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Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

May 21, 2023

"Mule Shoe" redirects here. For the type of shoe, see Mule (shoe).

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
Part of the American Civil War

Battle of Spottsylvania, Thure de Thulstrup
DateMay 9–21, 1864
Location
Spotsylvania County, Virginia
38°13′27″N 77°35′53″W / 38.2242°N 77.5981°W / 38.2242; -77.5981
Result Inconclusive[1]
Belligerents
United States Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Ulysses S. Grant
George Meade		 Robert E. Lee
Units involved
Army of Northern Virginia
Strength
108,000–115,400[4] 52,000–63,000[4]
Casualties and losses

Total: 18,399

2,725 killed
13,416 wounded
2,258 captured or missing[note 4][6]

Total: 12,687

1,515 killed
5,414 wounded
5,758 captured or missing[6]

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions. Elements of Lee's army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of the Spotsylvania Court House in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but both sides declared victory. The Confederacy declared victory because they were able to hold their defenses. The United States declared victory because the Federal offensive continued and Lee's army suffered losses that could not be replaced. With almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, Spotsylvania was the costliest battle of the campaign.

On May 8, Union Maj. Gens. Gouverneur K. Warren and John Sedgwick unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge the Confederates under Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson from Laurel Hill, a position that was blocking them from Spotsylvania Court House. On May 10, Grant ordered attacks across the Confederate line of earthworks, which by now extended over 4 miles (6.4 km), including a prominent salient known as the Mule Shoe. Although the Union troops failed again at Laurel Hill, an innovative assault attempt by Col. Emory Upton against the Mule Shoe showed promise.

Grant used Upton's assault technique on a much larger scale on May 12 when he ordered the 15,000 men of Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock's corps to assault the Mule Shoe. Hancock was initially successful, but the Confederate leadership rallied and repulsed his incursion. Attacks by Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright on the western edge of the Mule Shoe, which became known as the "Bloody Angle", involved almost 24 hours of desperate hand-to-hand fighting, some of the most intense of the Civil War. Supporting attacks by Warren and by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside were unsuccessful.

Grant repositioned his lines in another attempt to engage Lee under more favorable conditions and launched a final attack by Hancock on May 18, which made no progress. A reconnaissance in force by Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell at Harris farm on May 19 was a costly and pointless failure. On May 21, Grant disengaged from the Confederate Army and started southeast on another maneuver to turn Lee's right flank, as the Overland Campaign continued and led to the Battle of North Anna.

Background

Military situation

Main article: Overland Campaign
Further information: Battle of the Wilderness, Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, and American Civil War
 
Map of Southeastern Virginia.
 
Union marches and operations in Central Virginia (1864–65).
 
Spotsylvania Courthouse, 1864

In March 1864, Grant was summoned from the Western Theater, promoted to lieutenant general, and given command of all Union armies. He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, although Maj. Gen. George G. Meade remained the actual commander of that army. He left Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the western armies. Grant and President Abraham Lincoln devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions, including attacks against Lee near Richmond, Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia, Georgia, and Mobile, Alabama. This was the first time the Union armies would have a coordinated offensive strategy across a number of theaters.[7]

Grant's campaign objective was not the Confederate capital of Richmond, but the destruction of Lee's army. Lincoln had long advocated this strategy for his generals, recognizing that the city would certainly fall after the loss of its principal defensive army. Grant ordered Meade, "Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also."[8] Although he hoped for a quick, decisive battle, Grant was prepared to fight a war of attrition. Both Union and Confederate casualties could be high, but the Union had far greater resources to replace lost soldiers and equipment.[9]

On May 5, after Grant's army crossed the Rapidan and entered the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, it was attacked by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Although Lee was outnumbered, about 60,000 to 100,000, his men fought fiercely and the dense foliage provided a terrain advantage. After two days of fighting and almost 29,000 casualties, the results were inconclusive and neither army was able to obtain an advantage.[10]

Lee had stopped Grant, but had not turned him back, and Grant had not destroyed Lee's army. Under similar circumstances, previous Union commanders had chosen to withdraw behind the Rappahannock, but Grant instead ordered Meade to move around Lee's right flank and seize the important crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House to the southeast, hoping that by interposing his army between Lee and Richmond, he could lure the Confederates into another battle on a more favorable field.[10]

Opposing forces

Union

Further information: Union order of battle
Principal Union commanders

As of May 7, Grant's Union forces totaled approximately 100,000 men.[4] They consisted of the Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, and the IX Corps (until May 24 formally part of the Army of the Ohio, reporting directly to Grant, not Meade). The five corps were:[11]

Confederate

Further information: Confederate order of battle
Confederate corps commanders

Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia comprised about 52,000 men and was organized into four corps:[12]

Initial movements

May 7: The race to Spotsylvania

 
Movements on May 7, 1864; cavalry actions inset
  Confederate
  Union
See also: Battle of Todd's Tavern

Grant's orders to Meade were to march the night of May 7–8 over two routes, reaching Spotsylvania Court House, 10 miles (16 km) to the southeast, with at least one corps the morning of May 8. Warren's V Corps would take the Brock Road, followed by Hancock's II Corps. Sedgwick's VI Corps would head toward Chancellorsville on the Orange Plank Road, and then turn south, followed by Burnside's IX Corps.[13]

Meade began by ordering Sheridan's Cavalry Corps to clear the Brock Road for the infantry, but the troopers soon bogged down. The brigade of Col. J. Irvin Gregg (David Gregg's division), was stopped at Corbin's Bridge on the Catharpin Road by cavalrymen under Wade Hampton and Rooney Lee. Gregg's men withdrew to a field west of Todd's Tavern, constructed rudimentary earthworks, and repulsed a series of Confederate attacks.[14]

Wesley Merritt's Union division encountered Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry behind barricades on the Brock Road about a mile south of Todd's Tavern. Sharp fighting resulted in the late afternoon, and by nightfall, Sheridan decided against continuing in the dark and ordered his men to bivouac at Todd's Tavern. The first Union infantry began moving at 8 p.m. and their advance was plagued by traffic jams. When Meade reached Todd's Tavern after midnight he was infuriated to see Sheridan's sleeping cavalrymen and ordered them to resume their road clearing operation.[14]

Lee was unsure of Grant's plan. Reconnaissance told him that the river crossing equipment had been removed from Germanna Ford, so Grant would not be withdrawing as his predecessors had. The Union Army could either be heading east to Fredericksburg or moving south. In either event, the crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House would play an important role, so Lee ordered his artillery chief, Brig. Gen. William N. Pendleton, to begin constructing a road through the woods from the Confederate position at the Wilderness due south to the Catharpin Road. He also ordered Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson, who had replaced Lt. Gen. James Longstreet in command of the First Corps following that officer's wounding on May 6, to move out along that road. Lee did not indicate any need for haste, but Anderson and his men desired to leave the stench of burning forest and dead bodies in the Wilderness, so they began marching about 10 p.m.[15]

Battle

May 8: Laurel Hill and cavalry troubles

 
Attacks on the Laurel Hill line, May 8

At dawn on May 8, Wesley Merritt's cavalrymen attacked Fitzhugh Lee's barricades on the Brock Road again, but were repulsed. Meade ordered Warren's V Corps to break through with infantry and the division of Brig. Gen. John C. Robinson led the way in overwhelming the cavalry obstacle. Fitzhugh Lee's horse artillery made a gallant stand around the Alsop farm and delayed the Union advance while the cavalrymen staked out a defensive line on a low ridge just south of the Spindle farm clearing, which they dubbed "Laurel Hill." Lee sent for help to Anderson's infantry, which by now had reached the Block House Bridge on the Po River and were eating breakfast. Anderson immediately dispatched two infantry brigades and an artillery battalion, which arrived at Laurel Hill just as Warren's men pulled up within 100 yards to the north.[16]

