Bloodiest Soil in America

Four major battles in Northern Virginia, a total of only 66 square miles; a radius of only 17 miles.  Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. Three generals for the Union – Burnside, Hooker, Grant; one general for the Confederates - Lee. Two back-to-back battles each. Fredericksburg in December, 1862 followed by Chancellorsville in April/May of 1863. Two years later, during General Grant’s Overland Campaign, the Wilderness of May 5-6 followed by Spotsylvania Court House occurring May 8 – 21, 1864. These four battles generated total casualties in excess of 110,000 soldiers. By definition casualties are killed, wounded, missing, or captured. The total number of days these four battles covered is 28, but not all 28 days saw fighting. These are astronomical numbers. Comparing the population of our country then to our population now would equate to over 660,000 today. Obviously, some of the bloodiest and hardest fought battles of the entire Civil War.

The first two battles, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville were decisive Confederate victories, while the Wilderness and Spotsylvania were draws.

Having already addressed these first two battles, I will condense the other two as they were nearly the same battle but moved from one location to another – from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania Court House. The Wilderness ended on May 6, 1864 with Grant pulling his troops on the evening of May 7^th moving southeast in an attempt to get behind Lee and to Richmond. Spotsylvania started on May 8.

The Wilderness was the first major battle between General Grant’s Army and General Lee’s Army. As you can guess by the name of this battle, the landscape played a tremendous role. The conflict began at Saunders Field and worked its way southeast through the underbrush and woods. For two days the Yankees and the Rebels fought. Much of this fighting took place in dense thickets and tangled bushes. On the 6^th, Longstreet hurried his late arriving troops into position and saved the Confederate right from collapsing. Oddly, Longstreet was wounded by his troops on this day, echoing the same action of two years earlier when Stonewall Jackson was fatally wounded by his troops. Longstreet did recover from his wound. Due to the heavy fighting by both infantry and artillery in the woods, fires were prevalent and many wounded soldiers suffered death in this manner. This battle was horrendous. Victory was achievable by either side, but ultimately the Wilderness won. The fighting ended in a fiery standoff. 

In the past, the Union Army would retreat after a battle with General Lee, but Grant was different. He ignored this stalemate and moved on, to the cheering and jubilation of his troops. The night of May 7, Grant moved his Army south toward Richmond and would battle Lee again starting the next day in a sleepy little hamlet called Spotsylvania Court House.

On the 8^th of May, Union Generals Warren and Sedgwick were unsuccessful in their attempt to remove Confederate General Anderson’s troops from Laurel Hill in order to advance through Spotsylvania Court House. By the 10^th, Lee had his Army entrenched across a four mile front. Grant gave orders to attack this front, including a salient known as the Mule Shoe. Even though another failure to break the Confederate line occurred, Union General Emory Upton’s temporary success at the Mule Shoe gave Grant hope. On the 12^th, Grant ordered 15,000 troops under General Winfield Scott to attack the Mule Shoe again. Initially successful, the Confederates rallied, counterattacked, and repulsed the Union. The next 22 hours were filled with some of the worst hand-to-hand combat of the war. Dead and wounded bodies, both Rebel and Yankee were stacked two, three, and four high in the salient. This became known as  “Bloody Angle.” Grant attempted two more attacks in the next few days, both again unsuccessful. Disengaging from Lee, Grant again moved southeast in an effort to get around Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. They would meet again, shortly, at North Anna River.

Thus, the first two major battles of Grant’s Overland Campaign had come to indecisive endings. Grant and his Army of the Potomac would continue their assault on Lee in their effort to bring this costly War Between the States to an end.

Ellwood, pictured here, was a quiet country farm situated near the intersection of Germanna Highway and Orange Turnpike. Sitting on a grassy knoll overlooking its 5,000 acre estate, Ellwood saw more than its share of the Civil War. Owned by the Lacey’s, owners also of Chatham at Fredericksburg, Ellwood was used and abused by both the Federals and the Confederates through the course of the war. Leading into the Chancellorsville battle, skirmishing occurred here as the Confederates attempted to delay the Union approach.  Following the battle at Chancellorsville, the Rebels used Ellwood for months as a field hospital. General Lee then camped on these grounds on his march to Gettysburg.

The Battle of the Wilderness was focused on and around this property. Both Union infantry and artillery were placed here during that encounter. It was also used as a staging area for the Union Army to feed into the battle. Although General Grant’s headquarters were located just a few hundred yards from the house, Generals Burnside and Warren moved into Ellwood itself and used it for their headquarters. Following this horrendous battle, the Federals used Ellwood as a field hospital. The floors were stained with blood, the gardens ruined, and the fences were gone following the Wilderness.