Decision Twelve: To visit the hospital

• The battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 was another major victory for the Confederacy, perhaps the most impressive, orchestrated by a brilliant stealth maneuver conducted by Stonewall Jackson

• The CSA was outnumbered and outsupplied, but Jackson's skill overcompensated for the deficiency

• After the battle was over, as Stonewall Jackson was returning to his camp, Confederate guards, mistaking Stonewall for a Union spy, accidentally shot him

• Jackson did not die immediately, but his arm had to be amputated

• Lee considered Jackson absolutely indispensable to victory.

• As Jackson was trying to recover, he called on General Lee to come visit him

• Lee was aware of the phenomenon of people holding onto life until they have a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones

DECISION: You are General Lee. Do you go see Stonewall Jackson in his hospital bedroom?

Click here to see Lee's choice.