Assuming that only cavalry blocked his path, Warren ordered an immediate attack against Laurel Hill. Multiple attacks by the divisions of the V Corps were repulsed with heavy casualties, and by noon the Union troops began building earthworks on the northern end of the Spindle clearing. Meanwhile, the Union cavalry division under James H. Wilson had reached and occupied the town of Spotsylvania Court House at 8 a.m. Wilson sent a brigade under Col. John B. McIntosh up the Brock Road with the intention of striking the Confederate position at Laurel Hill from the rear. J.E.B. Stuart had only a single cavalry regiment available to send out against McIntosh, but Anderson's infantry division under Joseph B. Kershaw was marching in that direction. With orders from Sheridan to withdraw and with Confederate infantry in hot pursuit, Wilson withdrew up the Fredericksburg Road.[17]

Generals Meade and Sheridan had quarreled about the cavalry's performance throughout the campaign and this incident with Wilson, compounding the frustration of the uncleared Brock Road, brought Meade's notorious temper to a boil. After a heated exchange laced with expletives on both sides, Sheridan told Meade that he could "whip Stuart" if Meade let him. Meade reported the conversation to Grant, who replied, "Well, he generally knows what he is talking about. Let him start right out and do it." Meade deferred to Grant's judgment and issued orders to Sheridan to "proceed against the enemy's cavalry." Sheridan's entire command of 10,000 cavalrymen departed the following day. They engaged with (and mortally wounded) Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern on May 11, threatened the outskirts of Richmond, refitted near the James River, and did not return to the army until May 24. Grant and Meade were left without cavalry resources during the critical days of the battle to come.[18]

While Warren was unsuccessfully attacking Laurel Hill the morning of May 8, Hancock's II Corps had reached Todd's Tavern and erected defenses to the west on the Catharpin Road, protecting the rear of the army. Jubal Early, who had just replaced A.P. Hill as Third Corps commander because of his illness, decided to test the defenses and sent the division of William Mahone and some cavalry. After a short fight, Hancock's division under Francis C. Barlow withdrew back to Todd's Tavern and Early decided not to pursue.[19]

In the afternoon, Sedgwick's VI Corps arrived near Laurel Hill and extended Warren's line to the east. By 7 p.m., both corps began a coordinated assault, but were repulsed by heavy fire. They attempted to move around Anderson's right flank, but were surprised to find that divisions from Ewell's Second Corps had arrived in that sector to repulse them again. Meade had not had a good day. He lost the race to Spotsylvania, he was dissatisfied with his cavalry, he judged Sedgwick to be "constitutionally slow," and he was most disappointed that Warren had been unsuccessful at Laurel Hill, telling him that he had "lost his nerve."[20]

May 9: Fortifications, Sedgwick, and Hancock

 
Positions and movements on the Union flanks, May 9

With such entrenchments as these, having artillery throughout, with flank fire along the lines wherever practicable, and with the rifled musket then in use, which were effective at three hundred yards as the smooth-bore muskets at sixty yards, the strength of an army sustaining attack was more than quadrupled, provided they had force to man the entrenchments well.

Maj. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys, chief of staff to General Meade[21]

Over the night of May 8–9, the Confederates were busy erecting a series of earthworks, more than four miles (6.4 km) long, starting at the Po River, encompassing the Laurel Hill line, crossing the Brock Road, jutting out in a horseshoe shape and then extending south past the courthouse intersection. The earthworks were reinforced with timber and guarded by artillery placed to allow enfilade fire on any attacking force. There was only one potential weakness in Lee's line—the exposed salient known as the "Mule Shoe" extending more than a mile (1.6 km) in front of the main trench line. Although Lee's engineers were aware of this problem, they extended the line to incorporate some minor high ground to Anderson's right, knowing that they would be at a disadvantage if the Union occupied it.[22]

The Union soldiers were also busy building their own entrenchments. At about 9 a.m., Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick was inspecting his VI Corps line when he was shot through the head by a Confederate sharpshooter's bullet, dying instantly, having just made the celebrated remark "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance". Sedgwick was one of the most beloved generals in the Union Army and his death was a hard blow to his men and colleagues. Meade ordered Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, the senior division commander, to replace Sedgwick.[23]

 
John Sedgwick

On the Union left, Burnside's IX Corps approached on the Fredericksburg Road from Alrich, led by Brig. Gen. Orlando B. Willcox's division, but they were delayed by Fitzhugh Lee's cavalrymen. When they reached close enough to observe that the Confederates were at Spotsylvania Court House, Burnside became concerned that he was too far in advance of Meade's force and ordered his men to begin entrenching. At this same time, Hancock was reporting from the right flank that Early's men had pulled back from his front. Grant absorbed these two observations and concluded that the Confederates were shifting their men from west to east, opening an opportunity for an attack. He ordered Hancock to cross the Po and attack the Confederates' left flank, driving them back toward Burnside's position near the Ni River, while the rest of his command, in the center, watched for an opening to attack there as well.[24]

Hancock's II Corps advanced across the Po, but he became nervous that the Confederates had the Block House Bridge heavily defended and decided to delay his attack until the morning. This error was fatal to Grant's plan. That night, Lee moved two divisions of Jubal Early's corps from Spotsylvania Court House into position against Hancock. Mahone's division was placed directly in Hancock's path of advance while Henry Heth's division swung around to approach Hancock's right flank.[25]

May 10: Grant attacks

 
Grant attacks, May 10
 
Grant attacks, May 10 (additional map).

As morning dawned, Grant realized his assumptions about Lee's dispositions were wrong and that Hancock was facing a significant threat on his front. However, this opened a new opportunity. He guessed (incorrectly) that the troops facing Hancock had been withdrawn from Laurel Hill. He ordered Hancock to withdraw north of the Po, leaving a single division in place to occupy the Confederates in that sector, while the rest of his army was to attack at 5 p.m. across the entire Confederate line, which would identify and exploit any potential weak spot. Hancock left Francis C. Barlow's division behind hasty earthworks along Shady Grove Church Road and withdrew the remainder of his men north of the Po.[26]

At 2 p.m., Jubal Early decided to attack Barlow with Henry Heth's division. Barlow's men were soon in a difficult position as Confederate artillery lobbed in shells that set the surrounding woods on fire. They were able to retreat through a mile-long corridor and crossed the Po without being captured, destroying the bridges behind them. Grant's tactics were criticized for this so-called "Battle of the Po." Since he had ordered Hancock to move late in the day on May 9, he allowed Robert E. Lee time to react and nullify the movement on May 10.[27]

Hancock was needed in the Po sector to help Barlow's withdrawal, which meant that Warren was left in charge of the Laurel Hill sector. Immediately upon Hancock's departure, Warren requested permission from Meade to attack Laurel Hill immediately, uncoordinated with the rest of Grant's attack, scheduled for 5 p.m. Warren was embarrassed by his performance the previous day and wanted to restore his reputation for aggressiveness. For reasons unexplained, Meade acceded to the request. At 4:00 PM, elements of the II and V Corps assaulted the Confederate trenches at Laurel Hill, which required them to move through a grove of gnarled, splintered dead pine trees. The attacks were beaten off with severe losses.[28] Grant was thus forced to postpone his 5 p.m. coordinated assault until Warren could get his troops reformed.[29]

 
Upton's brigade attacks

At around 6 p.m., the VI Corps began its attack with an unusual formation. Col. Emory Upton led a group of 12 hand-picked regiments, about 5,000 men in four battle lines, against an identified weak point on the west side of the Mule Shoe called Doles's Salient (named after Brig. Gen. George P. Doles's Georgian troops who were manning that sector of the line). The plan was for Upton's men to rush across the open field without pausing to fire and reload, reaching the earthworks before the Confederates could fire more than a couple of shots.[30]

Once an initial breakthrough was made by the leading element, the following lines would widen the breach and spread out on each side. Gershom Mott's division was designated to support the breakthrough as well. Mott's division (4th Division, II Corps) was the weakest in the army. Once Joe Hooker's command, it had been transferred from the defunct III Corps two months earlier. The morale of the enlisted men suffered from this, and several of its regiments' enlistment terms were about to expire in a few weeks, making the men extremely gun-shy. They had been badly shot up and routed in the Wilderness, and as they headed towards the Confederate entrenchments, a burst of artillery fire caused the men to panic and flee from the field, never getting closer than a quarter of a mile to the enemy position.[30]

