| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Saunders Field Battle of the Wilderness |
| | "The Last crop of the old field had been corn and among its stubble that day were sown the seeds of glory." Morris Schaff, USA Staff Tucked away in the Wilderness's trackless forest were several small clearings, where families with names like Higgerson, Chewning, and Tapp eked out a meager living tilling the region's thin soil. Saunders Field, which surrounds you, was an abandoned corn patch in 1864. With the arrival of the armies on May 5, it would become a brutal smoking killing . . . — Map (db m19069) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Gordon Flank Attack Trail The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | In this field and its surrounding woods fell nearly one-third of the men killed or wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness. The two-mile Gordon Flank Attack Trail tracks the Battle of the Wilderness in all its horrible forms: the open-field Union attacks here that initiated the battle; the stalemate in the tangled woods to the north; and the devastating Confederate flank attack that, after two days of fighting, almost brought the Federals to disaster. The Wilderness: "Hell Itself" The . . . — Map (db m7378) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — First Blood in Saunders Field The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | "The regiment melted away like snow. Men disappeared as if the earth had swallowed them." -Captain Porter Parley 140th New York Infantry Shortly after noon on May 5, the battleline of the 140th New York burst from the woods to your right-rear - the first regiment to advance against the Confederates here in Saunders Field. Undaunted by a devastating Confederate fire, the 529 New Yorkers sprinted across the field and assailed the Confederates along the woodline before you. But supporting . . . — Map (db m6022) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — 140th New York State Vols. |
| | First Brigade First Division Fifth Corps Number engaged 529 Casualties 23 killed 118 wounded 114 missing May 5, 1864 — Map (db m6047) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — The Confederate Defense |
| | Confederate troops commanded by General Richard S. Ewell arrived on this ridge line on the morning of May 5. Ordered by General Lee not to initiate a battle, Ewell placed 10,000 men along this high ground on either side of the Orange Turnpike (present day Route 20) and prepared earthworks. None of the Union attacks on this side of the road succeeded, although the 140th New York briefly grappled hand-to-hand here with their opponents from North Carolina and Virginia. The Federals did break . . . — Map (db m7379) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — The Culpeper Mine Road |
| | The road trace in front of you is the Culpeper Mine Road, typical of the woods trails that composed the privative transportation network in the Wilderness. Even a path like this possessed military significance, and Confederate troops from the famous Stonewall Brigade guarded the road near this point. The Union army resumed its attacks against this portion of the Rebel line about 3:00 p.m. May 5. "It was impossible to see the enemy," remembered a New Jersey chaplain, "and though we peered . . . — Map (db m7380) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Fighting on the Evening of May 5, 1864 |
| | Confederate General Leroy A. Stafford of Louisiana fell mortally wounded in this vicinity during the afternoon fighting. General Ewell, however, continued to reinforce this line, extending it farther to the north, your left. When the Federals attempted to outflank Ewell's men at 7:00 p.m., they discovered a Virginia brigade overlapping their battle front. Bitter combat at a range of 150 yards or less raged until darkness enveloped the Wilderness and ended the bloodshed. The Confederate line . . . — Map (db m7382) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Morning of May 6 |
| | On the morning of May 6, the main focus of the battle shifted more than two miles south, to the Orange Plank Road. Here, north of the Orange Turnpike, both armies planned early morning attacks as diversions to prevent the enemy from detaching more troops to the Plank Road sector. The Confederates struck first. At 4:30 a.m., the Wilderness erupted with a deafening chorus of artillery and small arms. The Southerners closed with their blueclad opponents, only to feel the shock of Union volleys . . . — Map (db m7383) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — John Gordon Proposes a Flank Attack |
