| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry |
| | (West Side): Dedicated to the memory of the gallant 126th Reg't O.V.I. commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Smith and Lieut. Colonel Aaron W. Ebright 2nd Brigade 3rd Division 6th Army Corps. Army of the Potomac (North Side):Ohio's tribute to the heroes of the gallant 126th Reg't O.V.I. who fell here May 12th 1864 (South Side):These heroes fell to the right of this position Captain. Ruben Lampton Privates. James Atkinson Joshua C. Howell John H. Myers Valentine Eckert . . . — Map (db m10314) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — 12th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers 1862 - 1865 |
| | "We can not dedicate we can not consecrate we can not hallow this ground the brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract." The State of New Jersey merely marks the surrounding twenty acres of ground on which the 12th New Jersey Volunteers so gallantly fought for the preservation of the Union, May 5 and 6, 1864. dedicated May 30, 1942 — Map (db m4970) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — 15th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers |
| | (Front): 1861-1865 15th Reg't N.J. Vol's. Erected by the State of New Jersey to mark the portion of the Confederate line held by the 14th Georgia Regiment. and assaulted May 12, 1864, by the 15th Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Edward L. Campbell Engaged, 429. Loss - 116 Killed; 153 Wounded; 38 Missing. (Back):Commissioners appointed by Governor John Franklin Fort Hon. John F. Dryden Chm. - Sergeant William R. Gawley Gen. Joseph M. Plume . . . — Map (db m10313) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — 17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment — 9th Corps, 3rd Division, 1st Brigade |
| | (Front): 17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment 9th Corps 3rd Division 1st Brigade Michigan units on the field in the 9th Corps 17th Michigan Vol. Infantry 20th Michigan Vol. Infantry 8th Michigan Vol. Infantry 27th Michigan Vol. Infantry 2nd Michigan Vol. Infantry 1st Michigan Sharpshooters Losses for the 17th Michigan On May 12, 1864 26 killed 70 wounded 100 missing or captured (Back): At 2 p.m., May 12th, two Ninth Corps brigades were ordered to attack the Confederate . . . — Map (db m10431) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — 49th New York Infantry — 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 6th Corps |
| | (Front): 49th N.Y. Inf'y 3rd Brig. 2d Div. 6th Corps. Held this position May 12, 1864. (Left):The muffled drums sad roll has beat. The soldiers last tattoo. No more on life's parade shall meet that brave and fallen few. On fame's eternal camping ground their silent tents are spread and glory guards with solemn round the bivouac of the dead. (Right): 1864 In memory of the brave men killed on this field ——— Erected by their surviving comrades . . . — Map (db m10312) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — A Different Kind of War — Spotsylvania Exhibit Shelter — South Wall |
| | A Different Kind of War With the 1864 Overland Campaign, the war in Virginia changed. The old pattern of fight, retreat, and rest yielded to Ulysses S. Grant's relentless maneuvering and fighting. Attacked in superior force by an incessant foe, Southern troops protected themselves behind stout earth-and-log defenses. Union efforts to drive them from those works led to some of the most desperate combat in American history. The Race to Spotsylvania The Army of the Potomac crossed the . . . — Map (db m10716) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — A Mass Capture — Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | As the first rays of daylight filtered through the rain-drenched woods here on May 12, the men of General George H. Steuart’s brigade heard a commotion up the line, to their left. Moments later, through the shifting mists, they saw a human tidal wave: 20,000 Union soldiers of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Union Second Corps sweeping down the lines to their left and rear. Surprised and defenseless, more than 3,000 Confederate soldiers had little choice but to surrender – one of the largest . . . — Map (db m23846) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — A Region of Gloom |
| | From the time of its earliest settlement, this region was known as "The Wilderness of Spotsylvania" because of its dense thickets and poor soil. Locals called the countryside just west of the Wilderness "The Poison Fields." High concentrations of iron and other minerals (including gold) in the soil made for poor growing conditions, scrawny trees dominated here. The iron industry rendered the landscape even more forbidding. The rich mineral content of the soil spawned mines and iron furnaces as . . . — Map (db m3603) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Battle of Spotsylvania |
| | May 12 - 18, 1864, between the armies of Lee and Grant is unmatched for its display of unyielding heroism and devotion to duty and principle. Here thousands of valorous men, fighting with bayonets and clubbed muskets, wrote their imperishable epitaph. — Map (db m3665) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Booth Hall |
| | To the Glory of God
and
In loving memory of
The Rev. Arthur E. Booth
by whose devoted and untiring efforts
this Parish House was erected — Map (db m3947) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Burying the Dead — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | At battles end, more than 2,000 Union dead lay scattered through the Wilderness. The first major effort to bury the dead came more than a year later, when a Union regiment received orders to proceed to the Wilderness and inter those Union soldiers whose remains still littered the landscape. For a week burial parties combed the woods, gathering up as many remains as they could find. They placed the bones in wooden coffins and buried them in two temporary graveyards; one near here beside the . . . — Map (db m5443) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Catharine Furnace |
| | The stone stack in front of you is all that remains of the Catharine Furnace, built in 1837. Close a decade later, the furnace was reborn to meet the Confederacy’s wartime need for iron. Union cavalrymen under General George A. Custer destroyed the furnace in 1864, but it was rebuilt and continued to produce iron for the Confederacy until 1865. Catharine Furnace was the last of the region’s several major operations to close.
