Battle of the Wilderness

Battle of the Wilderness
Part of the American Civil War
General Grant cheered by his men after the Battle of the Wilderness
Date May 5–7, 1864 Location Spotsylvania County and Orange County, Virginia Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Ulysses S. Grant George G. Meade Winfield S. Hancock Gouverneur K. Warren John Sedgwick Philip Sheridan Ambrose E. Burnside	Robert E. Lee James Longstreet (WIA) Richard S. Ewell A.P. Hill J.E.B. Stuart
Units involved
Army of the Potomac II Corps V Corps VI Corps Cavalry Corps IX Corps (not part of AoP)	Army of Northern Virginia First Corps Second Corps Third Corps Cavalry Corps
Strength
118,700	66,140
Casualties and losses
17,666 2,246 killed 12,037 wounded 3,383 captured/missing	11,033 1,477 killed 7,866 wounded 1,690 captured/missing

The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, nearly 29,000 in total, a harbinger of a war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.

Grant attempted to move quickly through the dense underbrush of the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, but Lee launched two of his corps on parallel roads to intercept him. On the morning of May 5, the Union V Corps under Major General Gouverneur K. Warren attacked the Confederate Second Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell, on the Orange Turnpike. That afternoon the Third Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General A. P. Hill, encountered Brigadier General George W. Getty's division (VI Corps) and Major General Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps on the Orange Plank Road. Fighting, which ended for the evening because of darkness, was fierce but inconclusive as both sides attempted to maneuver in the dense woods.

At dawn on May 6, Hancock attacked along the Plank Road, driving Hill's corps back in confusion, but the First Corps of Lieutenant General James Longstreet arrived in time to prevent the collapse of the Confederate right flank. Longstreet followed up with a surprise flanking attack from an unfinished railroad bed that drove Hancock's men back, but the momentum was lost when Longstreet was wounded by his own men. An evening attack by Brigadier General John B. Gordon against the Union right flank caused consternation at the Union headquarters, but the lines stabilized and fighting ceased. On May 7, Grant disengaged and moved to the southeast, intending to leave the Wilderness to interpose his army between Lee and Richmond, leading to the Battle of Todd's Tavern and Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.