Draggingtree Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Battle of the Wilderness Contributed by Gregory A. Mertz The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–6, 1864, was the opening engagement of the Overland Campaign during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The newly appointed general-in-chief of the Union armies, Ulysses S. Grant, personally led the Army of the Potomac south across the Rapidan River in what he hoped would be a quick maneuver around the right flank of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Instead, Lee engaged Grant where he had engaged Joseph Hooker almost exactly a year earlier—in the seventy-square-mile patch of tangled undergrowth known as the Wilderness. The battle that resulted was uncoordinated, bloody, and often confused, with a testy Grant pressing Lee's men on May 5 and very nearly breaking through the Confederate lines on May 6. Lee was famously restrained by his men from leading a countercharge, and his top lieutenant, James Longstreet, was seriously wounded when he was accidently shot by Virginia troops near the spot where, at Chancellorsville the year before, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson had been similarly wounded. Unlike Jackson, Longstreet survived, and amid burning trees the Confederates won a tactical victory. Grant, however, refused to turn back, confronting Lee again and again until finally stalling before Petersburg. MORE... Battle of the Wilderness Campaign Overland Campaign Date May 5–6, 1864 Location the Wilderness of Spotsylvania County Combatants United States Confederacy Commanders Ulysses S. Grant Robert E. Lee Casualties 17,666 (2,246 killed, 12,037 wounded, and 3,383 captured/missing) 11,125 (1,495 killed, 7,690 wounded, and 1,940 captured/missing) http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Battle_of_the_Wilderness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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