During its years of operation, Catharine Furnace used many . . . — Map (db m2752) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | Jackson's marching soldiers filled this narrow road from shoulder to shoulder making it slow and tedious work for any mounted officer to pass along the column. One of Stonewall's aides, Captain James Power Smith, attempted to catch up to the General at the head of the troops. Smith was greeted with good-natured jeers and taunts as his horse struggled in the dense thickets on the roadside. "Better hurry up or you'll catch it for getting behind," "Have a good breakfast this morning sonny?" "Tell . . . — Map (db m3920) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | Jackson's most direct route toward the enemy's flank lay in the right turn onto the Brock Road here. Instead of following that route he turned left, or southward, proceeded a quarter of a mile, and then turned right into a parallel woods road. This brought him back into the Brock Road a couple of miles northward. — Map (db m3921) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2, 1863. Deluding the enemy was the secret of Jackson's success. Since his troops had been observed from Federal signal stations as they marched across the front of Hooker's army, he turned them south on the Brock Road to create the impression that he was in full retreat along the road to Spotsylvania Court House. Reaching a point where the head of his column was concealed from the Federals by dense forests, he turned sharply right, going north along this woodland trail which parallels the Brock Road, to complete his flanking movement. — Map (db m3927) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | If a balloonist had been high overhead, Jackson's column might have resembled a huge serpent as it wound through the forest. Closer up, it became thousands of marchers in worn battle dress. From this point, they stretched back about six miles to the Lee-Jackson bivouac, followed by a tail of cannon and wagons extending four miles beyond that area. "Old Jack's food cavalry" gratefully trod a road neither too wet or dusty, but the dewy morning turned to hot midday. They would welcome a stream in the dry woodland. — Map (db m3929) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2, 1863. Hour by hour, the long gray columns of Jackson's Corps splashed through the shallow ford here, which was not stone-paved then, stirring the crossing into a mud hole. Before the water of this branch of Poplar Run ran clear again in its course toward the distant York, "Stonewall" Jackson and hundreds of his marchers were to fall dead or wounded. Many would never cross another earthly stream. — Map (db m3931) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | "Stonewall" Jackson's way here was a woodland road west of and parallel to the Brock Road. This park trail approximates the old appearance. No tar, asphalt, or cement highway existed in the 1860's. Even the best of that time, the stone turnpikes and plank roads, were inferior to present day gravel roads maintained by modern machinery. The trench remains here are part of the Federal line in the Wilderness operations of May 1864, a year after Jackson's march. — Map (db m3932) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Chancellorsville Campaign |
| | May 2, 1863. The head of Jackson's column reached this point about 12:30 p.m. Eight miles away, the rear , under fire of Federal guns, was closing up near the Catharine Furnace. Jackson planned to turn the column right onto the Plank Road (1 mile ahead). Then General Fitzhugh Lee came galloping south. While the troops rested, the young cavalryman and Jackson advanced to a hill on the Plank Road from which Lee showed him that the Federal right was extended too far west to be outflanked by the . . . — Map (db m3934) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Civil War Earthworks — Preservation Message |
| | The gentle mounds that meander through Spotsylvania Court House battlefield once looked like the reconstructed earthwork in front of you. The armies built more than 12 miles of trenches here, using whatever tools they could find. Lee's last line, extending off to your right and left, was completed May 12, while fighting ranged at the Bloody Angle, a mile ahead of you. You can see original works on either side of the reconstruction. Spotsylvania's earthworks illustrate the changing nature of . . . — Map (db m10282) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Col. James D. Nance |
| | 3rd Reg. S.C.V Kershaw's Brigade Killed on this spot May 6, 1864. — Map (db m6112) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Confederate Earthworks |
| | Longstreet’s troops began erecting these infantry entrenchments after fighting on the evening of May 6 and improved them the following day. This was a reserve line, the main Confederate position being a few hundred yards in font of you along modern Hill-Ewell Drive. The small earthen mounds extending at right angles from the trenches are called traverses. They served two purposes: to protect against flanking artillery fire and to provide a new defensive front should enemy infantry pierce the . . . — Map (db m6089) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Confederate Soldiers — 1861 - 1865 |
| | (Front): Erected and dedicated May 12, 1918, by the Spotsylvania Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, Confederated Southern Memorial Association and citizens of Spotsylvania County, to commemorate and perpetuate the valor and patriotism of the sons of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and other Confederate soldiers who repose in this cemetery. (Left side): "Lest we forget". (Back): "We have gathered the sacred dust, of warriors tried and true, who bore the flag of . . . — Map (db m10436) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Crisis in Tapp Field — Battle of the Wilderness |
| | Here on the morning of May 6, 1864, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army faced perhaps their greatest crisis. Soon after dawn, hundreds of disorganized Confederates tumbled from the woods to your left, driven by a powerful Union assault. As the Confederates swept past, only General Lee, his staff, and some 12 cannon stood between the Union army and Confederate disaster. Southern reinforcements under Longstreet were on the way, but would they arrive in time to prevent Lee’s . . . — Map (db m6058) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Crisis in the Wilderness |
| | A celebrated battlefield episode of the Civil War happened here at the Widow Tapp Field on the morning of May 6, 1864. The Army of Northern Virginia and its commander, R.E. Lee, face disaster on the Orange Plank Road as a powerful Union attack swept A.P. Hill’s Confederate divisions from the woods one-half mile in front of you. James Longstreet’s long-expected Confederate reinforcements had not yet arrived, so only a thin line of artillery stood between the approaching Federals and decisive . . . — Map (db m6085) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Doles Salient |
| | These gentile mounds are all that remain of the formidable earthworks held by George Doles' Georgia Brigade. The trenches running perpendicular to the main line are called traverses and made these works appear like a series of three-sided roofless log cabins. After traversing the woods road over which this trail passes, Upton's regiments burst into the clearing with a wild cheer and overran the Georgians here before falling back in the face of a Confederate counter-charge. Please help preserve . . . — Map (db m10297) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Echoes Homeward — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | Once schoolmates, friends, and neighbors, they came here as soldiers from Yorkville, South Carolina; Pen Yan, New York; Clarksville, Virginia; Barre, Vermont; and a hundred other towns, North and South. Their deaths in these woods on May 5 and 6, 1864 devastated familes and communities hundreds of miles away. In Birmingham, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburg, Almira Patterson (right) learned of the death of her husband in these woods when she received a letter from one of his subordinate . . . — Map (db m7526) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Education in Spotsylvania County |
| | Education was the responsibility of parents and churches until after the Civil War. Wealthier families hired tutors or sent their children to private schools. Poor children often learned a trade and received a basic education as apprentices.
In 1870 Spotsylvania County established a public educaton system of segregated one-room schools. These schools were gradually abandoned for larger buildings that included both elementary and high school education. The former Spotsylvania High School, . . . — Map (db m3710) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — EM-2 — Engagement at Harris Farm (Bloomsbury) |
| | On 19 May 1864 Confederate forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell attacked Brig. Gen. Robert O. Tyler's heavy artillery division on the Union right flank near the Harris farm, Bloomsbury, about one-quarter mile northwest. Newly arrived from the forts protecting Washington, D.C., the inexperienced "heavies" fought as infantry and stubbornly held their ground. At dark Ewell withdrew, ending the last major engagement of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. The Confederates suffered 900 . . . — Map (db m3656) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Farm to Killing Field — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | On May 12, 1864, the pastures, potato patches, and crop-lots of Willis Landram's farm would become North America's most notorious killing field. Just before dawn, 20,000 Union soldiers swarmed past the Landram house toward the main Confederate line on the ridge in front of you. The sudden Union attack triggered a day of carnage - a 22-hour struggle for control of the Muleshoe Salient. Throughout the day, Union generals gathered near this spot to watch and direct the fighting. Union . . . — Map (db m10317) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Fighting for Time — Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | Throughout May 12, Confederates here waged a battle for critical minutes and hours. When Union troops swarmed over the east face of the Muleshoe Salient before dawn, Robert E. Lee knew instantly that the position – even if regained temporarily – could not be held permanently. But to build a new line farther to the rear, he needed time.
