Near Spotsylvania Courthouse in Spotsylvania County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Spotsylvania Campaign
Photographed by Craig Swain, July 6, 2008
1. Spotsylvania Campaign Marker
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, one an oak almost two feet in diameter. Rain poured down and the dead piled up in the mud. Before daylight on the 13th the exhausted Confederates withdrew to a better line.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is May 12, 1864.
Location. Marker has been permanently removed. It was located near 38° 13.403′ N, 77° 36.004′ W. Marker was near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, in Spotsylvania County. It could be reached from Grant Drive, on the left when traveling east. Located at tour stop three (Bloody Angle) on the driving tour of Spotsylvania Battlefield unit of the Fredericksburg
this page online
We have been informed that this marker is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.
Regionally, this marker was in the Washington Metropolitan Area, in Northern Virginia, and in the Piedmont. It was also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it was in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: 49th New York Infantry (a few steps from this marker); McGowan's Brigade (a few steps from this marker); 15th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers (within shouting distance of this marker); The Confederate Earthworks (within shouting distance of this marker); Aftermath (within shouting distance of this marker); Struggle for the Bloody Angle (within shouting distance of this marker); Bloody Angle, Crowded Ravine (within shouting distance of this marker); Attack on the Muleshoe (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Spotsylvania Campaign (was here, next to this marker but has been permanently removed).
Photographed by Craig Swain
2. Tour Stop Three
Two markers and a campaign map stand at the start of the Bloody Angle trail.
Photographed by Craig Swain, July 6, 2008
3. Site of 22 inch Tree Felled by Small Arms Fire
The tree trunk itself is now displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C.
Photographed by Craig Swain, July 6, 2008
4. Compass
As at many locations on the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Battlefields, a compass points out the distances to different strategic points. From the north, clockwise - Brown House 0.8 m, Landram House 0.3 m, Fredericksburg 9 m, Harris Farm 1.9 m, Ny River 1 m,
Massaponax Church 5.4 m, Fortress Monroe 113 m, Spotsylvania C.H. 1.6 m, McCoull House 0.2 m,
Lee's Final Line 0.7 m, Sedgwick Monument 0.9 m,
Po River 2.2 m, Todd's Tavern 4 m, Brock-Plank Crossroads 7.9 m, and Chancellorsville 6.1 m
Photographed by Craig Swain, May 3, 2009
5. Oak Tree Felled by Bullets
On display at the American History Museum, of the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
Photographed by Craig Swain, May 3, 2009
6. Spotsylvania Tree Stup
Until May 12, 1864, this shattered stump was a large oak tree in a meadow outside Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. That morning, 1,200 entrenched Confederates, the front line of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, awaited the assault of 5,000 Union troops from the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Twenty hours later, the once-peaceful meadow had acquired a new name, Bloody Angle. The same fury of rifle bullets that cut down 2,000 combatants tore away all but twenty-two inches of the tree's trunk.
via National Park Service, unknown
7. Bloody Angle
National Park Service Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park website entry
Click for more information.
Click for more information.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 19, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 15, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,636 times since then and 18 times this year. Last updated on May 19, 2026, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 15, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 4. submitted on August 18, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 5, 6. submitted on June 15, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 7. submitted on December 2, 2024, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
