May 6, 1863

The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, which began on April 30, ended on this day. Union General Hooker suffered defeat and retreated as a result of Lee’s brilliant tactics. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Union losses were 17,000 killed, wounded and missing out of 130,000. The Confederates lost 13,000 out of 60,000. Lee’s forces were outnumbered two to one. The Battle of Chancellorsville was depicted in the 2003 film Gods and Generals, based on the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Shaara.The battle is also the background in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “The Night at Chancellorsville,” and Stephen Crane’s 1895 novel “The Red Badge of Courage,” made into a movie by John Huston and featuring Medalof Honor winner Audie Murphy.