Three days later, Mott's division was dissolved and Mott himself demoted to command of a brigade comprising most of the remaining troops from the division. Upton's men encountered stiff Confederate resistance, but drove all the way to the parapets, where after some brief, fierce hand-to-hand action, their superior numbers carried the day and soon the Confederate defenders were driven from their trenches.[30]

Generals Lee and Ewell were quick to organize a vigorous counterattack with brigades from all sectors of the Mule Shoe, and no Union supporting units arrived. Mott had already been repulsed, unbeknownst to Upton, and units from Warren's V Corps were too spent from their earlier attacks on Laurel Hill to help. Upton's men were driven out of the Confederate works and he reluctantly ordered them to retreat. British military historian Charles Francis Atkinson wrote in 1908 that Upton's charge was "one of the classic infantry attacks of military history." Grant promoted Upton to brigadier general for his performance.[30]

Also at 6 p.m., on the Union left flank, Burnside advanced along the Fredericksburg Road. Both he and Grant were unaware that when Lee had moved units to the Po, he had left only Cadmus Wilcox's Confederate division to defend that avenue of approach and that there was a large gap between Wilcox and Ewell. (This lack of information was a tangible consequence of the decision to send all of Sheridan's cavalry away from the battlefield.) As Burnside began to get resistance from Wilcox, he timidly stopped and entrenched. That evening Grant decided that Burnside was too isolated from the rest of the line and ordered him to pull back behind the Ni and move to join his lines with Wright's. Grant wrote about this significant lost opportunity in his Personal Memoirs:

Burnside on the left had got up to within a few hundred yards of Spottsylvania Court House, completely turning Lee's right. He was not aware of the importance of the advantage he had gained, and I, being with the troops where the heavy fighting was, did not know of it at the time. He had gained his position with but little fighting, and almost without loss. Burnside's position now separated him widely from Wright's corps, the corps nearest to him. At night he was ordered to join on to this. This brought him back about a mile, and lost to us an important advantage. I attach no blame to Burnside for this, but I do to myself for not having had a staff officer with him to report to me his position.

— Gen. Ulysses Grant[31]

May 11: Planning for the grand assault

Despite his reverses on May 10, Grant had reason for optimism. The one bright spot in the day had been the partial success of Emory Upton's innovative assault. He recognized the failure stemming from the lack of support and reasoned that using the same tactics with an entire corps might be successful. Grant was then visited by General Wright, the new commander of the VI Corps, who suggested that the May 10 assaults had failed due to poor support, particularly from Mott's division. Wright told General Meade, "General, I don't want Mott's troops on my left; they are not a support. I would rather have no troops there."[32]

He assigned Hancock's II Corps to the assault on the Mule Shoe, while Burnside's IX Corps attacked the eastern end of the salient and Warren's V Corps and Wright's VI Corps applied pressure to Laurel Hill. On the morning of May 11, Grant sent a famous message to the Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton: "The result to this time is much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy as well as those of the enemy. ... I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."[33]

Although no major combat action occurred on May 11, small-scale skirmishing and artillery fire continued most of the day.

On the Confederate side, Lee received some intelligence reports that made him believe Grant was planning to withdraw toward Fredericksburg. If this came to pass, he wanted to follow up with an immediate attack. Concerned about the mobility of his artillery to support the potential attack, he ordered that the guns be withdrawn from Allegheny Johnson's division in the Mule Shoe to be ready for a movement to the right. He was completely unaware, of course, that this was exactly the place Grant intended to attack.[34]

Hancock's men began assembling near the Brown farm that evening, about 1200 yards north of the Mule Shoe, in a torrential rainstorm. The men and junior officers were poorly prepared for the assault, lacking basic information about the nature of the ground to be covered, the obstacles to expect, or how the Confederate line was configured. Confederates could hear their preparations through the storm, but could not decide whether an attack was imminent or the Union Army was preparing to withdraw. Allegheny Johnson became suspicious and requested to Ewell that his artillery be returned. Ewell agreed, but somehow the order did not reach the artillery units until 3:30 a.m. on May 12, 30 minutes before Hancock's assault was planned to start.[35]

May 12: The Bloody Angle

 
Grant's grand assault, May 12
 
Grant's grand assault, May 12 (additional map)
 
"The Battle of Spottsylvania" by Kurz & Allison
 
The Bloody Angle site

Hancock's assault was scheduled to commence at 4 a.m., but it was still pitch black and he delayed until 4:35, when the rain stopped and was replaced by a thick mist. The attack crashed through the Confederate works, virtually destroying Jones's Brigade, now commanded by Col. William Witcher. As Barlow's division swung around to the eastern tip of the Mule Shoe, it overran the brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. George "Maryland" Steuart, capturing both Steuart and his division commander, Allegheny Johnson. On Barlow's right, Brig. Gen. David B. Birney's division met stronger resistance from the brigades of Col. William Monaghan and Brig. Gen. James A. Walker (the Stonewall Brigade).[36]

The recent rain had ruined much of the Confederates' gunpowder, but they fought fiercely hand to hand. The Union troops continued to spread south along the western edge of the Mule Shoe. Despite the initial success at obliterating much of the Mule Shoe salient, there was a flaw in the Union plan—no one had considered how to capitalize on the breakthrough. The 15,000 infantrymen of Hancock's II Corps had crowded into a narrow front about a half mile wide and soon lost all unit cohesion, becoming little more than an armed mob.[36]

Following the initial shock, the Confederate leadership at all levels began to react well to the Union onslaught. John B. Gordon sent Brig. Gen. Robert D. Johnston's brigade of North Carolinians racing toward the gap where Steuart's men had collapsed. Although Johnston was wounded, his brigade halted the breakthrough in that sector. Gordon then sent forward the brigade of Col. John S. Hoffman and three regiments from Col. Clement A. Evans's brigade.[37]

General Lee was at the scene to witness these men moving forward and, similar to his action at the Widow Tapp farm in the Battle of the Wilderness, he attempted to move forward with the men, only to be stopped by Gordon and chants from the men, "Lee to the rear!" These brigades were able to secure most of the eastern leg of the Mule Shoe after about 30 minutes of fierce fighting. On the western leg, Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes coordinated the defense and the brigade of Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur suffered heavy casualties as they fought their way to regain the entrenchments lost by the Stonewall Brigade.[37]

Grant sent in reinforcements at about 6:30 a.m., ordering both Wright and Warren to move forward. The VI Corps division of Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Neill headed for the western leg of the Mule Shoe, at the point where it turned to the south. This sector of the line, where the heaviest fighting of the day would occur, became known as the "Bloody Angle." As Union brigade after brigade slammed into the line, William Mahone brought two of his brigades—under Brig. Gens. Abner M. Perrin and Nathaniel H. Harris—hurrying back from the extreme left flank to come to Ramseur's aid. Perrin was killed. By 8 a.m, heavy rain began to fall and both sides fought on the earthworks slippery with both water and blood. The South Carolinians of Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan's brigade joined the defense at the critical point. At 9:30 a.m., the VI Corps division under Brig. Gen. David A. Russell joined the attack. A section of Union artillery was able to advance close to the Confederate lines and cause numerous casualties. But Confederate artillery also had a severe effect on the advance of Russell's men.[38]

Warren's attack at Laurel Hill began on a small scale around 8:15 a.m. For some of his men, this was their fourth or fifth attack against the same objective and few fought with enthusiasm. After thirty minutes the attack petered out and Warren told Meade that he was not able to advance "at present." The irascible Meade ordered Warren to attack "at once at all hazards with your whole force, if necessary." Warren relayed the order to his division commanders: "Do it. Don't mind the consequences." The attack was yet another failure, adding to the high toll of casualties as the Union corps was held up by the fire of a single Confederate division.[39]

