The Union Sixth Army Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign

By Philip W. Parsons
Illustrated, index, endnotes, bibliography, appendices, 221 pp., 2006. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, $39.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Robbie C. Smith
Robbie C. Smith is a graduate of Goucher College who grew up in a Navy family where he gained an appreciation for and interest in military history. A childhood visit to Shiloh ignited a lifelong love of all things Civil War. Smith is a park ranger at Vicksburg National Military Park.

Review:
Philip Parsons aptly entitles his work The Union Sixth Army Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign. Parsons focuses on the performance of Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's troops in the engagements of Second Fredericksburg, Salem Church and Bank's Ford on May 3 and 4, 1863, within the context of commanding Gen. Joseph Hooker's operational objective of destroying the Army of Northern Virginia.

Parsons promises that his study will "evaluate the impact these combat actions had on Major General Hooker's misfired offensive." The author fulfills much of his intention while making a threefold contribution to the existing body of Civil War literature.

He provides insightful analysis of those engagements that have previously been assigned to a footnote in the literature of the Chancellorsville Campaign. He separates the performance of the Sixth Corps from its commander and gives well-deserved credit to those Union soldiers who have been largely overlooked during the Chancellorsville Campaign.

Parsons outlines Hooker's plan. Then he summarizes the Union army's execution through the morning of May 3 while relating the movements of the Sixth Corps. The author proceeds to detail the operations of Sedgwick's soldiers, including the battle action at Marye's Heights, Salem Church and Bank's Ford, and follows the activities of that commanding general as well.

He concludes his work by addressing Joe Hooker's post-battle penchant for self-justification through condemnation of subordinate officers, Sedgwick being the primary target.

Parsons' narrative is fluid and his study of the engagements is thorough. His account of those actions justly illuminates the fighting prowess of the Sixth Corps soldier. Parsons utilized many primary source accounts which lend validity and detail to his study. His examination fails to reach its full potential, however.

Full consideration of Sixth Corps operations within General Hooker's misfired offensive should include analysis of command and control issues that impacted its movements and the resultant performance of the army. Parsons briefly alludes to such issues as the tactical timidness of Hooker, difficulties in communications, and indecisiveness on the part of Sedgwick. He fails to thoroughly examine the connection between these elements and their consequences for the Army of the Potomac and Hooker's operational objective.

It can, for example, be argued reasonably that Hooker exhibited some strong leadership characteristics at the outset of the Chancellorsville Campaign that inexplicably dissolved at a critical juncture impacting both the opportunities available to his enemy as well as his own army.

The strategy of the Chancellorsville Campaign and the early tactical execution that placed the enemy between two halves of a force twice his size demonstrated that quality of daring on Hooker's part. That daring quickly and unexplainably dissolved into tactical timidness that relinquished the initiative and offensive.

Hooker's sudden transformation from aggression to defense resulted in a stream of orders to Sedgwick that belied the commanding general's earlier bravado and reflected instead a growing tenor of uncertainty and decisiveness. The general sense of indecision that pervaded Hooker's correspondence along with a tenuous line of communication combined to influence Sedgwick's command decisions.

These considerations, however, did not absolve Sedgwick from the responsibility of executing orders with alacrity and resolve. These factors warrant a complete consideration before a thorough understanding of Sixth Corps operations and their impact on Hooker's misfired offensive can be realized.

The Union Sixth Army Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign includes ample photographs of commanders, pertinent locations and period illustrations, although it suffers from a paucity of quality detailed maps, which would enhance the reader's understanding of the engagements. Overall The Union Sixth Army Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign is recommended as a worthwhile contribution to Civil War literature.