Overview
The Battle of the Wilderness was the first major battle of General Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States on March 10, 1864. Afterward, Grant developed a strategy that focused on defeating Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia rather than capturing specific geographic locations.
On May 4, the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rappahannock River and Rapidan River and entered the Wilderness, an area filled with thick forests and undergrowth. Lee recognized that fighting in the Wilderness would reduce the Union army’s numerical advantage, so he sent Richard Ewell, A.P. Hill, and James Longstreet in to engage Grant’s forces.
On May 5, Ewell established a defensive position near Saunders Field, where Union troops commanded by Gouverneur K. Warren attacked without much success. Further south, Union troops under George Getty blocked Hill’s advance along the Plank Road. By nightfall, Hill’s corps was close to collapse.
Union troops renewed their attack at 5:00 a.m. on May 6 and drove Hill’s men backward. Longstreet arrived around 7:00 a.m. and helped stabilize the Confederate position. Confederate troops then used an unfinished railroad bed to launch a successful flanking attack. During the fighting, Confederate soldiers accidentally wounded Longstreet.
By May 7, neither side had achieved a decisive victory. Union forces suffered about 18,000 casualties, while Confederate losses totaled approximately 11,000. Unlike previous Union commanders who had retreated after suffering heavy losses in the region, Grant ordered George Meade to disengage, move around Lee’s army, and continue southeast toward Spotsylvania Court House.
Essential Facts
- Date: May 5–7, 1864.
- Location: Spotsylvania and Orange Counties, Virginia.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Ulysses S. Grant, George Meade.
- CSA Commanders: Robert E. Lee.
- Who Won: The Battle of the Wilderness was inconclusive.
- Campaign: Overland Campaign.
- Era: Civil War, May–August, 1864.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: 17,666, including 2,246 killed, 12,037 wounded, and 3,383 captured or missing.
- Forces Engaged: Army of the Potomac.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 124,232.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: 11,033, including 1,477 killed, 7,866 wounded, and 1,690 captured or missing.
- Forces Engaged: Army of Northern Virginia.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 60,000–65,000.
Significance
The Battle of the Wilderness is important to American History because it was the first major battle of Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign and demonstrated his determination to keep pressure on Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Although Union forces suffered heavier casualties and neither army achieved a decisive victory, Grant did not retreat. Instead, he ordered George Meade to move around Lee’s army and continue southeast toward Spotsylvania Court House. This decision distinguished Grant from previous Union commanders who had withdrawn after suffering heavy losses in previous battles.
History
Grant in Charge of Federal Armies
On March 10, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Grant brought with him, from his successes in the Western Theater of the war, a reputation for the doggedness Lincoln was seeking. Unlike other Union generals, Grant was tenacious.
Overland Campaign
Upon his arrival in Washington, Grant drafted a plan to get the various Union armies in the field to act in concert. He also devised his Overland Campaign to invade east-central Virginia. Unlike previous campaigns into that area, Grant’s offensive focused on defeating Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia rather than capturing or occupying geographic locations. Grant instructed General George Meade, who commanded the Army of the Potomac, “Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also.” Grant realized that with the superior resources he had at his disposal, Lee would lose a war of attrition, as long as Union forces persistently engaged the Confederate army.
Into the Wilderness
On May 4, 1864, the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers, occupying an area locally known as the Wilderness. The Wilderness was a tangled area of dense forest and undergrowth that had hampered the maneuverability of federal forces during a previous Union defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30-May 6, 1863). Grant planned to use the Wilderness to screen his operations, but he also planned to pass through it before it impeded the Union army as it had done before.
Because Meade’s forces greatly outnumbered Lee’s army (101,000 to 61,000 men), Lee took up a defensive position in the Wilderness where he could negate Grant’s numerical superiority. Lee ordered two corps, under the command of Lieutenant Generals Richard Ewell and A. P. Hill, into the Wilderness to engage the Federals. Lee also ordered Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s corps to move to the Wilderness as quickly as possible.
May 5, 1864 — Fierce Fighting in the Wilderness
On May 5, Ewell’s men advanced into the Wilderness along the Orange Turnpike and dug in upon reaching a clearing known as Saunders Field. Federal troops, commanded by Major General Gouverneur K. Warren, attacked Ewell’s line with little success. To the south, Union forces, commanded by Brigadier General George Getty, blocked A. P. Hill’s progress up the Plank Road. Fierce fighting raged throughout the day, and by nightfall, Hill’s corps was on the point of collapse.
May 6, 1864 — Give and Take
At 5:00 a.m. on May 6, the Federals renewed their assault on Hill’s corps, pushing the Confederates back. However, Longstreet’s corps arrived at about 7:00 a.m. and prevented a Confederate collapse. Meanwhile, the Confederates discovered an unfinished railroad bed that offered them an opportunity to surprise the Union line. Longstreet launched a successful flanking attack from the rail line, but during the confusion of battle, his own troops severely wounded him just a few miles of where Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s men mortally wounded their leader at the Battle of Chancellorsville a year earlier. On May 6, the fighting concluded when the Confederates launched two more afternoon assaults with limited success.
May 7, 1864 — Standoff
By May 7, the two armies had fought to a standoff.
Aftermath
The Battle of the Wilderness was one of the more gruesome of the war, as raging fires in the thick undergrowth burned many of the wounded soldiers to death. When the battle ended, the Federals had suffered the same fate as previous Union forces that had fought in the vicinity. Lee had inflicted about 18,000 casualties on Meade’s army while suffering approximately 11,000 men killed, wounded, captured, or missing. Grant, however, unlike his predecessors, did not retreat. Rather, on May 7, he ordered Meade to disengage, march his army around Lee’s forces, and move deeper into Confederate territory, southeast towards Spotsylvania Court House.
Timeline
- 1864, March 10 — President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States.
- 1864, May 4 — Grant launched his Overland Campaign when the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rappahannock River and the Rapidan River.
- 1864, May 5 — Richard Ewell’s troops occupied positions near Saunders Field, while Union forces attacked Ewell and blocked A. P. Hill’s advance along the Plank Road.
- 1864, May 6
- Union forces attacked Hill’s corps
- James Longstreet arrived to reinforce the Confederates.
- Confederates launched a successful flanking attack.
- Confederates accidentally wounded Longstreet.
- 1864, May 7 — The Battle of the Wilderness ended in a tactical standoff, and Grant ordered George Meade to move southeast toward Spotsylvania Court House.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of the Wilderness (1864) — The Battle of the Wilderness, fought from May 5 to May 7, 1864. was the first major battle of Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign. Union troops attacked Richard Ewell and A. P. Hill on May 5, nearly breaking Hill’s corps. James Longstreet arrived the next morning and helped stop the Union advance before Confederate troops launched a successful flanking attack. After the battle ended in a standoff, Grant continued southeast toward Spotsylvania Court House instead of retreating.
Alignment
The Battle of the Wilderness is part of the following AP US History sections:
