ic in the Eleventh Corps. Sedgwick's force had crossed
below and taken Fredericksburg; but the divided Union army could not
effect a junction; and the fighting from May 1 to May 4 finally ended by
the withdrawal of both sections of the Union army north of the
Rappahannock. The losses suffered by the Union and the Confederate
forces were about equal, but the prestige of another brilliant victory
fell to General Lee, seriously balanced, however, by the death of
Stonewall Jackson, who was accidentally killed by the fire of his own
men.

In addition to his evident very unusual diminution of vigor and will,
Hooker had received a personal injury on the third, which for some hours
rendered him incapable of command; and he said in his testimony before
the Committee on the Conduct of the War:

"When I returned from Chancellorsville I felt that I had fought no
battle; in fact, I had more men than I could use, and I fought no
general battle for the reason that I could not get my men in position to
do so probably not more than three or three and a half corps on the
right were engaged in the fight."

Hooker's defeat at Chancellorsville had not been so great a disaster as
that of Burnside at Fredericksburg; and while his influence was greatly
impaired, his usefulness did not immediately cease. The President and
the Secretary of War still had faith in him. The average opinion of his
qualities has been tersely expressed by one of his critics, who wrote:
"As an inferior he planned badly and fought well; as a chief he planned
well and fought badly." The course of war soon changed, so that he was
obliged to follow rather than permitted to lead the developments of a
new campaign.

The brilliant victories gained by Lee inspired the Confederate
authorities and leaders with a greatly exaggerated hope of the ultimate
success of the rebellion. It was during the summer of 1863 that the
Confederate armies reached, perhaps, their highest numerical strength
and greatest degree of efficiency. Both the long dreamed of possibility
of achieving Southern independence and the newly flushed military ardor
of officers and men, elated by what seemed to them an unbroken record of
successes on the Virginia battle-fields moved General Lee to the bold
hazard of a second invasion of the North. Early in June, Hooker gave it
as his opinion that Lee intended to move against Washington, and asked
whether in that case he should attack the Confederate rear. To thi