Sedgwick's corps crossed the river below Fredericksburg and began a
flanking movement from the south while Hooker threw the main body across
the Rappahannock at three fords seven miles above.
On April thirtieth, he issued an address to his men. His forces were all
safely across the river without firing a shot. He had Lee's little army
caught in a trap between his two grand divisions.
In his proclamation he boldly announced:
"The operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy
must ingloriously fly, or come out from behind their defenses and give
us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him."
His enemy was not slow in coming out from behind his defenses. With
quick decision Lee divided his little army by planting ten thousand men
under Early on Marye's Heights to stop Sedgwick's division and moved
swiftly with the remainder to meet Hooker in the dense woods of the
Wilderness near Chancellorsville.
With consummate daring and the strategy of genius he again divided his
army. He detached Jackson's corps and sent his "foot cavalry" on a swift
wide detour of twenty-odd miles to swing around Hooker's right and
strike him in the flank while he pretended an attack in force on his
front.
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