Though driven away in the first hour of the battle, the Confederates fought their way back into these works by 7 a.m. For the rest of the day . . . — Map (db m23847) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — First Regiment Heavy Artillery — Massachusetts Volunteers |
| | In commemoration of the deeds of the First Regiment Heavy Artillery Massachusetts Volunteers (Armed as Infantry) Three hundred and ninety eight of whose members fell within an horn around this spot during an action fought May 13, 1864 Between a division of the Union Army commanded by General Tyler and a corps of the Confederate forces under General Ewell. Erected by the survivors of the regiment 1901 Massachusetts — Map (db m9048) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Flank Attack! — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | These woods saw some of the heaviest fighting of the Battle of the Wilderness. On May 5, then again on May 6, 1864 ragged Union and Confederate battle lines surged back and forth on both sides of the Orange Plank Road. The stalemate here finally broke late on the morning of May 6, when Confederate General James Longstreet managed to move troops opposite the Union left flank, in front of you. At 11 a.m., Longstreet’s men surged through the woods ahead of you screaming the rebel yell. Panic . . . — Map (db m5390) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Forever young, — Forever in our hearts |
| | In memory of
Sophia M. Silva 1980 - 1996
Kathryn "Kati" N. Lisk 1984 - 1997
Kristen M. Lisk 1982 - 1997
they were taken from us too soon. — Map (db m3671) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Grant Finds an Opening: May 12 — Spotsylvania Exhibit Shelter — West Wall |
| | Assault on the Muleshoe Emory Upton's success on May 10 prompted Grant to repeat the attack on a much larger scale. This time the target of the assault was the Muleshoe Salient, a huge outward bulge in the center of the Confederate line. If Grant could break through at the Muleshoe, he would cut Lee's army in two and possibly destroy it. "Every Confederate realized the desperate situation and every Union soldier knew what was involved. For a time, every soldier was a fiend. The attack . . . — Map (db m10736) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Grant's May 18th Attack — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | Following the fight for the "Bloody Angle," Lee constructed this new line of works across the base of the Muleshoe. Unwilling to attack the Confederates in their new position, Grant shifted east toward the Fredericksburg Road (modern Route 208). When Lee withdrew troops from Laurel Hill to counter this move, Grant sent Hancock's and Wright's corps back to the Muleshoe in hopes of catching the Confederates out of their trenches. The ploy failed. Ewell's corps had not yet abandoned this portion . . . — Map (db m10281) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Harrison House Site |
| | This post-war photograph of the Harrison House and farm was taken from the northwest not far from where the trail crossed the paved road. Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, commanding the Confederates defending the salient, made his headquarters here on the evening of May 11. He conferred with Lee whose tent was pitched in the nearby yard and both officers rode forward from this vicinity when the fighting erupted at the Bloody Angle. — Map (db m10284) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Hell Itself — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | The Wilderness of today looks different than it did in 1864. Then it was a patchwork of second-growth forest. Brush obscured, briars grabbed, and thickets disrupted the battle lines. One solder described the combat here as "bushwhacking...on a grand scale." For men accustomed to fighting in open woods and fields, the tangled landscape of the Wilderness translated into sheer horror. Smoke from thousands of rifles hovered motionless in the air, choking the combatants. Enemy lines rose up, fired . . . — Map (db m7516) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Here Fell General Alexander Hays |
| | Here fell General Alexander Hays 3rd Div. 2nd Corps. U.S.V. May 5, 1864. Erected by General Alexander Hays Post No. 3 Department of Pennsylvania G.A.R. and Davis Star Camp, Sons of Veterans — Map (db m6064) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — E 127 — Heth's Salient Battle Site |
| | After four days of probing attacks, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered a frontal assault against the Confederate lines at Spotsylvania Court House on 12 May 1864. The focal point of the attack was the Muleshoe Salient, an outward bulge in the Confederate line. While the II and IV Corps struck the head of the salient, resulting in the struggle for the "Bloody Angle," Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's IX Corps assaulted the Muleshoe's eastern face, known as Heth's Salient, located nearby. Confederate . . . — Map (db m8915) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Horror on the Orange Plank Road — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | Some of the Civil War's heaviest fighting occurred along the Orange Plank Road on May 5 and 6, 1864. One of two major roads passing through the Wilderness, the Plank Road became a magnet for both armies as they struggled to maneuver through the tangled forests. Battle lines surged up and down the Plank Road corridor, littering the roadside woods with fallen men. Fires scorched the forest, consuming the dead and wounded indiscriminately. Though violent and horrifying, the fighting here ended in . . . — Map (db m4968) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — In The Nick of Time |
| | As Union battle lines surged into the forest across the Orange Plank Road on your right, and poised in the trees at the far end of the Tapp Field, grayclad figures loped into view from behind you. The leading Confederate units peeled right into the scrubby woods while others entered this clearing. General Robert E. Lee, mounted near here and in an unusual state of nervous agitation, anxiously inquired as to the identity of the newcomers. “The Texas Brigade,” came the proud reply. . . . — Map (db m6086) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Jackson Attacks — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | "You can go forward then." With those words "Stonewall" Jackson unleashed one of the most famous and successful attacks of the Civil War. On the afternoon of May 2, 1862, Jackson led 30,000 men of his Second Corps to a point just beyond the Union army's right flank, located in this vicinity. He deployed his men astride the Orange Turnpike (modern Route 3) in three lines of battle, each one-half mile or more in length. Two hours before sunset, Jackson struck. As his men struggled through the . . . — Map (db m3941) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Jackson's Flank March |
| | Shortly after 8 a.m., May 2, "Stonewall" Jackson's corps marched down the hill behind you and passed Catharine Furnace, bound for the Union Army's right flank. When the Federals spotted Jackson's column, they assumed the Confederates were retreating and sent a division in pursuit. A sharp rearguard action here cost Jackson most of the 23rd Georgia Infantry, but the Union efforts did little to disrupt his march. The road Jackson used was much narrower than the one you see today, and progress . . . — Map (db m3604) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — James S. Wadsworth |
| | Brigadier General and Brevet Major General United States Volunteers commanding the 4th Division V Corps Army of the Potomac was mortally wounded near this spot May 6, 1864 and died two days later in the field hospital of Hill’s Confederate Corps: He fell attempting desperately to resist a Confederate advance which threatened the strategic Plank- Brock Road intersection. — Map (db m6062) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Landmark in the Wilderness |
| | The building complex known collectively as Wilderness Tavern appeared in the early 19th century to serve the needs of travellers. Located on either side of the Fredericksburg-Orange Turnpike, the original roadbed of which survives today as the private dirt driveway to your right, Wilderness Tavern served meals, provided lodging, and included tailor's and blacksmith's shops and a store. The main buildings were two-story frame structures that sat on the north side of the Turnpike, in the . . . — Map (db m7499) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Landram Farm — MOLLUS Monument |
| | These one hundred and sixty-two acres known as the Landram Farm, were presented to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States commandery of the State of Pennsylvania and dedicated on May 11th, 1940 to the memory of the valiant men who fought here. — Map (db m10327) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Landram House |
| | These stone chimneys are all that remain of the Landram house, a prominent landmark during the Spotsylvania Campaign. The Confederate picket reserve stood here shivering in the early morning fog on May 12, 1864 when the silence was suddenly shattered by the assault of 20,000 Federals of the II Corps. The sentries were quickly engulfed and the blue wave swept over the 550 yards of rolling open terrain crashing into the surprised rebels at the salient. Shortly after 7:00 a.m. General Hancock, . . . — Map (db m10326) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Lee to the rear! |
| | Lee to the rear!
