776 



WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN. 



f.th. During the night Longtrcet had bivouacked 'forward with the vigor which In- h:nl shown since his 



near tin 1 intrcnchuientson Mini 1 Hun, ami was ordered first arrival mi tin- field, pushing back Hancock in front 



to taLo position on Hill's right ; while Bnmwfa ami endeavoring to wire the Brock road cm his flank, 



arrived before daybreak and inaivlicd to occupy the where he himself fell by :i bullet from one of his own 



position lietween Warren and Hancock, (irant's line in< n. He wim riding, with his (.luff, in IVont of his 



of battle, now fully liirmed, extended I'roiu Todd's coluuin, when he came upon the van of his flunking 



Tavern on the Hrock road to near (ierinannn Ford, force. His men. mistaking the group of oflie 



cros-sing the turnpike arid plank road nearly at right T'nion cavalry, fired, and Longstrcct fell with a i-cvcre 



angles and presenting a front of about five miles, wound, which disabled him for months. Thi> accident 



Scdgwick (K-enpied the right ; Warren joined him on seriously deranged the Confederate plans. The lines 



the left, his line crossing I lie turnpike ; jiimiside took were thrown into confusion and the advance c 



position on Warren's left, and Hancock lay on the while Ijee, as soon as he heard of the misfortune, 



extreme left, oceupying the lirock road and it.s junction hurried to the spot to t;ike charge in person of the im- 



willi the plank road. Jjee's army remained us on the portant movenient he had ordered This check was 



day lictoiv. Kwell on the turnpike, (acini: Sedgwiek of vital importance to Hancock. While lx-c wa- rai- 



aud Warren ; Hill on the right, across the plank road ; lying and reform in c the troops and preparing fora fn^li 



while Longstreet was advancing towards Lis position advance, a labor which consumed four hotir>. llancoi k 



on Hill's right, facing Hancock. I had rcocrupied his intrcnchmcnts on the I {rock road 



So >tood the opposing armies on the morning of May and made preparations for the threatened attack. 



:y to engage in one of the most singular and At 4 P. M. the columns of JAMIL-SI red and Hill, led 



desperate conflicts the world had ever known. Swintpn Dy Lee in person, advanced in serried masses upon 



well stales the case : " Manoeuvring here was necessarily IJancock's position, and vigorously assailed the line, 



out of the Question, and only Indian tactics told. The which lay liehind a strongly built breastwoik of logs. 



troops could only receive direction by a point of the The contest soon became hot and furious. The inces- 



compass. for not only were the lines of battle entirely sarit volleys of musketry set fire to the woods, which 



hidden from the sight of the commander, but no officer tpiickly liecaine filled with flame and smoke. Soon the 



could see ten files on each side of him. Artillery was 

 wholly ruled out of use ; the massive concentration of 

 3'Mi trims stood silent, and only an occasional piece or 

 M could he brought into play in the roadsides. 

 Cavalry was .mill more useless. Hut in that horrid 

 thicket there lurked '3M>.iii)0 men. and through it lurid 

 fires played, and, though no array of battle could be 

 FCCII. there cauu- out of its depths the roll and crackle 

 of musketry like the noisy boiling of some hull-caldron 

 that told the dread story of death. ' 



(iranl recognized the difficulty of the situation and 

 pave but a single general order: "Attack along the 

 whole line at five o clock." Jx, however, began the 



Union breastworks were on fire, and ere long the whole 

 line of logs was a mass of seething flames, the smoke 

 and ashes being driven by the wind in the face of the 

 Union troops. The battle went on through smoke and 

 flame, a portion of the breastworks not yet on fire being 

 taken byaficrccConfedcrate charge. The moment wan 

 aeriticalone.but Col.J. W. Hoffman rushed forward with 

 a small body of men. drove the assailants out. and re- 

 took the works. This, as Hancock declared, saved the 

 day on the left. The intrench inents had proved too 

 strong to carry, and no further effort was made. 



