Battle of Chancellorsville

In late April 1863, Joseph Hooker moved much of the Army of the Potomac around Robert E. Lee’s position at Fredericksburg. Lee divided his smaller army and sent Stonewall Jackson on a long march against the exposed Union right flank.

Jackson’s attack on 2 May caused a major Union collapse, but he was wounded by Confederate fire while reconnoitring after dark and died eight days later. Lee forced Hooker to withdraw despite significant Confederate losses.

This context supports fiction about Lee and Jackson’s command partnership, the crisis of Union leadership and the battle that closes Gods and Generals immediately before Gettysburg.