cried the Texans.
May 6, 1864 — Map (db m6029) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Lee to the Rear! — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | The General's countenance showed that he had despaired and was ready to die rather than see the defeat of his army. Isaac G. Bradwell, 3rd Georgia Infantry In these fields on the morning of May 12, 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee faced a crisis so severe that he felt compelled to lead his troops personally into battle. It was the third such crisis in a week - a sure sign of the Confederate army's dwindling power. Soon after dawn a courier dashed up to Confederate Gen. John Gordon at the . . . — Map (db m10426) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Lee’s Headquarters |
| | Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse
May 10, 11, 12, 1864
1903 Replaced 1964 — Map (db m3664) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Lee's Last Line |
| | These well-preserved earthworks which run east and west through the woods are the remains of the defensive position constructed during the fighting at the Bloody Angle. Major General Martin Luther Smith, Lee's chief engineer and designer of the Confederate defenses at New Orleans and Vicksburg, made this line virtually impregnable. The apex of the original Mule Shoe salient is approximately 1,250 yards north of this point. Please help protect these features by walking on the trail and not on the earthworks. — Map (db m10283) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Lee-to-the-Rear |
| | Many accounts relate the story of General Lee’s personal attempt to lead the charge of the Texas Brigade. No two versions entirely agree and we may never know which details belong to history and which belong to mythology. Colonel Charles S. Venable, an officer on Lee’s staff, witnessed the event and wrote about it soon after the war:
Much moved by the greeting of these brave men and their magnificent behavior, General Lee spurred his horse through an opening in the trenches and followed . . . — Map (db m6093) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Longstreet Felled — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | It was the most successful day of James Longstreet’s career. He had arrived on the Wilderness battlefield early in the day to find the Confederate army in full retreat and in danger of being destroyed. His troops had prevented disaster. Now, at midday, he had just launched a flank attack that knocked the Union army back in confusion. As Longstreet galloped down the road at the head of his victorious troops – near this spot – he inadvertently rode between two Confederate lines . . . — Map (db m5392) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Maryland Monument |
| | Judge Charles E. Phelps of the Maryland Court of Appeals erected this granite monument shortly after the turn of the century. On May 8, 1864, Phelps, then colonel of the 7th Maryland, helped lead the headlong charge of the Maryland Brigade across these open fields west of the Brock Road. Confederate infantry and artillery concealed parallel to the existing road on your left, shattered the Federal attack. Phelps fell wounded near this spot, which marks the Union highwater point during the opening battle at Spotsylvania. — Map (db m10255) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Mayhem in the Muleshoe — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | Surrounded on all sides by low ridge lines, Neil MccCoull's house sat in the center of the famous Muleshoe Salient. On the night of May 8, 1864, Confederate engineers built the bulging line of earthworks that wrapped around McCoull's farm to the west, north and east. When Union troops broke through the Muleshoe on May 12, Confederates swarmed over McCoull's farm, desperate to reclaim their lines. Thousands of troops passed by this house en route to some of the most desperate fighting the world . . . — Map (db m10289) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — McCoull Spring |
| | This spring has always been important to the McCoull family but on May 12, 1864 it became a vital source of rejuvenation to hundreds of Confederates involved in the fighting at the Bloody Angle. Colonel Charles S. Venable, an aide-de-camp to Lee, remembered seeing Gen. Robert E. Rodes "near the famous spring" ordering fresh troops into the struggle at the salient. The concrete cap and modern pipe were added when the Civilian Conservation Corps used this area for a camp in the 1930's. This is no . . . — Map (db m10291) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — McGowan's Brigade |
| | (Front):South Carolina McGowan's Brigade Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan 1st S.C. Infantry Col. Comillus W. McCreary Orr's Rifles Lt. Col. George McD. Miller 12th S.C. Infantry Maj. Thomas F. Clyburne 13th S.C. Infantry Col. Benjamin T. Brockman 14th S.C. Infantry Col. Joseph N. Brown (Back):"The Bloody Angle" In the rainy gloom of May 12, 1864, Brigadier General Samuel McGowan's brigade of South Carolinians battled their way into the disputed earthworks here, near the apex of the . . . — Map (db m19073) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — No Turning Back — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | When the armies departed the Wilderness, they left behind a disfigured landscape. Trenches twisted like earthen snakes through the woods, and blackened leaves marked the paths of fires. Along the Brock Road, noted one soldier, trees "were scarred by bullets from their roots to their tops, and in great spaces the whole tops were mown down by bullets as with a scythe." Corpses, too, littered the landscape. "Thousands of men were dead and wounded," wrote one officer, "and that vast wilderness was . . . — Map (db m4966) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — No Turning Back — Spotsylvania Exhibit Shelter — North Wall |
| | No Turning Back Defeated but undeterred, Grant abandoned Spotsylvania's blood-soaked fields on May 21 and continued south -- toward Richmond and ultimate victory. In his wake he left a scarred landscape pitted with thousands of graves.
