WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN. 



775 



Wilderness. Spottsylvania Court-House, down to COLD 

 HARBOR. ;ihx-u<iy described in this work. It comprises 

 a succession of great conflicts and skilful marches, 

 occupying a single month of time (from May 3 to 

 June 3, 1864), which radically changed the aspect of 

 the war and placed the army of the North in position 

 to successfully terminate the long-continued struggle. 

 The whole campaign demands to be dealt with as but 

 a sin.de event of the war, its several incidents being 

 parts of one great whole. 



From the battle of Gettysburg, in July, 1803, to the 

 beginning of Hay, 18114, no important military events 

 had taken place in Virginia, the operations of the 

 armies being confined to inconsequent marches in 

 unsuccessful efforts to obtain advantages of position. 

 On March 9, 1864, Gen. Ulysses 8. Grant was 

 made commander-in-chief of all the United Slates 

 armies with the rank of lieutenant-general. He at 

 once placed Sherman in command of the Western 

 armies and took the field in person with the Army of 

 the Potomac, tlioir.'h Meade still retained its imme- 

 diate command. Grant's plan embraced a movement 

 in concert of all the armies of the Uniim. The Army 

 of the Potomac at that time lay just north of the Rap- 

 idan, a branch of the Rappahannock River, fat-ing 

 the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under 

 Gen. Robert E. Ix;e, which lay south of the Rapidan 

 with a strongly-intrenched position at Mine Run. 

 The force under Gen. Grant is stated by himself to 

 have been about II 6,01 HI men; that under Lee is 

 cl.iinieil by Confederate historians to have been only 

 04,000 men, but is estimated by Grant at NI.UM). Such 

 discrepancy in numbers as existed was negatived in the 

 succeeding engagements by the reversed relations of 

 the iwo armies, Grant constantly fighting on the 

 offensive, Lee usually on the defensive and behind 

 intrench menta. 



Shortly after midnight, on the morning of May 

 4. lsi',4, the movement of Grant's army toward the 

 Rapidan began. At the same time Butler with lio.iHHi 

 men moved from Fortress Monroe up the south side 

 of the James River, and two days afterwards Sherman 

 advanced from Chattanooga on his march towards At- 

 lanta. The grand movement of all the armies had sim- 

 ultaneously begun. On the morning of the 4th the 

 right wing crossed the Rapidan, followed during the 

 day by the remainder of the army. Grant states in 

 his Memoir* that he expected severe opposition in 

 crossing the river, and considered that he had gained 

 a great advantage in being suffered to cross unopposed. 

 He believed that his success was due to Lee being 

 taken by surprise by the suddenness of the advance 

 movement. 



The army now pushed immediately into that diffi- 

 cult country known as The Wilderness, in whose wilds 

 Hooker had received so severe a repulse just a year 

 before at Chancellorsville (a. v.). The region thus 

 named was an exceedingly difficult one for military 

 operations, being coverecf by a dense thicket of second 

 growth, replacing the primeval forest which had been 

 cut to supply fuel to neighboring smelting furnaces. 

 This thicket extended for miles but was intersected by 

 several roads, by which alone could troops be moved. 

 The right column pushed directly into the Wilderness, 

 the lelt to Chancellorsville, where it bivouacked for the 

 night. Grant hoped that another day's march would 

 take him through this region and that by a rapid ad- 

 vance on Gordonsville he might place lumpclf in the 

 rear of Lee's army. In consequence, eariy on the 

 morning of the 5th, the whole army was put in motion 

 fur this purpose. 



Lee, meanwhile, was well aware of the advantages 

 of the Wilderness as a battle-ground, its intricacies 

 being familiar to him and his generals while unknown 

 to his. opponents. He had already iramcd a victory 

 over a -ui>' rior force there and Imped to do so ai/am. 

