Chancellorsville Revisited

Yesterday we traveled to Fredricksburg, Virginia with over sixty of our field grade Army officers to view firsthand the Chancellorsville civil war battlefield. Even though it was hot, in the 90's, it was under very comfortable conditions compared to those endured in 1863. From the Chatham House, to the former outskirts of Fredricksburg at the sunken road, and then West where the majority of fighting occurred. Dr. Christian Keller, our faculty historian and his counterparts from the Department of Military History at Leavenworth, Kansas combined to make this yet another first class educational venue.

This could simply have been a dry discussion in a classroom about one of many historical battles. But this was much more. Two highly intelligent, determined leaders dueled with each other over several days before the fighting ended. On the one hand a very ambitious General Joseph Hooker leading the Union forces, and the gentlemanly and older General Robert E. Lee leading the confederate forces. On the face of it General Hooker with an over 2-1 numerical advantage over General Lee's confederate forces should have won a convincing victory. But this was a battle of wills, a graduate level engagement of intellects. General Lee was comfortably dug-in south of Fredricksburg; General Hooker was going to have to take the offensive and bring the fight to Lee. The previous fall General Burnside attacked General Lee with a brutal frontal attack that resulted in utter failure at great cost to the union army. General Hooker was going to have to be a bit more creative!

On the union side a plan that General Hooker kept largely to himself, and a centralized command approach that did not reward initiative. On the confederate side a more trusting relationship between General Lee and his subordinates, what we characterize as a mission focused command approach that enabled subordinate leader initiative and more timely decision-making.

General Hooker developed a plan that on the face of it should have put the confederate forces to flight. But that is one of the problems with a live, thinking enemy. General Lee presented a different argument, though outnumbered, instead of an "inglorious retreat," he found an open union flank and attacked violently. Not exactly what General Hooker had anticipated. In the end the confederate forces prevailed, but at a cost in lives and senior leaders they could not afford to pay many more times.

On the one hand our historians painted some of the background picture for the students and all day long fired a steady stream of questions that our field grade officers answered quite capably. They fed the discussions, and fought to make their points. After it was all over I went straight home and took a much needed power nap. A luxury that our historical counterparts could not afford.

Regardless of how historical battles have turned out there are lessons aplenty we can learn from not just the victor, but also the loser. Though we are separated by time there is a much lesser separation in our habits, ways of doing things, ways of thinking, emotions, and culture. Though we often consider our generation different from our predecessors we share a remarkable sameness that we can learn from.

One of my continued lessons learned is the power of the group. The group that works together will invariably prevail over the brilliant individual that operates in isolation and does not take advantage of a broader set of perspectives. Though I've been on this staff ride for now the sixth or seventh time over the last two years it is always a worthwhile event. It is the power of the groups of field grade officers that bring a newness to each one. There is no end to fresh viewpoints, things I could not have discovered on my own.

As former President Harry S Truman said, "The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." And therein lies the value of Chancellorsville!