An Awful Arithmetic If considered as one engagement, the fighting at Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House constitutes the bloodiest single battle in American history. Some 36,000 Union soldiers and 24,000 Confederates were killed, wounded, captured, . . . — Map (db m10740) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Old Wilderness Tavern |
| | Known for many years as "Old Wilderness Tavern," the frame building at your left of this view, was a dependency of a by-gone complex. The site of the main structure is located by the brick ruins to the right of the picture, taken about 1865. In the distance may be seen the Lacy House, or Ellwood, which survives today, and beyond which swirled the fighting in the battle of the Wilderness in May 1864. The chimney preserved here is all that remains of the outbuilding, which burned in 1978. — Map (db m7500) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — On to Richmond! — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | Before the Wilderness, battlefield stalemate meant retreat by one side or the other - a return to the starting point to try again another day. But not here. Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant rendered stalemate in the Wilderness irrelevant. On the night of May 7, 1864 as the woods around you still smoldered, Grant ordered the Union army not backward, but forward - south toward Spotsylvania Court House and eventually Richmond. As Union soldiers quietly left the earthworks in front of you, . . . — Map (db m4967) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Ordeal of the Wellfords — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | In December 1862 the Wellford family fled Fredericksburg to escape the ravages of battle. Five months later war found them again - here, in a commodious brick home that stood in the field in front of you. On April 30, Union troops arrived. "About 20 visited us," wrote Evelina Wellford, "searching the house for arms and Confederates, shooting the fowls, and stealing provisions, of which we had a scant supply." On May 2, as Jackson's flanking column passed by and the rattle of approaching Union . . . — Map (db m3919) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Pressing the Attack — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | That evening, as the fighting subsided, Confederate officers reassembled their commands in the clearing surrounding Wilderness Church, one-half mile in front of you. The attack had taken a heavy toll on the army's organization. Units had become mixed. Some men wandered off in search of food or water; others plundered abandoned Union camps. It would take time to get his corps back into fighting trim, but Jackson could not wait. The Confederate army was divided. Decisive action by Hooker might . . . — Map (db m3938) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Ramseur's Brigade |
| | 2nd North Carolina State Troops Col. William R. Cox 4th North Carolina State Troops Col. Bryan Grimes 14th North Carolina Troops Col. R. Tyler Bennett 30th North Carolina Troops Col. Francis M. Parker At dawn May 12, 1864 Union troops overwhelmed Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson's Division at the muleshoe salient. Brig. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur's North Carolina Brigade counterattacked across these earthworks and by 7:30 a.m. regained the portion of the salient opposite this point. For the next . . . — Map (db m10286) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Rearguard Action — The Battle of Fredericksburg |
| | On May 2, 1863, as the tail end of Stonewall Jackson's flanking column neared the Wellford place, Union infantry launched an attack. They struck Jackson's rearguard (the 23rd Georgia) a half-mile to the north, at Catharine Furnace. From there, they fought a running battle to the Wellford farm. Confederate artillery unlimbered in the yard of the Wellford house to help repel a Union assault. Outnumbered, the Georgians fell back to the protection of a railroad embankment, still visible inside the . . . — Map (db m11432) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Sedgwick |
| | (North face): Erected to commemorate this spot where Maj Genl John Sedgwick, U.S. Vols. Commanding Sixth Army Corps was killed in action on the morning of the 9th of May 1864.
(East face): A tribute to a beloved Commander by the survivors of his Corps and their friends.
(South face): Dedicated May 12th, 1887, the 23rd Anniversary of the heaviest days of fighting at Spotsylvania.
(West face): Genl. John Sedgwick
Born Cornwall, Litchfield Co., Conn. . . . — Map (db m3694) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Seeing the Elephant — The 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery at Harris Farm — Harris Farm Battlefield Civil War Site |
| | Union heavy artillery regiments serving as infantry shouldered the brunt of the fighting at Harris Farm. The "Heavies," as the members of the heavy artillery units were called, had been pulled from forts protecting Washington, D.C., to make up for the losses Grant had suffered in the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania Court House. Veteran soldiers jibed the green troops in their fresh uniforms, calling them "bandbox soldiers." The 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery was one of several regiments that . . . — Map (db m9006) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spindle House — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | Many Spotsylvania families lost property during the war, but Sarah Spindle nearly lost her life. The 36-year-old widow and her family had just sat down to breakfast on May 8, 1864, when the popping of rifles announced the presence of hostile troops. Confederate soldiers started digging protective earthworks on one side of the farm (in front of you). Minutes later Union infantry appeared on the other side of the farm, behind you. They soon charged into Mrs. Spindle's yard and orchard. Fighting . . . — Map (db m10253) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 8, 1864. Here began the second delay on Grant's bloody road to Richmond. Having failed to crush Lee in the Wilderness, the Federals attempted to outflank the Confederates by way of Spotsylvania Court House. After a hard night's march, harassed by cavalry, the vanguard of Warren's V Corps reached this point about 8 a.m., only to meet a deadly musketry fire. Longstreet's Corps (now under Anderson) had won the "race" to Spotsylvania! Both sides dug in. Here on May 9 "Uncle John" Sedgwick, . . . — Map (db m10199) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 9-14, 1864. The village of Spotsylvania Court House, two miles farther down the Brock Road, became of utmost temporary importance, since it now protected Lee's communications with Richmond. As the Confederates threw up earthworks around the village, the Federals threatened the western defenses from this area. The Federal right was first held by Hancock's II Corps. Next in line came Warren's V Corps, and then Wright's (formerly Sedgwick's) VI. The flanks of Warren and Wright joined here at . . . — Map (db m10205) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | Union Gen. G.K. Warren's V Corps occupied this line in the early phases of the Spotsylvania operations. Despite hard fighting, Warren could not break the Confederate line on this front. During the dark and rainy night of May 13, 1864, the V Corps sloshed to the far left of the Federal position, beyond the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania Road. Grant was continuing his sidestepping tactics. — Map (db m10213) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12-13, 1864. This line of earthworks, the remains of which run eastward through the woodland, was built across the base of the Confederate "Mule Shoe" during the Federal attacks against the Salient. As the weary Confederates held their enemies at bay there, Lee's engineers threw dirt and felled trees here in desperate haste, constructing the haven to which the embattled troops retreated early on May 13. This line, partly facing open ground at that time and protected by extensive slashings, . . . — Map (db m10278) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 18, 1864. About dawn, Hancock's and Wright's Corps advanced southward past the McCoull House and attacked Ewell's Corps which was holding the new