CHANCELLORSVILLE 



1267 



CHANNING 



royal family itself and the Archbishop of Can- 

 terbury take rank above him, and he receives 

 a salary equivalent to $50,000 a year. He is a 

 member of the Cabinet and the presiding 

 officer of the House of Lords. His duties are 

 very numerous, chief among them being the 

 supreme judgeship of the Court of Chancery. 

 He is the official guardian of all infants, as 

 well as of people of unsound mind. The 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer is the British 

 Minister of Finance, and a member of the 

 Cabinet. 



In the United States and Canada the term 

 has no official meaning, but is sometimes used 

 instead of president as the title of the head of 

 a university. 



CHANCELLORSVILLE, chan'selers ml, BAT- 

 TLE OF, one of the most important engagements 

 of the War of Secession, in which the Confed- 

 erates won a decisive victory, but suffered the 

 loss of "Stonewall" Jackson, their greatest gen- 

 eral next to Lee. The battle was fought on 

 May 2-4, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Va., eleven 

 miles west of Fredericksburg. The Federal 

 Army of the Potomac, numbering about 

 130,000, under command of General Hooker, 

 had for some months been lying entrenched 

 on the north side of the Rappahannock River. 

 In April Hooker began a general movement 

 against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, sta- 

 tioned at Fredericksburg, on the opposite side 

 of the river. Lee's entire force numbered about 

 60,000. 



Hooker led the bulk of his army across the 

 river and took a position at Chancellorsville, 

 while the rest of the troops, under General 

 John Sedgwick, were ordered to cross below 

 Fredericksburg, so Lee was between two sec- 

 tions of the Union forces. The Confederate 

 commander, however, outgeneraled Hooker 

 by getting the latter's army between two of his 

 own wings, and the Union forces were com- 

 pletely defeated in the fight of May 2 and 3. 

 "Stonewall" Jackson, who was Lee's "right 

 arm" in the first day's fight, was shot by 

 mistake by some of his own men while recon- 

 noitering in the darkness on the night of May 2. 

 Eight days later he died. On May 4 Lee at- 

 tacked and defeated Sedgwick, and the entire 

 Union army withdrew to the opposite side 

 of the Rappahannock. The Union loss was 

 about 17,300; the Confederate, about 12,460. 

 Lee was so encouraged by this victory that he 

 immediately planned an invasion of the north, 

 which ended disastrously at Gettysburg, two 

 months later. 



CHANCERY, chan'seri, COURT OF. The 

 court of chancery was formerly the highest 

 court of England, and second in authority 

 only to Parliament. At present it is a division 

 of the High Court of Justice. It is presided 

 over by the Lord High Chancellor, and from 

 this circumstance it derived its name. The pur- 

 pose of the court is to settle cases which do not 

 fall under the common law. The chancellor 

 is regarded as the personal representative of 

 the king, and as such possesses extraordinary 

 authority. In the United States, courts of 

 equity have taken the place of courts of 

 chancery. 



CHAN'NEL ISLANDS, a group of islands 

 in the English Channel, ten miles from the 

 coast of France, representing all that remains 

 to England of its once great possessions in 

 France. Their combined area is seventy-five 



FRANCE 



LOCATION MAP 



square miles, five square miles more than the 

 area of the District of Columbia. Although 

 politically English, i;he islanders are typically 

 French in manners and customs, and they 

 pride themselves on belonging to the race 

 which conquered England in the days of Wil- 

 liam I, the Conqueror. Jersey, Guernsey, Al- 

 derney and Sark are the only inhabited islands, 

 but there are numerous rocks and islets, many 

 of which are submerged at high tide. The 

 climate is mild and healthful, and flowers and 

 vegetables are grown in great quantities, 

 reaching the London markets several weeks 

 before the English crops. Stone for building 

 purposes is exported, and the islands are 

 famous for their dairy cattle, the Jerseys, 

 Guernseys and Alderneys. Although strongly 

 fortified, the islands find their greatest pro- 

 tection in the dangerous tides and currents, 

 which render navigation for large vessels ex- 

 tremely difficult. 



CHANNING, chan'ing, WILLIAM ELLEHY 

 (1780-1842), one of the most famous American 

 preachers, whose influence is still felt in social 

 and political reforms, through his memory and 