 If" therefore resolved to frive Gr.int battle in those 

 wilds. The thicket '1 by a turnpike an 1 a 



plank road which ran eastward!}', nearly parallel to 

 each other, from Lee's head-quarters near Orange 

 Court-House. Along these roads Lee's army advanced 

 on, the morning of the 5th, Ewell's columns following 

 the turnpike, the more northerly road, and Hill's the 

 plank road. Longstreet's division, which had been 

 stationed at Gordonsville. 20 miles off, did not arrive 

 in time to take part in the battle of that day. This 

 was the case also with Burnside's division of Grant's 

 army, which had been lying on the Rappahannock. 



Grant's army had not advanced far before the heads 

 of the enemy's columns were felt. It was at first sup- 

 posed that this was but a strong rear-guard to cover 

 Lee's retreat, and dispositions were made to sweep it 

 away and seize the intrenchments on Mine Run, the 

 day being well advanced before it was clearly perceived 

 that Lee s army was there with the intention uf tight- 

 ing. The affray opened with a struggle of skirmishers 

 and of small parties of cavalry and infantry sent to 

 their support, but action in force did not begin till 

 alxmt noon, when Ayres's and Bartlett's brigades of 

 Griffin's division were sent through the thicket to the 

 right and left of the turnpike to disperse the force in 

 tVont. The Confederates were driven in, not being 

 prepared for this onset, and a larger force might have 

 crushed Ewell's corps had the true state of the case 

 been known to the Union commanders. But the dan- 

 ger to the Confederates was averted by the quick 

 advance of Stewart's brigade and the timely arrival of 

 IJodes's division, these new troops at once attacking 

 vigorously. Orders had been issued to support War- 

 ren's adv: n -I'd brigades by the left of Sedgwick's 

 corps, but the pas-sage through the thicket proved so 

 difficult that Ayres and Kartlett were hurled back 

 before support could reach them. The fighting was 

 desperate and ended in a decided advantage to the 

 Confederates, who captured two guns and a number 

 of prisoners and won the contested ground. Gen. 

 Wadsworth, who had advanced to co-operate wiih 

 Griffin, went somewhat astray in the woods and was 

 met by a flank fire which drove him back in some con- 

 fusion. On the left of Wadsworth the brigade of 

 McCandless found itself isolated and nearly sur- 

 rounded, and lost two full regiments in the effort to 

 escape from its dangerous position. The result of the 

 engagement was a loss of about 3000 men to Warren's 

 corps and the possession of the contested ground by 

 the enemy, Warren retiring to form a new line a little 

 in the rear. Shortly after 1 P. M. the head of the 

 Sixth corps, which was advancing to support the Fifth, 

 was attacked by Ewell. In the conflict that ensued 

 the Confederates were at first repulsed, then the Sixth 

 was driven back by a furious charge of Rodcs's divis- 

 ion, and finally the Confederates were again driven, the 

 Union forces holding the ground. This ended the 

 fight for the day in that quarter. 



Two hours before Griffin's advance Grant had fath- 

 omed Lee's intention to give battle in the Wilderness 

 and made the necessary preparations. To Hancock, 

 who was advancing with the Second corps, he sent 

 word to march with all haste by the Brock Road 

 which crosses the plank road nearly at right angles, 

 while Gen. Getty, of the Sixth corns, was ordered to 

 hold the junction of these roads with his division until 

 joined by Hancock. He did so, though pressed 

 severely by Hill, who was seeking to gain possession 

 of the same strategic point. Hancock's advance 

 reached Getty's position about 3 P. M., and soon the 

 whole Second corps was there and the junction secured. 

 Shortly afterward Hancock, who had begun to throw 

 up breastworks, was ordered to advance on Hill and 

 drive him back. A sanguinary battle ensued at close 

 quarters, but Hill maintained his ground firmly until 

 after nightfall, when the fighting ceased, the oombat- 

 anls resting for the night so near each other that both 

 drew water from the same brook. Thus ended the 

 first day's battle in the Wilderness. 



The battle was resumed early in the morning of the 