Not only was the V Corps unable to take its objective, it had also failed to draw Confederate troops from elsewhere in the line, as Grant had intended. Both Meade and Grant were upset with Warren's performance and Grant authorized Meade to relieve Warren, replacing him with Meade's chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys. Humphreys diplomatically coordinated the withdrawal of the V Corps units without relieving Warren, but Meade began to order Warren's subordinates to reinforce Wright, and no further attacks against Laurel Hill would be planned.[39]

Ambrose Burnside was also part of the grand assault, advancing against the eastern leg of the Mule Shoe before dawn. The attack by his division under Brig. Gen. Robert B. Potter against the sector just below Steuart's Brigade materially aided Hancock's breakthrough. The North Carolina brigade of Brig. Gen. James H. Lane fought back, reinforced by a Georgia brigade under Brig. Gen. Edward L. Thomas and the North Carolina brigade of Brig. Gen. Alfred M. Scales. The two sides became stalemated. At 2 p.m., Grant and Lee coincidentally ordered simultaneous attacks. Grant considered this sector to be lightly defended and hoped for a new breakthrough while Lee wanted to take out an artillery position that the IX Corps was using to harass his line. The advance by Union Brig. Gen. Orlando B. Willcox's division against a minor salient in the line was stopped as Lane's brigade moved forward and hit them in the flank.[40]

The appalling sight presented was harrowing in the extreme. Our own killed were scattered over a large space near the "angle," while in front of the captured breastworks the enemy's dead, vastly more numerous than our own, were piled upon each other in some places four layers deep, exhibiting every ghastly phase of mutilation. Below the mass of fast-decaying corpses, the convulsive twitching of limbs and the writhing of bodies showed that there were wounded men still alive and struggling to extricate themselves from the horrid entombment. Every relief possible was afforded, but in too many cases it came too late. The place was well named the "Bloody Angle."

Grant's aide Horace Porter, Campaigning with Grant[41]

"It was a bright May day. There was no fighting on any part of the line, and by permission I went. The pickets permitted me to pass, and I went over the breastworks to that portion of the field which had been occupied by Ramseur's Brigade. On my arrival in this angle, I could well see why the enemy had withdrawn their lines. The stench was almost unbearable. There was dead artillery horses in considerable numbers that had been killed on the 10th and in the early morning of the 12th. Along these lines of breastworks where the earth had been excavated to the depth of one or two feet and thrown over, making the breastworks, I found these trenches filled with water (for there had been much rain) and in this water lay the dead bodies of friend and foe commingled, in many instances one laying across the other, and in one or more instances I saw as many as three lying across one another. All over the field lay the dead of both armies by hundreds, many of them mangled by shells. Many of the bodies swollen out of all proportion, some with their guns yet grasped in their hands. Now and then one could be seen covered with a blanket, which had been placed over him by a comrade after he had fallen. These bodies were decaying. The water was red, almost black with blood. Offensive flies were everywhere. The trees, saplings and shrubs were torn and shattered beyond description; guns, some of them broken, bayonets, canteens and cartridge boxes were scattered about, and the whole scene was such that no pen can, or ever will describe it. I have seen many fields after severe conflicts, but no where have I seen anything half so ghastly. I returned to my company and said to old man Thomas Carroll, a private in the company, who was frying meat at a fire, You would have saved rations by going with me, for I will have no more appetite for a week."[This quote needs a citation]

Sgt. Cyrus Watson, Company K, 45th North Carolina Infantry

Throughout the afternoon, Confederate engineers scrambled to create a new defensive line 500 yards further south at the base of the Mule Shoe, while fighting at the Bloody Angle continued day and night with neither side achieving an advantage, until around 12:00 AM on May 13, the fighting finally stopped. At 4 A.M., the exhausted Confederate infantrymen were notified that the new line was ready and they withdrew from the original earthworks unit by unit.[42]

The combat they had endured for almost 24 hours was characterized by an intensity of firepower never previously seen in Civil War battles, as the entire landscape was flattened, all the foliage destroyed. An example of this can be found in the Smithsonian Museum of American History: a 22-inch stump of an oak tree at the Bloody Angle that was completely severed by rifle fire. There was a frenzy to the carnage on both sides. Fighting back and forth over the same corpse-strewn trenches for hours on end, using single shot muskets, the contending troops were periodically reduced to hand-to-hand combat reminiscent of battles fought during ancient times. Bodies piled up four and five high, and soldiers were forced to pause from time to time and throw corpses over the parapet since they formed an obstacle in the way of the fighting. Dead and wounded men were shot so many times that many of them simply fell apart into unrecognizable heaps of flesh.[42]

Surviving participants attempted to describe in letters, diaries, and memoirs the hellish intensity of that day, many noting that it was beyond words. Or, as one put it: "Nothing can describe the confusion, the savage, blood-curdling yells, the murderous faces, the awful curses, and the grisly horror of the melee." Some men claimed to have fired as many as 400 rounds that day. May 12 was the most intensive day of fighting during the battle, with Union casualties of about 9,000, Confederate 8,000; the Confederate loss includes about 3,000 prisoners captured in the Mule Shoe.[42]

May 13–16: Reorienting the lines

 
Reorienting the lines, May 13–16

Despite the significant casualties of May 12, Grant was undeterred. He telegraphed to the Army's chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, "The enemy are obstinate and seemed to have found the last ditch." He planned to reorient his lines and shift the center of potential action to the east of Spotsylvania, where he could renew the battle. He ordered the V and VI Corps to move behind the II Corps and take positions past the left flank of the IX Corps.[43]

On the night of May 13–14, the corps began a difficult march in heavy rain over treacherously muddy roads. Early on May 14, elements of the VI Corps occupied Myers Hill, which overlooked most of the Confederate line. Col. Emory Upton's brigade skirmished most of the day to retain possession of the high ground. Grant's command was too scattered and exhausted to undertake an assault against Spotsylvania Court House on May 14, despite Lee having left it practically undefended for most of the day. When he realized what Grant was up to, Lee shifted some units from Anderson's First Corps to that area. Grant notified Washington that, having endured five days of almost continuous rain, his army could not resume offensive operations until they had 24 hours of dry weather.[43]

May 17–18: Final Union attacks

 
Movements, May 17, final Union attacks, May 18

The weather finally cleared on May 17. Grant made an assumption that led him to his next attack plan: since Lee had observed Grant's buildup along the Fredericksburg Road, it was likely that he had countered the Union moves by shifting his forces away from the former Mule Shoe positions. He ordered the II Corps and the VI Corps to attack there at sunrise, May 18. They retraced their steps to the vicinity of the Landrum house the night of May 17. Hancock's II Corps would make the primary assault with support from Wright on their right and Burnside on their left.[44]

Unfortunately for the Union plan, the former Confederate works were still occupied by Ewell's Second Corps and they had used the intervening time to improve the earthworks and the obstacles laid out in front of them. And, unlike May 12, they were not caught by surprise, nor had they sent their artillery away. As Hancock's men advanced, they were caught up in an abatis and subjected to artillery fire so devastating that infantry rifle fire was not necessary to repulse the attack. Wright and Burnside had no better luck.[45]

May 19: Harris Farm

Main article: Harris Farm Engagement
Confederate dead from the Harris farm engagement
  •  

    This unidentified, dead Confederate soldier of Ewell's Corps was killed during their attack at Alsop's farm. He was wounded in both the right knee and left shoulder, and probably died from loss of blood.

  •  

    Confederate killed in Ewell's attack May 19, 1864, on the Alsop farm. This photograph was taken just to the right and in front of the preceding photograph.

  •  

    Confederate dead of General Ewell's Corps who attacked the Union lines on May 19 lined up for burial at the Alsop Farm.

Grant reacted to this final repulse by deciding to abandon this general area as a battlefield. He ordered Hancock's II Corps to march to the railroad line between Fredericksburg and Richmond, and then turn south. With luck, Lee might take the bait and follow, seeking to overwhelm and destroy the isolated corps. In that case, Grant would chase Lee with his remaining corps and strike him before the Confederates could entrench again.[46]

Lee was engaged in his own planning, however. Before Hancock began to move, Lee ordered Ewell to conduct a reconnaissance in force to locate the northern flank of the Union army. Ewell took the majority of his Second Corps divisions under Rodes and Gordon up the Brock Road, and swung widely to the north and east to the Harris farm. There they encountered several units of Union heavy artillery soldiers who had recently been converted to infantry duty.[47]

Fighting commenced against these relatively green troops, who were soon reinforced by the 1st Maryland Regiment and then David Birney's infantry division. The fighting lasted until about 9 p.m. and Lee, concerned that Ewell was risking a general engagement while separated from the main army, recalled his men. A number of them lost their way in the dark and were captured. The Confederates had lost over 900 men on a pointless skirmish that could have been assigned to a small cavalry detachment.[47]

Aftermath

Grant's intended advance of Hancock's corps was delayed by the Harris farm engagement, so the troops did not begin their movement south until the night of May 20–21. Lee did not fall into Grant's trap of attacking Hancock, but traveled on a parallel path to the North Anna River. The Overland Campaign continued as Grant attempted several more times to engage Lee, found himself stymied by strong defensive positions, and moved again around Lee's flank in the direction of Richmond. Major engagements occurred at the Battle of North Anna and the Battle of Cold Harbor, after which Grant crossed the James River to attack Petersburg. The armies then faced each other for nine months in the Siege of Petersburg.[48]

Casualties

With almost 32,000 total casualties, Spotsylvania Court House was the costliest battle of the Overland Campaign and one of the top five battles of the Civil War.[49] As at the Battle of the Wilderness, Lee's tactics had inflicted severe casualties on Grant's army. This time, the toll was over 18,000 men, of whom close to 3,000 were killed.[6] In two weeks of fighting since the start of the Wilderness, Grant had lost about 36,000 men, and another 20,000 went home when their enlistments ended. Grant on May 19 had only 56,124 effectives. Lee did not come out of these battles unscathed. At Spotsylvania, he lost another 10–13,000 men, about 23% of his army (versus 18% of Grant's). While the Union had many men available to reinforce Grant, the Confederates were forced to pull men away from other fronts to reinforce Lee. Making matters worse, the army was taking heavy losses among its veteran units and its best officers.[50]

Estimates vary as to the casualties at Spotsylvania Court House. The following table summarizes a variety of sources:

Casualty Estimates for the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
Source Union Confederate
Killed Wounded Captured/
Missing 		Total Killed Wounded Captured/
Missing 		Total
National Park Service[51]       18,000       12,000
Bonekemper, Victor, Not a Butcher[52] 2,725 13,416 2,258 18,399 1,467 6,235 5,719 13,421
Eicher, Longest Night[53]       17,500       10,000
Esposito, West Point Atlas[54]       17–18,000       9–10,000
Fox, Regimental Losses[55] 2,725 13,416 2,258 18,399        
Kennedy, Civil War Battlefield Guide[56]       18,000       9–10,000
Salmon, Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide[57]       18,000       12,000
Trudeau, Bloody Roads South[58] 2,725 13,416 2,258 18,399 6,519 5,543 12,062
Young, Lee's Army[59]         1,515 5,414 5,758 12,687

Five general officers were killed or mortally wounded during the battle: Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick and Brig. Gens. James C. Rice and Thomas G. Stevenson; and Confederate Brig. Gen. Junius Daniel and Abner M. Perrin.[60] Sedgwick's death is notable in that he was the highest-ranking officer by seniority to die in the war. He also famously said the ironic words "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance" shortly before his death.[61] Among the wounded and captured were Confederate Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson and Brig. Gens. John R. Cooke, Harry T. Hays, Samuel McGowan, Stephen D. Ramseur, Cullen A. Battle, James A. Walker, Robert D. Johnston, George H. Steuart and Henry H. Walker.

Medal of Honor

Forty-three men received the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, including Frederick Alber, George W. Harris, John C. Robinson, Archibald Freeman, and Charles H. Tracy.[62]

Battlefield preservation

Portions of the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield are now preserved as part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. In addition, the American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved more than 151 acres (0.61 km2) of the battlefield in five different transactions from 1989 to 2023.[63]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Organization of the forces operating against Richmond, on the morning of May 5, 1864.[2]
  2. ^ This Army Corps was under direct orders of Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant until May 24, 1864, when it was assigned to the Army of the Potomac.[3]
  3. ^ This Army Corps was under direct orders of Grant until May 24, 1864, when it was assigned to the Army of the Potomac.[3]
  4. ^ Return of Casualties in the Union forces, Battle of Spotsylvania Court-House, May 8–21, 1864 (Recapitulation)[5]

Notes

  1. ^ "NPS".
  2. ^ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 37/1, pp. 106–116.
  3. ^ a b U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 37/1, p. 113.
  4. ^ a b c 100,000 Union, 52,000 Confederate according to the NPS; Salmon, p. 279. Eicher, p. 679, cites 110,000 Union engaged, "more than 50,000" Confederate. Kennedy, p. 286, estimates "combat strength" of 111,000 Union, 63,000 Confederate.
  5. ^ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 37/1, p. 149.
  6. ^ a b c Young, p. 236. Casualty estimates from various authors are listed in the Casualties section.
  7. ^ Salmon, p. 251; Grimsley, p. 3.
  8. ^ Hattaway & Jones, p. 525; Trudeau, pp. 29–30.
  9. ^ Eicher, pp. 661–62; Kennedy, p. 282.
  10. ^ a b Salmon, p. 253; Kennedy, pp. 280–82.
  11. ^ Welcher, pp. 957–58, 974–77; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 330–39.
  12. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 340–46.
  13. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, p. 46; Jaynes, p. 82.
  14. ^ a b Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 30–42; Welcher, pp. 959–61; Salmon, p. 271.
  15. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 22–23; Grimsley, p. 62; Salmon, pp. 270–71.
  16. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 45–53; Welcher, p. 960; Salmon, p. 271.
  17. ^ Jaynes, pp. 86–87; Eicher, pp. 672–73; Grimsley, pp. 64–67; Welcher, pp. 960.
  18. ^ Kennedy, pp. 286–87; Eicher, pp. 673–74; Grimsley, pp. 64, 68; Welcher, p. 962.
  19. ^ Welcher, p. 961; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 74–76, 78–81.
  20. ^ Welcher, pp. 960–61; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 71–74, 86.
  21. ^ Humphreys, pp. 74–75.
  22. ^ Trudeau, pp. 143–44; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 89–91; Welcher, pp. 963–64; Salmon, p. 272; Grimsley, p. 70.
  23. ^ Salmon, pp. 272–74; Eicher, p. 675; Grimsley, p. 71; Welcher, p. 963; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 93–95.
  24. ^ Cullen, p. 31; Eicher, p. 675; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 103–14; Welcher, p. 963.
  25. ^ Grimsley, pp. 72–73; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 113–14; Salmon, p. 274.
  26. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 131–32; Grimsley, p. 75; Eicher, p. 675; Welcher, p. 965.
  27. ^ Eicher, p. 675; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 135–42; Grimsley, p. 73; Welcher, p. 965.
  28. ^ Grimsley, pp. 75–76; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 142–49; Salmon, p. 274.
  29. ^ Grimsley, p. 76; Welcher, p. 966; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 165–68.
  30. ^ a b c d Grimsley, pp. 76–80; Welcher, p. 966; Kennedy, p. 285; Salmon, pp. 274–75; Eicher, p. 676; Trudeau, p. 162; Atkinson, p. 265.
  31. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 183–85; Welcher, p. 964; Grant, Ch. LII, p. 13.
  32. ^ "The Spotsylvania Campaign", Gary W. Gallagher, p. 45"
  33. ^ Simpson, pp. 307–308; Kennedy, p. 285; Cullen, p. 31; Grimsley, pp. 80, 82; Welcher, p. 967.
  34. ^ Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House pp. 219–21, 225–26; Salmon, p. 275; Jaynes, pp. 93–94; Eicher, p. 676.
  35. ^ Grimsley, pp. 83–84; Welcher, p. 967; Salmon, p. 275.
  36. ^ a b Kennedy, p. 285; Jaynes, p. 94; Salmon, p. 276; Cullen, p. 32; Grimsley, pp. 84–85.
  37. ^ a b Jaynes, pp. 98–100; Welcher, p. 968; Salmon, p. 276; Cullen, p. 32; Eicher, p. 678; Grimsley, pp. 86–87.
  38. ^ Salmon, p. 277; Grimsley, p. 87; Welcher, p. 969.
  39. ^ a b Welcher, p. 970; Grimsley, pp. 87–88; Salmon, p. 277; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 282–90.
  40. ^ Jaynes, pp. 103–104; Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 244–46, 295–303; Welcher, p. 970.
  41. ^ Porter, p. 111.
  42. ^ a b c Rhea, Spotsylvania Court House, pp. 293, 311–12; Kennedy, p. 285; Salmon, pp. 277–78; Cullen, p. 32; Eicher, p. 678; Welcher, p. 970; Smithsonian Spotsylvania Stump.
  43. ^ a b Rhea, To the North Anna River, pp. 31–33, 65–94; Jaynes, p. 125; Cullen, pp. 33–35; Welcher, p. 971.
  44. ^ Rhea, To the North Anna River, pp. 127–31; Welcher p. 973.
  45. ^ Eicher, p. 679; Welcher, p. 973; Jaynes, p. 125; Rhea, To the North Anna River, pp. 131–53.
  46. ^ Rhea, To the North Anna River, pp. 156–57; Eicher, p. 679; Grimsley, pp. 130–31.
  47. ^ a b Jaynes, pp. 125–30; Kennedy, pp. 285–86; Salmon, pp. 278–79; Grimsley, pp. 131–33; Welcher, pp. 973–74.
  48. ^ Salmon, pp. 255–59; Grimsley, p. 134.
  49. ^ See the list of major battles in List of American Civil War battles#Major land battles.
  50. ^ Salmon, p. 279; Jaynes, p. 130.
  51. ^ (Union offensive continued) NPS
  52. ^ Bonekemper, pp. 308–309.
  53. ^ Eicher, p. 679.
  54. ^ Esposito, text for map 133.
  55. ^ Fox, Chapter XIV.
  56. ^ Kennedy, p. 286.
  57. ^ Salmon, p. 279.
  58. ^ Trudeau, p. 213.
  59. ^ Young, p. 236.
  60. ^ Smith, p. 225.
  61. ^ Foote, p. 203
  62. ^ See List of Medal of Honor recipients for the complete list.
  63. ^ "Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield". American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved May 12, 2023.

