Above photo is of a group of Union soldiers filling their canteens during the Wilderness campaign. Photo courtesy Library of Congress. Right: Visitors on battle walk through the Wilderness forest.

Battle of the Wilderness Then

This place was so wild, thick with thickets and jungle undergrowth, soldiers from both Confederate and Union armies, plus a fire. It was not the place to be in the spring of 1864. General Grant had reorganized the Army of the Potomac once assuming command of the entire federal army. Corps commanders were now Warren, Sedgwick, and Hancock, plus the independent 9th Corps of Ambrose Burnside. For General Robert E. Lee, he was counting on Confederate commanders A.P. Hill, Ewell, and Longstreet.

In 1864, this was the wildest area, perhaps, fought within the Virginia theatre of the war. Soldiers could barely move through the thickets. They had a hard time knowing where not only the enemy was, but where their compatriots stood. It wasn't an area to have a large scale battle in. But this is where they were. And what generals of the Confederacy had learned about U.S. Grant up to this point of the war was true here, too. He did not stop because battle was hard. Grant pushed forward, in loss and victory.

Image above: Lithograph of the Battle of the Wilderness, Currier and Ives, circa 1864. Courtesy Library of Congress. Below: Expanse of the Widow Tapp Field, one of the few open spaces among the farms and fields of battle at the Wilderness. The Tapp farm was the headquarters on May 5 of General Lee. The battle there occurred in the early morning the next day with initial Union success before a counterattack by Longstreet's forces.

Battle of the Wilderness Now

There is an eight stop driving tour around the Wilderness battlefield, nine if you include Ellwood. At Stop 2, the Exhibit Kiosk is manned by park rangers on weekends and holidays. The Wilderness battlefield is the farthest unit from the Fredericksburg area, but not far from Chancellorsville, and it leads nicely into Spotsylvania, too.

When you walk or drive around the Wilderness unit, you'll be amazed at the thickness of the woods, but what you're seeing isn't even close to the thickness at the time of the battle. There were farms here and certainly are now; it's pretty easy to see the contrast about what fighting on open ground or in those woods would have been like when you walk the paths and read the waysides that explain the battle.

There is no visitor center at the Wilderness unit, only a kiosk that is manned during some hours. And the interpretation here is lower than at the other locations, with ranger walks during the summer from the kiosk, but it is a predominantly visitor by yourself experience here. One where you can wander and contemplate. There are walking trails to take; Gordon Flank Attack Trail, the Vermont Monument, Grant's Knoll, Chewning Plateau, and Tapp Field. The Ellwood home, which was owned by the same family that owned Chatham (can you imagine having both of your homes taken over for headquarters during two separate battles) is open during some hours for tours as well.

Minute Walk in History
160th Anniversary

Take a walk, talk, and tour with @americasbesthistory and the excellent park rangers around the 160th Anniversary events of the Battle of the Wilderness. The Wilderness was the first battle of the Overland campaign and first conflict of Grant versus Lee. Including the opening battle at Saunders Field, the headquarters at Ellwood plantation, the battle at Tapp Farm, and more.