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The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5—7, 1864 as the first battle of Lt.-Gen. U. S. Grant's Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles west of Fredericksburg. Although tactically inconclusive, 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.
>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 Maj.-Gen. G. K. Warren attacked the Confederate Second Corps, commanded by Lt.-Gen. R. S. Ewell, on the Orange Turnpike. That afternoon the Third Corps, commanded by Lt.-Gen. A. P. Hill, encountered Brig.-Gen. G. W. Getty's division (VI Corps) and Major-Gen. W. 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 Lt.-Gen.l James Longstreet arrived in time to prevent the collapse of the Confederate right flank. Longstreet followed up with a surprise flanking attack that drove Hancock's men back, but the momentum was lost when Longstreet was wounded by his own men. An evening attack by Brig.-Gen. J. 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.
>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 Maj.-Gen. G. K. Warren attacked the Confederate Second Corps, commanded by Lt.-Gen. R. S. Ewell, on the Orange Turnpike. That afternoon the Third Corps, commanded by Lt.-Gen. A. P. Hill, encountered Brig.-Gen. G. W. Getty's division (VI Corps) and Major-Gen. W. 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 Lt.-Gen.l James Longstreet arrived in time to prevent the collapse of the Confederate right flank. Longstreet followed up with a surprise flanking attack that drove Hancock's men back, but the momentum was lost when Longstreet was wounded by his own men. An evening attack by Brig.-Gen. J. 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.