners consider heroes to this day, including yours truly.
You don't have to be a southerner to know how great Jackson and Lee were. I consider both American heroes.
@@ginov.7039{Great and even heroic, but not “American heroes”.
Agreed. Both are iconic American heroes. I'm not only a Southerner but also a Virginian. These men were revered here by my and previous generations. It is only of late that they were targeted by the iconoclastic vandals of the left as traitors and bad people. The removal of statues and all the negative talk has been a difficult thing to endure. Hopefully we're going to get past that now. History is history, it is what it is. It exists for us to study and learn from, not to relitigate and fight over.
Wow, that's so messed up. You guys think these men are heroes?! You're the kind of person we unfortunately allowed to continue being a thing after the civil war and are the major reason we are such a horrible country today.
@@ginov.7039if you think people who fought against the United states are heroes, then you have no idea what an American true hero is.
Pyrrhic victory. HE lost his most aggressive general which had a major effect on the first day at Gettysburg. Second, it confirmed in Lee's own mind that he and his army was invincible. He took HUGE risks in this battle that a competently led Union Army could have turned on him to make this his worst defeat. All this combined to spell disaster three months later.
Every Southern victory was pyrrhic.
Finally
Lee would have done better to put JEB Stuart in charge of Jackson's Corps, instead of Ewell. There were plenty of good cavalry officers to replace Stuart as the Cavalry Corps Commander.
One reason Lee reorganized was that he felt that the corps in their present form and size were possibly too large for single commanders to effectively manage in the field.
Plus, I don’t think they realized just how strong their cavalry commanders under Stuart were until Stuart was gone.
Hell yea, I have always been under this impression as well.
Obviously, JEB was the best Calvary officer in the East. But, Wade Hampton or one of the Lee’s could have done a good job keeping the Calvary going. Stuart would have been a great choice in 2nd Corp. and Hill (DH Hill😉) as 3rd Corp. Maybe give AP like 8,000-12,000 men to keep the foot Calvary alive. Some of his marches were legendary.
Mosby and Forrest are the best calvary, Stuart was to worried about his reputation and let it fail in carrying out his orders and yes Ewyell was never a good choice to replace Jackson, personally Early would have been a great choice
Still took another hundred years to get a civil rights bill
Hooker did more for the Army of the Potomac in way of making it a well organized army. It was his organization that allow mead to take Hookers beaten army and defeat Less with it. Of not for Hooker the Union would of been done. Ya he lost b/c he did not have a feel for a battlefield. I always wonder what would of happened if Hooker was made head of organizing Army while Mead was in command and mead allowed him to do it.
Lee's finest hour or Hookers dangerous overconfidence?? Personally I think it's 50/50
Lots of people showing their colors in the comments... just saying
Lees finest hour? Lee was a traitor, so why are we celebrating him like he was a hero?
That is what happens when the loser gets to write the history, i.e., Gettysburg is Lee's Lose not Meade's Win...
Move on yankee
@bert1450 Yes, traitor by every sense of the word. I think Grant would agree with this
Lee's finest hour.
The intro-rightfully!-stated that this would be one of Lee's most costly victories. Ultimately, Lee's continual tactical (vs strategic) thinking meant that this "victory" emboldened him to invade the North again, directly leading to the defeat at Gettysburg. It also led to Jackson dying, though it's debatable how much he could have affected the war going forward.
Modern scholarship consistently hammers home the tactical victory/strategic defeat dichotomy.
Too bad Lee made his whole reputation on this battle and he can thank Jackson at Chancellorsville, if not for Chancellorsville ...Lee's record in the Civil War is drenched in mediocrity
While this battle certainly helped his reputation, it wasn’t the basis of it. Lee confounded Union commanders for nearly two years (and four different commanders).
Admiring the actions of a traitor is disgraceful. The man lead a rebellion against his own country. Nothing he did should be admired.
Hey bud, the expression of different opinions is a great part of our society, but perhaps coming to a thread like this with a clear agenda to start something isn’t the best use of anyone’s time.
@ hey bud, I think it is a great use of time.
Absolute lunacy to be against studying and admiring achievements of historical figures because you disagree with behavior and decisions made. Especially military commanders and their campaigns! Full stop. End of story. You are wrong.
Sight a single example of burying the past that benefitted humanity. I’ll save you time, you can’t.
History is the study of past. Not the good past only but THE past.
Remember to feed your imaginary high horse.
Well, it was the 1860s and not 2024. If I or you were aloe and living in the south at that time there is a better than average chance we'd have severed in the Confederate Army. In his mind, he wasn't going to spill the blood of her kin. I don't think he was a traitor at all, but a man of his time and culture. I fully honor him and will Continue to do so!!
@ using that logic there would be no such thing as treason. Hell, Benedict Arnold wasn’t a traitor. Just a man of his times. They were all traitors and they did it to keep slavery. No honor for that.
So enjoy your channel!! Get lost in the story's.