line. They hoped to repeat the Federal success of May 12. This time, however, Confederate cannon were ready and blasted the attack, throwing the Federal troops back in great confusion. Grant realized that Lee could neither be flanked or routed on this battlefield. He resolved once more to maneuver and soon moved east and south toward Richmond. As . . . — Map (db m10279) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 10, 1864. Here along the west face of the Confederate Salient, or "Mule Shoe," Dole's Brigade of Ewell's II Corps had been alert all afternoon. At 6 p.m., when Federal cannonading ceased, it seemed the day would end quietly. Then Upton's regiments erupted from the woods and dashed across 200 yards of cleared area to pierce the lines and capture an artillery battery, shattering the calm into frenzied struggle. Meeting vigorous counterattack, Upton fell back, leaving the battery. Each side . . . — Map (db m10295) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 10,1864. After a day of sporadic fighting, the Federal high command sent Col. Emory Upton and twelve picked regiments of the VI Corps to strike the west face of the Confederate Salient. Starting in this vicinity near the Scott (Shelton) House about 6 p.m., the troops moved silently down a winding forest road to surprise the Confederate line. They failed to hold their gains and retreated when Mott's Division of the II Corps did not support the attack as planned. Nevertheless, Upton's effort . . . — Map (db m10302) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | This road leads to the Landram House ruin. In the days of the Civil War it was a small whitewashed dwelling built of squared logs and heated by stone-chimneyed fireplaces. From similar modest homesteads, North and South, had spring Abraham Lincoln and other leaders. On the 12th of May, 1864, the place was overrun by Lincoln's legions. During the severe fighting of that day, it became Gen. W.S. Hancock's headquarters as well as a hospital area and artillery park. Where only a few rural boots had . . . — Map (db m10309) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12, 1864. Union commanders Grant and Meade determined to exploit the Confederate "Mule Shoe." Early in the morning they sent Hancock's II Corps against the apex of the Salient (300 yards east). Hancock took the trenches on either side of the apex and pushed deep within the Confederate lines. As Gordon's Division and other troops counterattacked to drive the Federals back, the troops of Rodes' Confederate Division charged up the trenches to this point. Brigade after brigade was thrown into . . . — Map (db m10310) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12, 1864. About 6 a.m. Wright's VI Corps advancing to support Hancock's attack occupied the area in front of the Confederate works on the west face of the Salient. Here at a slight bend in the line, the area ever after known as the Bloody Angle, occurred the most savage, long-sustained hand-to-hand combat of the War. The opposing troops fired muzzle-to-muzzle and bayoneted and clubbed one another across the logs of the parapet. Musket fire slashed the springtime greenery and toppled trees, . . . — Map (db m10311) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12, 1864. About 4:30 a.m. Hancock's Federal II Corps, in one of the greatest surprise attacks of the War, struck Ewell's Confederate Corps entrenched here. Advancing in a solid rectangular mass, the Federal troops overwhelmed the defenders. The Confederates lost 20 cannon, upwards of 30 battle flags, several thousand small arms, and nearly all of Gen. Edward Johnson's Division of 3,500 men, including Johnson himself and Gen. George H. Steuart. The Confederate artillery, ordered back to this . . . — Map (db m10397) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12, 1864. In the large scale attack of this day, Warren's V Corps on the Federal right and Burnside's IX on the left engaged the Confederate forces facing them while Wright's VI moved to help Hancock. The seriousness of Lee's counterattack forced Grant and Meade to weaken Warren's front and throw most of his men into the Salient fight. After Lee fell back to a new line across the base of the "Mule Shoe," the Federals refaced and occupied these Confederate works. Toward the end of the operations this area was abandoned. — Map (db m10403) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12, 1864. From this point the trenches of the Confederate Salient run southward. This road continues westward along a secondary line which was held by Gordon's Division. Gordon's line tied into the east face of the Salient here, where Ewell's right joined the left of A.P. Hill's Corps, temporarily under Early. Lane's Brigade of Hill's Corps stopped a portion of Hancock's Corps sweeping down the Salient on the morning of May 12. Later in the day Lane prevented Burnside's IX Corps from cooperating in the general Federal attack. — Map (db m10427) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 12, 1864. Burnside's IX Corps, having swung east in its march from the Wilderness, engaged the Confederates by way of the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania Road and held the Federal left in this area. On the morning of May 12 Burnside was ordered to support Hancock's attack. He made futile efforts to dent the eastern face of the Confederate Salient (300 yards behind this marker) defended by Early's (A.P. Hill's) Corps. The ground between the opposing forces at this point was then open. — Map (db m10429) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Campaign |
| | May 11-12, 1864. About two hundred yards southward stood the Harrison House where Lee gave his momentous order to Ewell, on the evening of May 11, to remove the artillery from the Salient. Lee pitched his tent in the Harrison House vicinity. Early the next morning, riding forward through the wet and misty woodland toward the rattle of infantry fire, he learned of the break in his lines. The final line across the Salient, to which the Confederates retreated on May 13, ran just behind the Harrison House. — Map (db m14684) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania County Honor Roll |
| | To honor the men of Spotsylvania County who made the supreme sacrifice that we might be free
World War I
Bartleson, Clayton W. • Brooks, Beverly F. • Byiers, John S. • Carnohan, George T. • Curtis, Morris J. • Hall, Archie Bryant • Hall, Guy R. • Lane, Jesse • Lewis, James • Murphy, Clifford E. • Shelton, Ashton B. • Todd, Richard B.
World War II
Armstrong, Charles W. • Bradley, Jesse James • Brown, William W. • Chewning, Herbert Alfonzer • Cline, Homer A. • Coleman, Willie . . . — Map (db m3672) WM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania County Jail |
| | When the Blockhouse Road Courthouse, located 3 miles southwest of here, burned to the ground in 1937, the new Courthouse was built at this intersection of the Fredericksburg and Brock roads on property conveyed from tavern owner, Lewis Rawlings.
The Jail was relocated in June of 1839, with the acceptance of the “new Courthouse”. Bricks, irons and timbers from the Blockhouse Road jail were used in the construction. That jail, positioned just downgrade from this location, . . . — Map (db m3719) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Court House — In the Path of War — Lee vs. Grant – The 1864 Campaign |
| | At the time of the Civil War, Spotsylvania Court House was a small community of about one dozen buildings surrounded by woods and rolling fields. “It was not a town,” a chaplain in the 126th Pennsylvania noted. “It was composed of just the county building, the tavern, a house or two, and one or two country churches.”
The Civil War shattered Spotsylvania’s rural tranquility. In August 1862, Union troops raided the village, and nine months later Confederate . . . — Map (db m3712) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Court House — Historic District — Lee vs. Grant – The 1864 Campaign |
| | Many of the buildings that comprised the 1864 village of Spotsylvania Court House still stand today. Pamphlets located in the box below will lead you on a 30-minute waling tour of the historic town. — Map (db m3714) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Stubbs School |
| | The Stubbs School is typical of African-American public schools scattered throughout the county between 1870 and 1952.
