Just after, in the midwinter, the brand new armies turned effective when Burnside attempted to move his military and you can mix the new lake above Fredericksburg; but just for a few days, regarding unfortunate General’s arrangements was in fact ruined of the a great deluge and you will their armed forces “caught on the mud.” Standard Hooker got his lay.

Throughout the April twenty-six Hooker’s higher army, “The best armed forces in the world,” he bombastically named they, went within the lake and you can first started crossing. Into the April twenty-ninth and thirtieth, Hooker got in position up to Chancellorsville, for the strong entrenchments, part of his armed forces amounting in order to 85,one hundred thousand boys, however the Confederate skirmishers was in fact already in front of your.