© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 546

On Saturday, April 11, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, just returned from his visit to Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac, conferred with his Cabinet members and General-in-Chief Henry Halleck on military matters. 

The following day Lincoln received a letter from General Hooker in which the general proposed to outflank Lee’s army which opposed him across the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg.  Hooker noted that he intended to cross the river, turn the Confederate left flank, and use his cavalry to server connections with Richmond.  He would then engage and destroy Lee’s army.

Hooker’s plan was exactly what Lincoln had earlier encouraged Hooker to do during his visit with the Army of the Potomac, but turning Lee’s left flank would eventually lead both armies to the bloody battlefield of Chancellorsville, Virginia.