( )n the right the fighting was less severe. Scdgwic k 

 had made a strong effort to carry Kwdl's intrenched 



battle, by an assault a little before this hour, with the lines, and had lost heavily in doing so. Warren had 



purpose, as is asserted, of occupying the Union lines remained mostly on the defensive. As night ap- 



till Longstrcet could get into position, when he hoped proaehed it was supposed the battle was at an end, but 



by a sudden and vigorous attack on Hancock's flank to Lee had another surprise in store. Just at sunset a 



drive his antagonist back to the Hapidan. If such was heavy column, led by (I en. (iordon. advanced from 



his design it was defeated, Longstred, not reaching Kwell's extreme left, and fell heavily and unexpectedly 



his position as early as hoped for. The battle began on Sedgwick's wearied troops, who were ulterly un- 



in a fierce musketry assault on the extreme right of 

 Sedgwick's corps and a desperate effort to break 

 through his lines. This was easily repelled, and Sedg- 

 wiek made a partial advance, while at the same time 

 Warren and tJunook attacked the foe in their front 

 Hancock's movement was at first successful. . The 

 Confederates were forced out of their rifle-pits, many 

 iirisoncrs with five battle-flags were captured, and 

 Hill's troops driven back in confusion. At this criti- 

 cal juncture Anderson's division of Hill's corps came 

 up and checked the retreat, and the head of 1,/ong- 

 FI reel's column, which had been marching to flank 

 Hancock, made its appearance in front. 



It was new 9 A. M. Hancock reformed his lines, which 

 bad received reinforce luentsfrom Burnaide, and resumed 

 his advance, but found himself speedily checked by a 

 large force. Longstreet had been recalled from his 

 flanking march and ordered to Hill's a-^istaii'-c. and 

 Hancock had the greater portion of the Confederate 

 army licforc him. The battle that ensued was fierce' 

 and Bangui; ary, Hancock making vigorous efforts to 

 break the stioiig lines in his front, and losing heavily 

 in the effort. About 11 A. M. a fierce assault, was made 

 on his left, by a strong force which I/ee had sent to 

 earn,' out his original plan of flanking the Union line 

 with the hope of doubling it up. and driving the whole. 



army back to the Hapidan. Hancock was for 1 to 



frill back l>e(ore this overwhelming el 



i Mill falling with a bullet through his brain as 

 his line \v : e- force, 1 t,, retreat. 



At this point in the contest a soriou* nii*fortiinn lie- 

 fell the Confederate cause. Longtrcrt wns pressing I 



prepared for such an assault. It was a moment of 

 peril. The right wing of the army seemed in immi- 

 nent danger. The charging column fell first on the 

 brigades of Seymour and Shalcr. of Kiekett's division, 

 drove them back confusedly, and captured s< vend hun- 

 dred prisoners, including bulb commanders. But 

 k swiftly hurried m< n to the dct'c nee. the Con- 

 federate advance was checked, and the darkin 

 night soon put an end to the violently contested battle. 

 During the. day the cavalry had taken no part, except 

 a brief contc-i bciween Sheridan and Stuart in the 

 open country far to the left of Hancock's lines. 



The losses were, severe. Careful estimates i.lacc the 

 Union loss during the two days' battle at nearlv IS. 000 

 men, of whom hlH) were made prisoners. The Con- 

 federal e loss was probably alxnit 1 I.IMKI. Fierce as (lie 

 battle had been iri advantage in position was gained by 

 either party. The Union army rested during the night 

 on precis ly the grounds it had occupied in the morn- 

 ing. With the dawn of the 7th the men rose ready 



to renew the. battle, if m ssary. I'ul I/ce had e\ i 



dently had enough of offensive fighting, great as was 

 the advantage to him of his knowledge of the ground. 

 The. skirmish line sent out at daybreak found llieCon- 

 ('derates Ix'hind intrenchments. to attack which. HI 

 that impracticable wilderness, would have been a des- 

 perate and dangerous attempt for the Union army. 

 (rrant nl once decided not to do so. but to get out "I' 

 the wilderness and into more open country without clc- 

 1 iv Thus ended the first act of the Wilderness cam- 

 paign. 



p. M. on the 7th Warren mored from his lines 