This modest one-room school opened in the early 1930s. The building lacked electricity and plumbing. Its only heat source was a cast iron stove. The school’s sparse furnishings included a slate blackboard and an assortment of homemade desks and benches. The typical day began with prayers followed by lessons in spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and geography . . . — Map (db m3711) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Testing the Line: May 8-10 — Spotsylvania Exhibit Shelter — West Wall |
| | If It Takes All Summer Grant's failure to win the race to Spotsylvania led to two weeks of brutal combat. Aggressive and impatient, the Union commander relentlessly hammered away at the entrenched Confederate line, looking for weakness. Laurel Hill Less well known than the fighting at the Bloody Angle but no less costly, the combat at Laurel Hill produced upwards of 5,000 casualties. On three different days - May 8, 10, and 12 - Union troops charged across the fields surrounding Sarah . . . — Map (db m10735) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Texas |
| | (Front Side): Remembers the valor and devotion of her sons who served at the Wilderness May 6, 1864 From near this spot the Texas Brigade pleaded with General Lee not to expose himself to Federal fire and then after seeing him to safety, launched a vigorous counterattack that stemmed the advance of Hancock's Corps and saved the right flank of the Confederate army. Of approximately 800 troops involved the Texas Brigade counted over 500 casualties. Texas troops at the Wilderness were . . . — Map (db m5473) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Battle of Harris Farm — Final Battle Around Spotsylvania Court House — Harris Farm Battlefield Civil War Site |
| | From May 8-18, 1864, Union troops battered Gen. Robert E. Lee's lines at Spotsylvania Court House. Unable to defeat the Confederates by direct assault, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant determined to head south, drawing Lee out of his Spotsylvania defense. Suspecting Grant's move, Lee ordered Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell to located the Union army's right flank. On May 19, 1864, Ewell sent his entire corps, reduced by recent fighting to just 6,000 men, on a reconnaissance-in-force toward the . . . — Map (db m9046) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Battle of Spotsylvania — Spotsylvania Exhibit Shelter — West Wall |
| | "Nothing in history equals this contest. Desperate, long and deadly, it still goes on. From morn till night, nor ends the carnage there -- all night it goes on too. I cannot tell you any of the particulars. You could not understand it. I do not understand it myself. I doubt if any one does... Who's able to describe these terrific cannonades, tearing men, animals, and the earth and the woods, the fierce charge and shout, the panic and stampede. The crush of horses, vehicles, and men [in] . . . — Map (db m10708) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Climax — The Battle of the Wilderness |
| | The Battle of the Wilderness climaxed here in the twilight of May 6, 1864. After a day of seesaw fighting in the woods behind you, the Confederates mounted a final effort to take the Plank Road-Brock Road intersection, 100 yards to your left. Thousands of Confederate troops tore through these woods, wrapped in the smoke of burning leaves and underbrush. Thousands of Union soldiers awaited them behind earthworks, the remains of which still stand about 40 yards ahead of you. As the Confederates . . . — Map (db m7529) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Confederate Line — Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | The landscape in front of you bears vivid testimony to the nature of fighting here in May 1864. At Spotsylvania, not only did soldiers build stout dirt and log works to protect them from fire in front, but they also built shorter trenches called traverses to protect them from enemy cross fire (a circumstance common on this part of the line). These traverses extend back from the main line like teeth on a comb. Soldiers came to call the three-sided enclosures "hog pens." Remains of those hog . . . — Map (db m10404) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Death of Sedgwick |
| | Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Corps, was one of the most popular senior officers in the Army of the Potomac. On the morning of May 9, 1864, Sedgwick arrived here to direct some minor redeployment of his troops. Ignoring warnings from his chief-of-staff, Sedgwick stalked about admonishing his men to cease worrying about the occasional fire of Confederate sharpshooters concealed in the woodline far to your front. “I am ashamed of you, dodging that way,” scolded . . . — Map (db m3692) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Flying Dutchmen — The Battle of Chancellorsville |
| | The target of Jackson's attack was General Oliver O. Howard's Eleventh Corps, which extended for more than a mile along the Orange Turnpike. The Eleventh Corps was relatively new to the Army of the Potomac. Its 11,000 men included a large percentage of German immigrants - men with names like Peisser and Buschbeck, Schurz and Schimmelfennig. Union pickets had warned Howard of the enemy's approach, but he had ignored their reports. Headquarters had assured him that the Confederate army was in . . . — Map (db m3939) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Harrison House — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | Like most Spotsylvania County residents, Edgar W. Harrison little imagined the impact the Civil War would have on his community and his life. Harrison, his wife Ann, and their three young children lived in a story-and-a-half farmhouse set on the knoll across the road, where they made a living churning butter, slaughtering hogs, and harvesting corn, oats, and tobacco. Although he tiled less than half of his 190-acre farm, Harrison owned 11 slaves. One slave, Joseph E. Walker, remembered the . . . — Map (db m10424) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Landram House — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | The rubble of two chimneys is all that remains of Willis Landram's modest farmhouse, a building destroyed in the 1864 battle. The 65-year-old Landram, his wife Lucy, and five other family members chiseled a life of bare essentials from 170 acres. They raised wheat, corn, and potatoes. Five cows produced milk and 200 pounds of butter a year; two oxen plowed the fields; seven sheep gave the Landrams 20 pounds of wool each season; four pigs provided bacon and pork. The unremarkable existence of . . . — Map (db m10325) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The McCoull House — The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House |
| | This was the home of farmer Neil McCoull and his unmarried sisters Mary, Eliza, and Milly. McCoull's farm was typical of those that dotted Spotsylvania County: a few hundred acres that produced a modest income from corn and other grains. Like his neighbors the Harrisons, McCoul owned slaves, a circumstance common to more than half of Spotsylvania's residents. Around the house stood a kitchen and other outbuildings. Simple dirt roads connected the McCoulls to their neighbors the Harrisons (to . . . — Map (db m10290) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Spindle House |
| | A large frame house belonging to Sarah Spindle stood here in 1864. The opening engagement of the Spotsylvania Campaign swirled across the Spindle Farm on the morning of May 8 as Union troops dashed through these open fields toward the Confederate battle line ahead in the woods. A Federal soldier from the Maryland Brigade described the scene on this ridge: "The enemy opened with shell, followed by canister and then double canister from the cross fire guns on their right. Their fire increased in . . . — Map (db m10252) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Texans Attack |
