Near Spotsylvania Courthouse in Spotsylvania County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Aftermath
The Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse
— Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park —
At 2 a.m. on May 13, 1864, General Lee declared a new line of works a half mile behind you ready, and the Confederate troops in the trenches here quietly withdrew. They had bought the Confederacy what it most needed that day: time. But every minute had come at a fearful cost. It’s likely that as many as 17,000 men fell killed or wounded in the fighting at the Muleshoe Salient. It was the longest sustained combat of the Civil War.
“Piles of the dead” is often used as a figure of speech, but in the works abandoned by the rebels piles of dead literally and without exaggeration were lying in the compartments.... Two, three and four deep, tangled-up with each other, bodies and limbs intertwined, actual heaps of dead, their black and bloated faces upturned to the sky, in all manner of positions and decomposition already polluting the atmosphere with a horrible stench. It was such a picture of war, horrid war, as few people, even those who make a business of war, are permitted to witness. It would take the pen of a Victor Hugo to faithfully describe such a scene of death and carnage, such a hideous and appalling holocaust of human life.
Lieutenant Harvey B. Wells, 84th Pennsylvania Volunteers
(captions)
Captain Louis F. Waters of the 99th Pennsylvania Infantry was one of hundreds of Union soldiers to die at the Bloody Angle.
In June 1865, a burial party interred many of the Union dead at Spotsylvania Court House. These graves belong to soldiers killed in front of the Bloody Angle.
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 13, 1864.
Location. 38° 13.384′ N, 77° 36.035′ W. Marker is near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, in Spotsylvania County. Marker can be reached from Grant Drive north of Anderson Drive, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Spotsylvania VA 22553, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. McGowan's Brigade (within shouting distance of this marker); Spotsylvania Campaign (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Spotsylvania Campaign (within shouting distance of this marker); 49th New York Infantry (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); The Muleshoe Salient (within shouting distance of this marker); 15th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Also see . . . Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. National Park Service (Submitted on June 24, 2013.)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 14, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 24, 2013, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 642 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 24, 2013, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.