The Overland Campaign: The Beginning of the End of the Civil War
On May 4th, 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant began his first campaign as General in Chief of the United States Army, the Overland Campaign. Instead of staying in Washington, DC, his headquarters would be with the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George Meade, and the Independent IX Army Corps, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside. This immediately created an awkward command situation. General Burnside outranked General Meade, so Grant had to issue commands to each army to get them to work together.
On May 5th, the Battle of the Wilderness began on two fronts, one at Saunders Field on the Orange Turnpike and the other on the Orange Plank Road down to the intersection with the Orange Plank Road. There is bloody fighting in the jungle known as the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, just a year since the Battle of Chancellorsville, fought on much of the same grounds. The first two days of fighting against the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee produced tremendous casualties, and the third day was skirmishing at the Wilderness and cavalry actions at Todd’s Tavern.
This first action, known as the Grant versus Lee battles, cost about 29,000 casualties and the burning of soldiers in the many fires of this battle. The result was a tactical stalemate but a strategic victory for Grant, as he continued moving South instead of retreating. He stated to President Abraham Lincoln that there would be no turning back!
On May 8th, the Battle of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House would start with a race of the armies from Wilderness to Spotsylvania. Both armies are tired after fighting a major battle for the previous three days and will now fight here for two weeks! The fight for Laurel Hill started the soldiers entrenching, thus the start of trench warfare. Earthworks will now be taller than most soldiers, providing more cover for soldiers’ defenses.
Much of the fighting in this battle was hand-to-hand in driving rainstorms. The Confederates built their defenses in the shape of a mule shoe, which created a dangerous salient. The salient was breached in two decisive fights: Upton’s attack and the Battle of the Muleshoe. Colonel Emory Upton’s attack of 5,000 soldiers pierced the Muleshoe; Grant said if 5000 men could do that, what could 20,000 do?
General Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps attacked the Muleshoe and broke through, capturing 3000 soldiers and two generals. The Confederates counterattacked under General John B. Gordon, and the two armies fought for twenty-two and a half hours in a driving rainstorm.
Again, it was a stalemate and strategic victory for Grant as he continued to move southward. The cost was about 31,000 casualties. From May 5th to May 21st, 60,000 casualties resulted, and neither side had any victory. Grant was fighting a new kind of war—a war of exhaustion—which ended on April 9th, 1865, at Appomattox!