| | Brigadier General John Gregg formed his four Confederate regiments near the far edge of the Tapp Field behind you and advanced them about 400 yards toward the Union battle line, which stood near here. The Southerners moved diagonally across the clearing so that the right half of the brigade crossed the Orange Plank Road as it reached the enemy. Federal troops under Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth, including the renowned Iron Brigade, unleashed a storm of bullets while the Texans and . . . — Map (db m6088) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Vermont Brigade |
| | (Front): In these woods, during the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5 and 6, 1864, Vermont's "Old Brigade" suffered 1,234 casualties while defending the Brock Road and Orange Plank Road intersection. (Back): "The flag of each regiment, though pierced and tattered, still flaunts in the face of the foe, and noble bands of veterans with thinned ranks, and but a few officers to command, still stand by them, and they seem determined to stand so long as there is a man to bear their . . . — Map (db m7523) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — The Widow Tapp House |
| | The Tapp Farm exemplifies the lifestyle of most Wilderness residents. Catharine Tapp, age 55 in 1860, leased her land from the Lacy family who owned nearby Ellwood. The Widow Tapp shared her modest 1-1/2 story log home with five relatives and a laborer. She owned no slaves. The Tapps operated a subsistence farm, planting corn and keeping a few pigs and milk cows. A crib, stable, and small orchard were the property’s other improvements. Although it survived the Battle of the Wilderness, the . . . — Map (db m6090) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — E-128 — Third Spotsylvania County Courthouse Site |
| | This site was the location of the third Spotsylvania courthouse. In 1722 the first county court session was held at Germanna (now in Orange County) and a courthouse was built soon after. The court was relocated to Fredericksburg in 1732. In 1778 the General Assembly permitted the county to move the courthouse again to a more central location. The first court session was held here in 1781. The County‘s courthouse, jail, pillory, stocks, and gallows were built, and a clerk’s office and tavern . . . — Map (db m65065) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Upton's Charge |
| | (Front): Sixth Corps Memorial to the brave and daring men who fought in Upton's Charge May 10,1964 5 Me - 96 Pa. - 121 N.Y. 5 Wis - 6 Me - 49 Pa. 119 Pa. - 77 N.Y. - 43 N.Y. 6 Vt. - 5 Vt. - 2 Vt. (Back):
Confederate Mule Shoe Defenders 1 Ramseur 2 Daniel 3 Doles 4 Walker Erected May 1994 Donated by Paul J. Helmarch — Map (db m10300) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Valuable Crossroads — Battle of the Wilderness |
| | Just after noon on May 5, 1864, Union troops raced toward this intersection. With Confederates from General A.P. Hill's corps sweeping down the Orange Plank Road from the west, blue-clad troops under George W. Getty arrived here just moments before the Confederates. The Federals immediately started building earthworks to defend the crossroads. The remnants of those works are still visible along the Brock Road. Later on May 5, men of the Union Second Corps launched attacks westward from these . . . — Map (db m4969) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Vista Clearing at Spotsylvania |
| | Over a century has elapsed since the destiny of the nation was debated by arms at Spotsylvania. Many physical changes have altered the appearance of the battlefield during these years including the reclamation of old fields and pastures by an ever-encroaching forest. In 1978 the National Park Service began a vista clearing program aimed at restoring the historic scene at crucial points on the battlefield. Using documented evidence and careful methods to ensure preservation of existing . . . — Map (db m10315) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Widow Tapp’s Field — Battle of the Wilderness |
| | Few families of modest means became so famous. In this field lived widow Catherine Tapp, who with other family members eked out an existence from the poor soil. The Tapps occupied a lopsided log cabin about 300 yards in front of you – seven people living in a space perhaps 30 by 20 feet. A corncrib, log stable, and a few fruit trees surrounded the house. Four milk cows and seven pigs wandered the property. Catherine Tapp’s net worth barely exceeded 100 dollars. She owned no land; she . . . — Map (db m6057) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Wilderness Campaign |
| | May 5, 1864. In the early afternoon, Wadsworth's Division of Warren's Corps hit the right flank of Rodes' Confederate Division near this point. Its left already crippled by Griffin's Division on the Turnpike a mile north, Rodes' line here staggered under Wadsworth's blow. The whole front of Ewell's Corps seemed about to give way. Then Gordon's Brigade, struggling through the same thickets which had caused Wadsworth's troops to lose direction smashed into the Federal division and drove it back. — Map (db m7408) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Wilderness Campaign |
| | May 5-6, 1864. The bluecoats of Crawford's Division emerged into the sunlight of this clearing, the Chewning Farm, on May 5 in the predetermined moved toward Parker's Store on the Orange Plank Road. Lee's eastward thrust, however, changed all Union plans, and Crawford was withdrawn to the Turnpike sector. While Ewell's Corps on the Pike and A.P. Hill's on the Plank Road parried the powerful Federal army, the Chewning Farm remained a vulnerable gap between the two battle fronts, presenting an . . . — Map (db m7463) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Wilderness Campaign |
| | May 5, 1864. Since Longstreet's Corps was still on the way from encampment near Gordonsville, Lee began this battle with only two of his three corps. Keeping Ewell on the defensive in the Orange Turnpike sector, he pushed A.P. Hill's Corps eastward along the Plank Road to seize Grant's route of march, the Brock Road. Getty's Division and Hancock's Corps foiled the Confederate thrust. When darkness ended the struggle, Hill's exhausted troops in this vicinity awaited relief from Longstreet's men . . . — Map (db m7466) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Wilderness Campaign |
| | May 6, 1864, Hancock's Federal soldiers opened the second day of battle about 5 a.m. Hill's Confederates were driven westward to this vicinity, the small clearing of the Widow Tapp Farm where Lee had his headquarters. As Col. William T. Poague's cannon staved off disaster, Longstreet's belated Corps came swinging up. Lee waved his hat and personally started to lead the countercharge of Longstreet's men, only to be restrained by the cry of "Go back, General Lee, go back!" Longstreet quickly . . . — Map (db m7490) HM |
| Virginia (Spotsylvania County), Spotsylvania — Zion Methodist Church — The Edge of the Storm — Lee vs. Grant – The 1864 Campaign |
| | Virginia churches suffered heavily in the Civil War, being used by contending armies as headquarters, hospitals and barracks. Zion Church was no exception. In August 1862, Union soldiers stopped briefly at the church during an expedition to southern Spotsylvania County. Within minutes, wrote a Union soldier, the quiet meeting house became “a perfect bedlam…filled with soldiers, some scuffling, some whistling, some playing cards on the little plain table in front of the pulpit, while one . . . — Map (db m3709) HM |
Subscribe
— Privacy Policy
— Terms of Use
— About Us
— Contact Us
HMdb.org