First Army Corps
Second Army Corps
Third Army Corps
Fifth Army Corps
Sixth Army Corps
Eleventh Army Corps
Twelfth Army Corps
Pleasonton’s Cavalry Brigade		 135
1,925
4,119
700
4,590
2,412
2,822
141
———
16,844

The Confederate losses were hardly less severe. The killed and wounded were as under:—

SECOND ARMY CORPS

A. P. Hill’s Division
Rodes” Division
Colston’s Division
Early’s Division
Anderson’s Division
McLaws” Division
Artillery
Cavalry
Prisoners (estimated)		 2,583
2,178
1,868
851
1,180
1,379
227
11
2,000
———
12,227

But a mere statement of the casualties by no means represents the comparative loss of the opposing forces. Victory does not consist in merely killing and maiming a few thousand men. This is the visible result; it is the invisible that tells. The Army of the Potomac, when it retreated across the Rappahannock, was far stronger in mere numbers than the Army of Northern Virginia; but in reality it was far weaker, for the moral of the survivors, and of the general who led them, was terribly affected. That of the Confederates, on the other hand, had been sensibly elevated, and it is moral, not numbers, which is the strength of armies. What, after all, was the loss of 12,200 soldiers to the Confederacy? In that first week of May there were probably 20,000 conscripts in different camps of instruction, more than enough to recruit the depleted regiments to full strength. Nor did the slaughter of Chancellorsville diminish to any appreciable degree the vast hosts of the Union.

And yet the Army of the Potomac had lost more than all the efforts of the Government could replace. The Army of Virginia, on the other hand, had acquired a superiority of spirit which was ample compensation for the sacrifice which had been made. It is hardly too much to say that Lee’s force had gained from the victory an increase of strength equivalent to a whole army corps of 80,000 men, while that of his opponent had been proportionately diminished. Why, then, was there no pursuit?

It has been asserted that Lee was so crippled by his losses at Chancellorsville that he was unable to resume operations against Hooker for a whole month. This explanation of his inactivity can hardly be accepted.

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