References

  • Bonekemper, Edward H., III. A Victor, Not a Butcher: Ulysses S. Grant's Overlooked Military Genius. Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004. ISBN 0-89526-062-X.
  • Cullen, Joseph P. "Battle of Spotsylvania." In Battle Chronicles of the Civil War: 1864, edited by James M. McPherson. Connecticut: Grey Castle Press, 1989. ISBN 1-55905-027-6. First published in 1989 by McMillan.
  • Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
  • Esposito, Vincent J. West Point Atlas of American Wars. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959. OCLC 5890637. The collection of maps (without explanatory text) is available online at the West Point website.
  • Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative. vol. 3, Red River to Appomattox. New York: Random House, 1974. ISBN 0-394-74913-8.
  • Fox, William F. Regimental Losses in the American Civil War. Dayton, OH: Morningside Press, 1993. ISBN 0-685-72194-9. First published 1898 in Washington, DC.
  • Grimsley, Mark. And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May–June 1864. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8032-2162-2.
  • Hattaway, Herman, and Archer Jones. How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. ISBN 0-252-00918-5.
  • Humphreys, Andrew A. The Virginia Campaign of '64 and '65: The Army of The Potomac and the Army of The James. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1883. OCLC 479956.
  • Jaynes, Gregory, and the Editors of Time-Life Books. The Killing Ground: Wilderness to Cold Harbor. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1986. ISBN 0-8094-4768-1.
  • Kennedy, Frances H., ed. The Civil War Battlefield Guide[permanent dead link]. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998. ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
  • McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-503863-0.
  • Rhea, Gordon C. The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7–12, 1864. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8071-2136-3.
  • Rhea, Gordon C. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8071-2535-0.
  • Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8117-2868-4.
  • Simpson, Brooks D. Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity, 1822–1865. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. ISBN 0-395-65994-9.
  • Smith, Derek. The Gallant Dead: Union & Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005. ISBN 0-8117-0132-8.
  • Trudeau, Noah Andre. Bloody Roads South: The Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May–June 1864. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1989. ISBN 978-0-316-85326-2.
  • Welcher, Frank J. The Union Army, 1861–1865 Organization and Operations. Vol. 1, The Eastern Theater. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-253-36453-1.
  • Young, Alfred C., III. Lee's Army during the Overland Campaign: A Numerical Study. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-8071-5172-3.

Memoirs and primary sources

  • Atkinson, Charles Francis. Grant's Campaigns of 1864 and 1865: The Wilderness and Cold Harbor (May 3 – June 3, 1864). The Pall Mall military series. London: H. Rees, 1908. OCLC 2698769.
  • Badeau, Adam. Military History of Ulysses S. Grant (Vol. III). New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1881.
  • Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. 2 vols. Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885–86. ISBN 0-914427-67-9.
  • Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. ISBN 0-306-80464-6. First published in 1896 by J. B. Lippincott and Co.
  • Porter, Horace. Campaigning with Grant. New York: Century Co., 1897. OCLC 913186.
  • U.S. War Department (1891). Operations in Northern West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. May 1 – August 3, 1864 – Reports, Union and Confederate Correspondence, etc. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXXVII-XLIX-I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. hdl:2027/coo.31924077728289. OCLC 857196196.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Further reading

  • Alexander, Edward P. Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander. Edited by Gary W. Gallagher. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8078-4722-4.
  • Bearss, Edwin C. Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2006. ISBN 0-7922-7568-3.
  • Carmichael, Peter S., ed. Audacity Personified: The Generalship of Robert E. Lee. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8071-2929-1.
  • Catton, Bruce. A Stillness at Appomattox. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1953. ISBN 0-385-04451-8.
  • Frassanito, William A. Grant and Lee: The Virginia Campaigns 1864–1865. New York: Scribner, 1983. ISBN 0-684-17873-7.
  • Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The Wilderness Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8078-2334-1.
  • Hogan, David W. Jr. The Overland Campaign April 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History, 2014. ISBN 9780160925177.
  • King, Curtis S., William G. Robertson, and Steven E. Clay. Staff Ride Handbook for the Overland Campaign, Virginia, 4 May to 15 June 1864: A Study on Operational-Level Command May 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. (PDF document November 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine). Fort Leavenworth, Kan.: Combat Studies Institute Press, 2006. OCLC 62535944.
  • Lyman, Theodore. With Grant and Meade: From the Wilderness to Appomattox. Edited by George R. Agassiz. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8032-7935-3.
  • Mackowski, Chris, and Kristopher D. White. A Season of Slaughter: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 8–21, 1864. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2013. ISBN 978-1-61121-148-1.
  • Matter, William D. If It Takes All Summer: The Battle of Spotsylvania. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8078-1781-0.
  • Miller, Francis Trevelyan, Robert S. Lanier, and James Verner Scaife, eds. The Photographic History of the Civil War. 10 vols. New York: Review of Reviews Co., 1911. ISBN 0-7835-5726-4.
  • Power, J. Tracy. Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8078-2392-9.
  • Rhea, Gordon C. The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8071-1873-7.
  • Rhea, Gordon C. In the Footsteps of Grant and Lee: The Wilderness Through Cold Harbor. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8071-3269-2.
  • Smith, Jean Edward. Grant. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84927-5.
  • Wert, Jeffry D. The Sword of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-2506-6.

