Section #1 - The American Civil War: 1861-65
Chapter 53: The Battle of the Wilderness Initiates Grant’s Drive South
On May 4, 1864 Grant’s army crosses the Rapidan River well west of Fredericksburg and heads into the Wilderness Forest with 118,000 men.
Union Order of Battle at The Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864)
| Union | Commander | Divisions | Brigades |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potomac | George Meade | ||
| II Corps | Winfield Hancock | Barlow Gibbon Birney Mott | Miles, Smyth, Frank, Brooke Webb, Owen, Carroll Ward, Hays McAllister, Brewster |
| Union | |||
| V Corps | Gouverneur Warren | Griffin J.C. Robinson Crawford Wadsworth | Ayres, Sweitzer, Bartlett Leonard, Baxter, Denison McCandless, Fisher Cutler, Rice, Stone |
| VI Corps | John Sedgwick | Wright Getty Ricketts | Brown, Upton, Russell, Shaler Wheaton, L. Grant, Neill, Eustis Morris, Seymour |
| IX Corps | Ambrose Burnside | Stevenson Potter Wilcox Ferrero | Carruth, Leisure Bliss, Griffin Hartranft, Crist Siegfried, Thomas |
| Cavalry | Philip Sheridan | Torbert D. Gregg Wilson | Custer, Devin, Merritt Davies, J. Gregg McIntosh, Chapman |
| Artillery | Henry Hunt | Burton | Kitching, Tomkins, Fitzhugh |
Lee counters with 66,000 men divided among his three Corps and Cavalry.
Confederate Order of Battle at The Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864)
| CSA | Commander | Divisions | Brigades |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Corps | James Longstreet | Kershaw Field Alexander | Kennedy, Wofford, Humphries, Bryan Jenkins, Perry, Anderson, Gregg, Benning Huger, Haskell, Cabell |
| II Corps | Richard Ewell | Early E. Johnson Rodes Long | Hays, Pegram, Gordon Walker, Jones, Steuart, Stafford Daniel, Doles, Ramseur, Battle, Johnston Brown, Carter |
| III Corps | A.P. Hill | R. Anderson Heth Wilcox R. Walker | Perrin, Harris, Mahone, Wright, Perry Stone, Cooke, Kirkland, Archer, Walker Lane, Scales, McGowan, Thomas Poague, Pegram, McIntosh, Cutts, Richardson |
| Cavalry | J.E.B. Stuart | Hampton F. Lee W.H.F. Lee Chew | Wright, Rosser Lomax, Munford Chambliss, Gordon Breathed |
The terrain is marked by densely packed oak, pine and cedar trees, tangled underbrush, and occasional swamps. Visibility will be further impaired by fires and smoke resulting from artillery exchanges.
Two Corps lead the way for Grant: Sedgwick’s VI heading southeast along the Germanna Plank Road toward the Wilderness Tavern and Hancock’s II to his left on the road to Chancellorsville. Lee intends to intercept both on their right flank.
At 5:00am on May 5, John Hammond’s cavalry scouts find A.P.Hill’s III Corps infantrymen moving east along the Orange Plank Road toward Parker’s Store. Hammond attempts to slow them down while reporting their presence back to Meade.
AP Hill III Corps ______Orange Plank Road_______Union scouts 5:00am
Grant is eager to engage the enemy and his chance appears around 6:00am when Ewell’s II Corps is spotted further south on the Orange Turnpike. Gouverneur Warren V Corps is ordered to attack as soon as possible.
Ewell II Corps______Orange Turnpike_______Warren V Corps 6:00am
But Warren delays in order to bring up his Divisions under Charles Griffin and James Wadsworth of the Iron Brigade, while also hoping for more troops from Sedgwick’s VI Corps to the north. By noon, Meade is out of patience and tells Warren to advance, not realizing that he is far outnumbered.
The Confederates prevail until the union line stiffens with the arrival of reinforcements from Sedgwicks VI Corps.
Back south along the Orange Plank Road, additional Blue troops filter in to delay A.P. Hill’s plan to cross the Brock Road, then turn north to stampede the Union’s left flank. Brigadier George Getty’s VI Corps Division holds the crossing until 3:30pm when Hancock’s troops finally appear and the Union goes on the offensive against Henry Heth’s Division. This combat extends into an evening stand-off.
Heth’s Division ______Orange Plank Road________ Getty and Hancock
Fighting resumes at 5:00am on May 6 along both roads, but with an emphasis on advances by Getty and Hancock against Heth on the Orange Plank Road. The Grays give way here until General Longstreet arrives around 6:00am after a 42 mile march. Following a momentary rest, Longstreet’s counterattack at 11:00am succeeds, aided by Mahone’s breakthrough on the Union left where Wadsworth is mortally wounded. Lee himself cheers the men on during the fray.
But then, as with Stonewall Jackson at nearby Chancellorsville, the momentum dissipates when a friendly fire minie ball strikes Longstreet in the throat and lodges in his right shoulder, paralyzing his arm. With blood foaming from his mouth, he turns command over to General Charles Field before being carried out of action to the rear. In this same incident, his aide-de-camp, Micah Jenkins is killed along with two other staff member. (Longstreet survives, but is unable to return to the army until October 1864.)
Both sides advance and retreat throughout May 6 along the Orange Plank Road and the Orange Turnpike until dusk arrives with the situation stalemated.
Casualties at the Wilderness are high for both sides, with 17,500 for Grant and 12,000 for Lee. But unlike the Union, the Confederates are far less able to afford this level of attrition to their total army.
In addition to Jenkins, Generals John M. Jones is KIA and Leroy Stafford is mortally wounded. Alex Hays and James Wadsworth fall for the Union.