His own losses had been great but far less than those he inflicted on
Rosecrans. He had lost one thousand two hundred and ninety-two killed,
seven thousand nine hundred and forty-five wounded and one thousand
twenty-seven missing.
At Charleston a fleet of iron-clads on the model of the _Monitor_ had
been crushed by the batteries and driven back to sea with heavy loss.
The _Keokuk_ was left a stranded wreck in the harbor.
A second attack on Vicksburg had failed under Sherman. A third attack by
Grant had been repulsed. Farragut's attack on Port Hudson had failed
with the loss of the _Richmond_.
The Federal Government now put forth its grandest effort to crush at a
blow the apparently invincible army of Davis' still lying in its
trenches on the heights behind Fredericksburg.
Hooker's army was raised to an effective force of one hundred and thirty
thousand and his artillery increased to four hundred guns. Lee had been
compelled to detach Longstreet's corps, comprising nearly a third of his
army for service in North Carolina. The force under his command was
barely fifty thousand.
So great was the superiority of the Northern army Hooker divided his
forces for an enveloping movement, each wing of his being still greater
than the whole force under Lee.
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