External links

 
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May 21, 2023
battle, spotsylvania, court, house, mule, shoe, redirects, here, type, shoe, mule, shoe, part, american, civil, warbattle, spottsylvania, thure, thulstrupdatemay, 1864locationspotsylvania, county, virginia38, 2242, 5981, 2242, 5981resultinconclusive, belligere. Mule Shoe redirects here For the type of shoe see Mule shoe Battle of Spotsylvania Court HousePart of the American Civil WarBattle of Spottsylvania Thure de ThulstrupDateMay 9 21 1864LocationSpotsylvania County Virginia38 13 27 N 77 35 53 W 38 2242 N 77 5981 W 38 2242 77 5981ResultInconclusive 1 BelligerentsUnited StatesConfederate StatesCommanders and leadersUlysses S Grant George MeadeRobert E LeeUnits involvedArmy of the Potomac note 1 IX Corps note 2 IX Corps note 3 Army of Northern VirginiaStrength108 000 115 400 4 52 000 63 000 4 Casualties and lossesTotal 18 399 2 725 killed 13 416 wounded 2 258 captured or missing note 4 6 Total 12 687 1 515 killed 5 414 wounded 5 758 captured or missing 6 The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania or the 19th century spelling Spottsylvania was the second major battle in Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant and Maj Gen George G Meade s 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness Grant s army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E Lee s army and moved to the southeast attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions Elements of Lee s army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of the Spotsylvania Court House in Spotsylvania County Virginia and began entrenching Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21 1864 as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line In the end the battle was tactically inconclusive but both sides declared victory The Confederacy declared victory because they were able to hold their defenses The United States declared victory because the Federal offensive continued and Lee s army suffered losses that could not be replaced With almost 32 000 casualties on both sides Spotsylvania was the costliest battle of the campaign On May 8 Union Maj Gens Gouverneur K Warren and John Sedgwick unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge the Confederates under Maj Gen Richard H Anderson from Laurel Hill a position that was blocking them from Spotsylvania Court House On May 10 Grant ordered attacks across the Confederate line of earthworks which by now extended over 4 miles 6 4 km including a prominent salient known as the Mule Shoe Although the Union troops failed again at Laurel Hill an innovative assault attempt by Col Emory Upton against the Mule Shoe showed promise Grant used Upton s assault technique on a much larger scale on May 12 when he ordered the 15 000 men of Maj Gen Winfield Scott Hancock s corps to assault the Mule Shoe Hancock was initially successful but the Confederate leadership rallied and repulsed his incursion Attacks by Maj Gen Horatio Wright on the western edge of the Mule Shoe which became known as the Bloody Angle involved almost 24 hours of desperate hand to hand fighting some of the most intense of the Civil War Supporting attacks by Warren and by Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside were unsuccessful Grant repositioned his lines in another attempt to engage Lee under more favorable conditions and launched a final attack by Hancock on May 18 which made no progress A reconnaissance in force by Confederate Lt Gen Richard S Ewell at Harris farm on May 19 was a costly and pointless failure On May 21 Grant disengaged from the Confederate Army and started southeast on another maneuver to turn Lee s right flank as the Overland Campaign continued and led to the Battle of North Anna Contents 1 Background 1 1 Military situation 2 Opposing forces 2 1 Union 2 2 Confederate 3 Initial movements 3 1 May 7 The race to Spotsylvania 4 Battle 4 1 May 8 Laurel Hill and cavalry troubles 4 2 May 9 Fortifications Sedgwick and Hancock 4 3 May 10 Grant attacks 4 4 May 11 Planning for the grand assault 4 5 May 12 The Bloody Angle 4 6 May 13 16 Reorienting the lines 4 7 May 17 18 Final Union attacks 4 8 May 19 Harris Farm 5 Aftermath 6 Casualties 7 Medal of Honor 8 Battlefield preservation 9 See also 10 Footnotes 11 Notes 12 References 12 1 Memoirs and primary sources 13 Further reading 14 External linksBackground EditMilitary situation Edit Main article Overland Campaign Further information Battle of the Wilderness Eastern Theater of the American Civil War and American Civil War Map of Southeastern Virginia Union marches and operations in Central Virginia 1864 65 Spotsylvania Courthouse 1864 In March 1864 Grant was summoned from the Western Theater promoted to lieutenant general and given command of all Union armies He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac although Maj Gen George G Meade remained the actual commander of that army He left Maj Gen William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the western armies Grant and President Abraham Lincoln devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions including attacks against Lee near Richmond Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley West Virginia Georgia and Mobile Alabama This was the first time the Union armies would have a coordinated offensive strategy across a number of theaters 7 Grant s campaign objective was not the Confederate capital of Richmond but the destruction of Lee s army Lincoln had long advocated this strategy for his generals recognizing that the city would certainly fall after the loss of its principal defensive army Grant ordered Meade Wherever Lee goes there you will go also 8 Although he hoped for a quick decisive battle Grant was prepared to fight a war of attrition Both Union and Confederate casualties could be high but the Union had far greater resources to replace lost soldiers and equipment 9 On May 5 after Grant s army crossed the Rapidan and entered the Wilderness of Spotsylvania it was attacked by Confederate Gen Robert E Lee s Army of Northern Virginia Although Lee was outnumbered about 60 000 to 100 000 his men fought fiercely and the dense foliage provided a terrain advantage After two days of fighting and almost 29 000 casualties the results were inconclusive and neither army was able to obtain an advantage 10 Lee had stopped Grant but had not turned him back and Grant had not destroyed Lee s army Under similar circumstances previous Union commanders had chosen to withdraw behind the Rappahannock but Grant instead ordered Meade to move around Lee s right flank and seize the important crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House to the southeast hoping that by interposing his army between Lee and Richmond he could lure the Confederates into another battle on a more favorable field 10 Opposing forces EditUnion Edit Further information Union order of battle Principal Union commanders Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant Union Army Maj Gen George G Meade Army of the Potomac Maj Gen Winfield S Hancock II Corps Maj Gen Gouverneur K Warren V Corps Maj Gen John Sedgwick VI Corps Maj Gen Ambrose E Burnside IX Corps Maj Gen Philip Sheridan Cavalry CorpsAs of May 7 Grant s Union forces totaled approximately 100 000 men 4 They consisted of the Army of the Potomac under Maj Gen George G Meade and theIX Corps until May 24 formally part of the Army of the Ohio reporting directly to Grant not Meade The five corps were 11 II Corps under Maj Gen Winfield S Hancock including the divisions of Maj Gen David B Birney and Brig Gens Francis C Barlow John Gibbon and Gershom Mott Mott s 4th Division was discontinued on May 13 and its brigades were distributed to other divisions in the corps On May 18 a new 4th Division was constituted with reinforcements of heavy artillery regiments from Washington D C under the command of Brig Gen Robert O Tyler known informally as Tyler s Division of Heavy Artillery V Corps under Maj Gen Gouverneur K Warren including the divisions of Brig Gens Charles Griffin John C Robinson Samuel W Crawford and Lysander Cutler Following the wounding of Robinson on May 8 his 2nd Division was temporarily disbanded and the brigades distributed to other divisions in the corps VI Corps under Maj Gen John Sedgwick including the divisions of Brig Gens Horatio G Wright Thomas H Neill and James B Ricketts Sedgwick was killed on May 9 and replaced by Wright Wright s 1st Division was then commanded by Brig Gen David A Russell IX Corps under Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside including the divisions of Brig Gens Thomas G Stevenson Robert B Potter Orlando B Willcox and Edward Ferrero Stevenson was killed on May 10 and was replaced in command of the 1st Division by Col Daniel Leasure then Maj Gen Thomas L Crittenden Cavalry Corps under Maj Gen Philip H Sheridan including the