General Joseph Hooker and his Staff. These were the men whose work it was,
during the winter after Fredericksburg, to restore the _esprit de corps_
of the Army of the Potomac. The tireless energy and magnetic personality
of Hooker soon won officers from their disaffection and put an end to
desertions--which had been going on at the rate of two hundred per day
before he took command. By spring everything seemed propitious for an
aggressive campaign, the plans for which were brilliantly drawn and at
first vigorously carried out, giving truth to Lincoln's expressed belief
that Hooker was "a trained and skilful soldier." In that remarkable letter
of admonition to Hooker upon assuming command, Lincoln added: "But beware
of rashness, beware of rashness; with energy and with sleepless vigilance
go forward and give us victories." By some strange fate it was not
rashness but quite the contrary which compassed the failure of "Fighting
Joe" Hooker at Chancellorsville. His first forward advance was executed
with his usual bold initiative. Before Lee could fully divine his purpose,
Hooker with thirty-six thousand men was across his left flank in a
favorable position, with the main body of his army at hand ready to give
battle. Then came Hooker's inexplicable order to fall back upon
Chancellorsville. That very night, consulting in the abandoned Federal
position, Lee and Jackson formed the plan which drove Hooker back across
the Rappahannock in ignominious defeat.