Battle Of The Wilderness Facts That You Probably Didn T Know

The Battle of Wilderness, 1864, went down in history at the same time as the American Civil War.The Wilderness Battle was fought on the lands of Spotsylvania and the Orange Counties in Virginia. It was a clash between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee.This battle of 1864 made history as Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant’s first battle of the Virginia Overland Campaign. Grant was solely driven to capture Richmond in the South by bringing General Lee’s army down to its knees to leave it powerless and defend Richmond. Lee, aware of how his forces were inadequate for the Union army that had joined forces with not just Corps Commanders Gouverneur K. Warren and Ambrose E. Burnside, but Meade’s Army of Potomac as well, chose the only option left. With his army waiting for Grant’s forces in the dense lands of the Wilderness, a battlefield found in Spotsylvania County in Virginia south of the Rapidan River, Lee hoped to hold off the opposing forces for long enough.The Union and Confederate forces, mighty and determined, waged war to capture and protect the fate of Richmond. It was a battle that no victor emerged from.You can also read about the battle of Gallipoli and the battle of France.Battle of The Wilderness SummaryThe Battle of the Wilderness was fought between General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union Army and General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army.It was in 1864, the same period as the American civil war, that General Grant was driven by two vital missions. He wanted to tear down General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, followed by which the Union troops would march ahead to take over Richmond, a key city to the Confederate side. Part of Grant’s forces was the Army of Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade. With his Union soldiers merged with Meade’s own, Grant hoped to prod at General Lee and his army until they had bled out all their vigor. This was because Grant did not want to risk the possibility of Lee’s forces outnumbering his, ensuring that Richmond was protected from capture. Therefore, the Union Force approached the Army of Northern Virginia with one intention only, to drain them of any will left to fight.General Grant prepared his side of the fight rather remarkably. Major General Meade’s army was under Grant’s direction. Even Major General Ambrose E. Burnside’s IX Corps had withdrawn from the Western Theater to join forces with Grant’s Union Line. This reinforced army’s advance in the direction of Lee’s troops greatly alarmed the latter, for he was largely outnumbered in terms of men and ammunition. Therefore, Lee’s army took a purposed halt in the woods of the Wilderness, a jungle with shrubs nearly impossible to penetrate. This would work in his favor, for keeping a battle line going with ammo was just not feasible considering the dense forest cover that clogged most of the battlefield.The Battle of Wilderness lasted for two whole days. On May 4, 1864, Meade’s Army of Potomac, directed by Grant during the battle phase, united at the Wilderness Tavern located on the main turnpike. The Union forces launched an assault on the Orange Turnpike on May 5, 1864. On the same day, another charge struck the Orange Plank Road. One similarity between these attacks, apart from the dates, was that they both ended on a note of no victory, leaving it inconclusive. On May 6, 1864, Hill’s corps withdrew after a rather confusing attack on the Plank Road initiated by Winfield Scott Hancock. On this exact date at night, another horrifying clash broke out between the two armies, leaving both sides broken and bruised. With General Warren’s corps also fighting on their side, the reinforced Union armies fought with the smaller Confederate forces until the very end.Both armies of the battle of Wilderness had suffered heavy casualties. Several men were wounded. No party rose victorious. It was a tactical draw and a battle with no solid conclusion. Even then, Grant refused to back down and retreat, unlike his preceding Union Commanders. President Lincoln was relieved because of how Grant and his men continued their Union advance to Richmond in their broken condition. Despite having been successfully battered until the last of their strength, the Confederate army forced themselves up to a final defensive line to stop the Union advance to Richmond.Battle of The Wilderness CasualtiesThere was no conclusive Battle of the Wilderness winner, for both the opposing forces had fought without giving up only for the war to end as a tactical draw.The Battle of the Wilderness was a story with several chapters of small scrimmages. Carnage was inevitable. General Ulysses Grant wanted the Army of Northern Virginia to fall to its knees. He believed that the only convenient way to get to Richmond and capture it without any trouble was if the Union Army crippled General Lee and his troops. In this destructive approach, the Union forces lost a lot of lives, owing to the heavy casualties.The Confederate casualties were higher compared to the Union ones. It was ironic considering how the Union soldiers fought in larger numbers. The confederate army was limited to a little over 61,000 soldiers; nearly 1,500 of these men laid down their lives in an inconclusive battle, and more than 7,500 were injured by their enemies. Over 100,000 soldiers were battling in the Union line; more than 12,000 of these mortals were left wounded, and around 2,240 souls were lost.Therefore, history concludes that the Battle of the Wilderness was the goriest combat during the American civil war.Battle of The Wilderness SignificanceThe Battle of the Wilderness was quite significant in American history.The duel happened at the same time as the American civil war. It went down as the most vicious battle of this period. The Wilderness battle was the first battle to be fought in the 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign, initiated by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant against General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia.The war ended on a note of inconclusive victory. History penned it down as victory of a tactical sort. The battle was fought in the woods of the Wilderness. It was a hard fight, considering how the trees made it nearly impossible to aptly use ammunition. This had been General Lee’s plan since he knew his army did not stand a chance against Grant’s reinforced advance, and so he engaged the Union troops in the Wilderness in hopes of holding them off for long enough. Despite their small skirmishes, both forces endured losses that remained unmatched back in those days.This battle also highlighted how neither side gave up. Although it was damaged to the most, the Union left to march further toward their destined purpose, Richmond. Lee’s army still managed to scramble up on unsteady legs to hold up one last line of defense to protect Richmond.Battle of The Wilderness Generals The two most notable commanders in the battle of the wilderness were Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee.General Grant was the key to leading the Union forces into this battle. He directed his soldiers as well as Union Major General George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside had also withdrawn his IX Corps from the Western Theater to join forces with the Union army. Union Generals Winfield Scott Hancock and Gouverneur K. Warren and his Corps were two eminent figures to have helped the Union side during the battle.Confederate General Lee was Grant’s target, for it was the Army of Northern Virginia that the latter wanted to tear down once and for all. Confederate Generals Richard E. Swell and A. P. Hill, one of the Corps Commanders, jumped to Lee’s aid and helped his army fight the rival forces.Thus, the Wilderness Battle was fought by a fair number of eminent leaders that went down in history for their significant contributions to the American civil war.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our Battle of the wilderness facts, then why not take a look at our articles on the Battle of Jutland or the Battle of Chancellorsville?

The Battle of Wilderness, 1864, went down in history at the same time as the American Civil War.