General Hooker’s plan of attack was as follows: three corps were massed below Fredericksburg, and, crossing the river at West Point, were to make a feint attack upon the enemy; having done this, the two corps were to return instantly, and join the remaining four corps, and with them recross the river at ten or twenty miles above Fredericksburg, thus moving down upon the left of the enemy; and, according to General Hooker’s idea, forcing the rebels to a battle outside their intrenchments, which would compel them to fall back on Richmond. The following description will give a clear idea of the position, at that time, of the Army of the Potomac: Falmouth, the position occupied by General Hooker’s army, is nearly opposite Fredericksburg on the north bank of the Rappahannock. About twelve miles above, the Rapidan, a small river, unites with a stream hitherto called the North Fork, to form the Rappahannock. Lately, however, the North Fork had been called the Rappahannock, and the Rapidan had been spoken of as a tributary. The United States Ford is about one mile below the mouth of the Rapidan. Banks’s Ford is about midway between the United States Ford and Falmouth. Kelly’s Ford, where the four corps crossed the North Fork, or the Rapidan, as it was now called, is about twenty miles above Falmouth. Germania Ford, where the same force crossed the Rapidan, is about twelve miles south of Kelly’s Ford, at a place called Germania Mills. On Monday morning, April 27th, three corps under Major-General Howard, Major-General Slocum, and Major-General Meade, marched to Kelly’s Ford, which was reached on the afternoon of the following day, by General Howard, who was in advance. Portions of the Seventy-third Pennsylvania, and One Hundred and Fifty-fourth New York, amounting to two hundred and fifty men, crossed in boats, and took position on the opposite side of the river. No enemy was to be found, except a few pickets, who retired before the skirmishers sent out to reconnoitre. During the evening the remainder of General Howard’s corps crossed the river; General Slocum’s bivouacked on the shore, and General Meade’s crossed the river some miles further down. On Wednesday morning General Slocum’s corps also crossed over; and on Thursday the last day of April, the three corps advanced to Chancellorsville, and were massed at night at the point where the Culpeper road joins the Orange Court-House road. General Hooker arrived there at nightfall, and made the place his headquarters. On the 29th the second corps under command of General Couch, had taken up a position five miles above Fredericksburg, at Banks’s Ford. General Sherman’s cavalry was sent to cut off the railway communication between General Lee’s army and Richmond. Meanwhile, the remaining three corps of the army under Major-Generals Sickles, Sedgwick, and Reynolds, had left camps on Monday night, and taken up a position two miles below Fredericksburg.