The Commanders of Chancellorsville

The award-winning Civil War historian explores the battle between two strikingly different generals: “Fighting Joe” Hooker and Robert E. Lee.

As equally matched in skill as they were opposite in personality, the brash Union Gen. Joseph Hooker boasted of a sure defeat of the reserved Gen. Robert E. Lee. “I’ve got Robert E. Lee right where I want him, and even God Himself cannot stop me from destroying him,” boasted Hooker. Yet the battle of Chancellorsville stands as Lee’s greatest triumph.

The story of the two generals has never been explored as it is here. “Fighting Joe” Hooker was brilliant, but also profane and bombastic, and his army so undisciplined that their pursuit of camp “followers” spawned the modern euphemism for prostitute. Robert E. Lee, equally gifted, was known as the definitive devout, self-controlled Southern gentleman, leading an army that was exhausted, underfed, and outmanned. Chancellorsville stands not just as a pivotal battle of the Civil War but as the personal war between two warriors—stalking, striking, and counter-striking their way to ultimate victory or defeat.

Praise for the work of Edward G. Longacre, a winner of the Fletcher Pratt and Douglas Southall Freeman awards

“Breezy and informative . . . Longacre remains even handed throughout and maintains a lively pace.” —Publishers Weekly

“Well-researched, fast paced.” —Pennsylvania History