May 1864, Union Overload Campaign

May 1864, Union Overload Campaign. . , More than 100,000 well fed and well armed Union soldiers advanced into Virginia during the months of May and June for the Overland Campaign. Grant's objective was to draw out and destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The total casualties in the Overland Campaign numbered over 88,600., Grant's military operation eventually proved to be a strategic victory for the Union. In just over eight weeks, the campaign maneuvered Gen. Robert E. Lee and his soldiers into deadly siege-like trench warfare around Richmond and Petersburg for the final stages of the war., The Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, Prelude to Yellow Tavern , Just north of Fredericksburg, the first stages of the battle of the Wilderness erupted on the May 15, where the Confederates met their stronger Union adversary with vigor. The resulting battle was uncoordinated, bloody, and often confused, with Grant pressing Gen. Robert E. Lee's troops and very nearly breaking through the Confederate lines. Compounding the horror of the battle, small brush fires caused by the heated gunfire rages through the dry undergrowth burning many wounded soldiers alive, filing the woods with smoke and ghastly cries., Frustrated with the lack of success at the Wilderness, Sheridan was allowed to launch a bold cavalry raid on Richmond. Grant and the main infantry forces continued to engage with the Confederates in hard fighting at Spotsylvania Courthouse, as Sheridan and his cavalry broke away to advance to the south. It was a deliberate foray to draw out Stuart and his cavalry to defeat them in open combat., Confederate scouts soon discovered that Sheridan's troops were on the move, with indications that the Confederate capital was their intended target. Almost immediately, Stuart and his cavalry were in pursuit. With limited tactical options, Stuart understood at all costs that his cavalry must bar Sheridan's path toward Richmond. Riding with Stuart in pursuit of the Union forces, was Gen. James Byron Gordon and his North Carolina Cavalry Brigade. They were soon joined by Gen. Robert E. Lee's nephew, Major General Fitzhugh Lee and the 1st Virginia Cavalry. Stuart's Confederate forces were now estimated at between four and five thousand, with the advancing Union forces at over 12,000.