| | On the morning of May 6, Confederate General John B. Gordon occupied the far Confederate left, in this vicinity, with his brigade of Georgians. Gordon reconnoitered to his left and front and discovered the Union right flank to be vulnerable to an attack. This might be the opportunity to break the stalemate north of the Turnpike! Gordon's superiors, Ewell and General Jubal A. Early, hesitated to authorize an advance until they knew without a doubt that such a bold maneuver would not unduly . . . — Map (db m7384) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Gordon's Flank Attack |
| | The right flank of the Union line rested here in the early evening of May 6. Two Union brigades occupied this area with the benefit of neither strong works nor substantial artillery support. Suddenly, the Rebel yell echoed through the forest. North Carolinians and Virginians joined Gordon's men boiling through the thick woods to your right and front. Union General Alexander Shaler recalled that "the enemy moved against us in front, on the flank, and in the rear, completely enveloping us in . . . — Map (db m7388) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Gordon's Attack Falters |
| | Union reinforcements rushed to the sound of fighting as twilight turned to darkness in these gloomy woods. The Confederates lost direction and momentum in the smoky gloaming, and eventually the firing died away. Gordon's attack had achieved only a local, if spectacular, success. What might have happened if the assault had begun earlier in the day? Gordon believed that "it would have resulted in a decided disaster to the whole right wing of General Grant's army, if not in its entire . . . — Map (db m7389) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — The Federals Fall Back |
| | In front of you are the remains of trenches manned by the Union army on May 5-6, 1864. When Gordon attacked these works from the north, your left, the Federals abandoned them and fell back to a new position one mile to your front and right. The Confederates then moved forward and seized the unoccupied entrenchments, rebuilding them to face in the opposite direction - the way you now face. Later they build a new line of works that ran perpendicular to this line, parallel to the Culpeper Mine . . . — Map (db m7391) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Collision of Giants Wilderness Exhibit Shelter North Wall |
| | Collision of Giants By 1864 the war had become not just a clash of armies, but of ideas. To be resolved on the fields of Virginia and Georgia that year was not only the fate of the Union, but also the fate of Southern society. The armies on both sides took to the task with unprecedented fury. The Stakes "...We should neglect no honorable means of dividing and weakening our enemies...It seems to me that the most effectual mode of accomplishing this object...is to give all the . . . — Map (db m6077) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Battle of the Wilderness Wilderness Exhibit Shelter East Wall |
| | The Armies The Army of the Potomac Throughout the winter of 1863-1864, the armies rested and refitted on opposites sides of the Rapidan River. The ranks of the Union army swelled with thousands of new draftees and recruits - soldiers whose commitment to the cause many questioned. "Never in a war...did the rank and file feel a more resolute earnestness for a just cause, and a more invincible determination to succeed...." Wilbur Fisk, 2nd Vermont Infantry, April 7, 1864 . . . — Map (db m7393) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — Struggle on the Orange Plank Road Wilderness Exhibit Shelter East Wall |
| | Crisis at the Crossroads Crises followed one after another on May 5. No sooner had Grant and Meade learned about Ewell's approach on the Orange Turnpike than they discovered General A.P. Hill's corps moving up the Orange Plank road. If Hill reached the Brock Road, he would cut the Army of the Potomac in two. Union commanders rushed General Winfield S. Hancock's Second Corps to the imperiled crossroads, securing it for the North. At 4 p.m., Hancock assailed Hill's line. Fighting behind low . . . — Map (db m7394) |
| Virginia (Orange County), Locust Grove — The Fighting Ends in Stalemate Wilderness Exhibit Shelter South Wall |
| | Stalemate Two days of bitter fighting had left the bleak Wilderness landscape charred and smoking from fire. Corpses littered the contested ground, now scarred by miles of earth-and-log entrenchments. Unwilling to attack Lee's strong position, Grant ordered a night march to Spotsylvania Court House. A Wilderness of Fire Brush fires added to the horror of the Wilderness fighting. Ignited by muzzle blasts and fuled by dead leaves and twigs, fires swept through the dry woods, obscuring . . . — Map (db m7397) |
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