The Wilderness

The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and elements of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's VI Corps for control of the Orange Plank Road and Brock Road intersection. Darkness brought an end to the fighting with Hancock in firm control of the junction. At daylight on May 6, Hancock attacked west along the Orange Plank Road and smashed through Hill's line. Fortunately for Lee, reinforcements arrived under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet in time to stabilize the position. Longstreet launched a flank attack that afternoon that drove Hancock back to the intersection. That evening, Brig. Gen. John Gordon turned Sedgwick's right flank. Lee, however, was unable to crack the Federal line in either sector. Grant posted Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero's newly arrived United States Colored Troops (USCT) in reserve to contend with develops if the tactical situation warranted. Rather than pull back, Grant elected to continue the campaign. He issued orders on the morning of May 7 to disengage and march southeast to Spotsylvania Court House to get between Lee and Richmond.