Joe Hooker had better than a two to one advantage over Confederate Robert E. Lee. Logically enough, he attempted to use his numerical superiority to pincer Lee. The main attack would be made by 75,000 on Hooker's right, Lee's left, with a holding or secondary force of 45,000 led by General John Sedgewick on Lee's right.
Lee resisted this with a counterpincer on Hooker's main force. Leaving only 12,000 men to face Sedgewick, Lee used the Wilderness to bluff that his remaining force of 45,000 was facing Hooker's left. Actually, there were only 20,000, because 25,000 "foot cavalry" under General Stonewall Jackson made an all-day "flank march round Hooker's force to its far right, arriving just before dusk. The resulting attack was a "hammer and anvil" operation that shatteredthe Union line.
The outnumbered Confederates won, but the daring maneuver cost them the life of their star general, Stonewall Jackson, who was mortally wounded by "friendly fire" in the darkness. This may have cost the Confederates the war.