divisions of Brig Gens Alfred T A Torbert David McM Gregg and James H Wilson During the period of May 9 24 Sheridan s Cavalry Corps was absent on detached duty and took no further part in the operations around Spotsylvania Court House Confederate Edit Further information Confederate order of battle Confederate corps commanders Gen Robert E Lee Army of Northern Virginia Maj Gen Richard H Anderson First Corps Lt Gen Richard S Ewell Second Corps Lt Gen A P Hill Third Corps Maj Gen J E B Stuart Cavalry CorpsLee s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia comprised about 52 000 men and was organized into four corps 12 First Corps under Maj Gen Richard H Anderson including the divisions of Maj Gen Charles W Field and Brig Gen Joseph B Kershaw Second Corps under Lt Gen Richard S Ewell including the divisions of Maj Gens Jubal A Early Edward Allegheny Johnson and Robert E Rodes On May 8 Jubal Early assumed temporary command of the Third Corps his replacement in command of Early s Division was Brig Gen John B Gordon Third Corps under Lt Gen A P Hill including the divisions of Maj Gens Henry Heth and Cadmus M Wilcox and Brig Gen William Mahone On May 8 Hill became ill and was replaced temporarily in corps command by Jubal Early Cavalry Corps under Maj Gen J E B Stuart including the divisions of Maj Gens Wade Hampton Fitzhugh Lee and W H F Rooney Lee Initial movements EditMay 7 The race to Spotsylvania Edit Movements on May 7 1864 cavalry actions inset Confederate Union See also Battle of Todd s Tavern Grant s orders to Meade were to march the night of May 7 8 over two routes reaching Spotsylvania Court House 10 miles 16 km to the southeast with at least one corps the morning of May 8 Warren s V Corps would take the Brock Road followed by Hancock s II Corps Sedgwick s VI Corps would head toward Chancellorsville on the Orange Plank Road and then turn south followed by Burnside s IX Corps 13 Meade began by ordering Sheridan s Cavalry Corps to clear the Brock Road for the infantry but the troopers soon bogged down The brigade of Col J Irvin Gregg David Gregg s division was stopped at Corbin s Bridge on the Catharpin Road by cavalrymen under Wade Hampton and Rooney Lee Gregg s men withdrew to a field west of Todd s Tavern constructed rudimentary earthworks and repulsed a series of Confederate attacks 14 Wesley Merritt s Union division encountered Fitzhugh Lee s cavalry behind barricades on the Brock Road about a mile south of Todd s Tavern Sharp fighting resulted in the late afternoon and by nightfall Sheridan decided against continuing in the dark and ordered his men to bivouac at Todd s Tavern The first Union infantry began moving at 8 p m and their advance was plagued by traffic jams When Meade reached Todd s Tavern after midnight he was infuriated to see Sheridan s sleeping cavalrymen and ordered them to resume their road clearing operation 14 Lee was unsure of Grant s plan Reconnaissance told him that the river crossing equipment had been removed from Germanna Ford so Grant would not be withdrawing as his predecessors had The Union Army could either be heading east to Fredericksburg or moving south In either event the crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House would play an important role so Lee ordered his artillery chief Brig Gen William N Pendleton to begin constructing a road through the woods from the Confederate position at the Wilderness due south to the Catharpin Road He also ordered Maj Gen Richard H Anderson who had replaced Lt Gen James Longstreet in command of the First Corps following that officer s wounding on May 6 to move out along that road Lee did not indicate any need for haste but Anderson and his men desired to leave the stench of burning forest and dead bodies in the Wilderness so they began marching about 10 p m 15 Battle EditMay 8 Laurel Hill and cavalry troubles Edit Attacks on the Laurel Hill line May 8 At dawn on May 8 Wesley Merritt s cavalrymen attacked Fitzhugh Lee s barricades on the Brock Road again but were repulsed Meade ordered Warren s V Corps to break through with infantry and the division of Brig Gen John C Robinson led the way in overwhelming the cavalry obstacle Fitzhugh Lee s horse artillery made a gallant stand around the Alsop farm and delayed the Union advance while the cavalrymen staked out a defensive line on a low ridge just south of the Spindle farm clearing which they dubbed Laurel Hill Lee sent for help to Anderson s infantry which by now had reached the Block House Bridge on the Po River and were eating breakfast Anderson immediately dispatched two infantry brigades and an artillery battalion which arrived at Laurel Hill just as Warren s men pulled up within 100 yards to the north 16 Assuming that only cavalry blocked his path Warren ordered an immediate attack against Laurel Hill Multiple attacks by the divisions of the V Corps were repulsed with heavy casualties and by noon the Union troops began building earthworks on the northern end of the Spindle clearing Meanwhile the Union cavalry division under James H Wilson had reached and occupied the town of Spotsylvania Court House at 8 a m Wilson sent a brigade under Col John B McIntosh up the Brock Road with the intention of striking the Confederate position at Laurel Hill from the rear J E B Stuart had only a single cavalry regiment available to send out against McIntosh but Anderson s infantry division under Joseph B Kershaw was marching in that direction With orders from Sheridan to withdraw and with Confederate infantry in hot pursuit Wilson withdrew up the Fredericksburg Road 17 Generals Meade and Sheridan had quarreled about the cavalry s performance throughout the campaign and this incident with Wilson compounding the frustration of the uncleared Brock Road brought Meade s notorious temper to a boil After a heated exchange laced with expletives on both sides Sheridan told Meade that he could whip Stuart if Meade let him Meade reported the conversation to Grant who replied Well he generally knows what he is talking about Let him start right out and do it Meade deferred to Grant s judgment and issued orders to Sheridan to proceed against the enemy s cavalry Sheridan s entire command of 10 000 cavalrymen departed the following day They engaged with and mortally wounded Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern on May 11 threatened the outskirts of Richmond refitted near the James River and did not return to the army until May 24 Grant and Meade were left without cavalry resources during the critical days of the battle to come 18 While Warren was unsuccessfully attacking Laurel Hill the morning of May 8 Hancock s II Corps had reached Todd s Tavern and erected defenses to the west on the Catharpin Road protecting the rear of the army Jubal Early who had just replaced A P Hill as Third Corps commander because of his illness decided to test the defenses and sent the division of William Mahone and some cavalry After a short fight Hancock s division under Francis C Barlow withdrew back to Todd s Tavern and Early decided not to pursue 19 In the afternoon Sedgwick s VI Corps arrived near Laurel Hill and extended Warren s line to the east By 7 p m both corps began a coordinated assault but were repulsed by heavy fire They attempted to move around Anderson s right flank but were surprised to find that divisions from Ewell s Second Corps had arrived in that sector to repulse them again Meade had not had a good day He lost the race to Spotsylvania he was dissatisfied with his cavalry he judged Sedgwick to be constitutionally slow and he was most disappointed that Warren had been unsuccessful at Laurel Hill telling him that he had lost his nerve 20 May 9 Fortifications Sedgwick and Hancock Edit Positions and movements on the Union flanks May 9 With such entrenchments as these having artillery throughout with flank fire along the lines wherever practicable and with the rifled musket then in use which were effective at three hundred yards as the smooth bore muskets at sixty yards the strength of an army sustaining attack was more than quadrupled provided they had force to man the entrenchments well Maj Gen Andrew A Humphreys chief of staff to General Meade 21 Over the night of May 8 9 the Confederates were busy erecting a series of earthworks more than four miles 6 4 km long starting at the Po River encompassing the Laurel Hill line crossing the Brock Road jutting out in a horseshoe shape and then extending south past the courthouse intersection The earthworks were reinforced with timber and guarded by artillery placed to allow enfilade fire on any attacking force There was only one potential weakness in Lee s line the exposed salient known as the Mule Shoe extending more than a mile 1 6 km in front of the main trench line Although Lee s engineers were aware of this problem they extended the line to incorporate some minor high ground to Anderson s right knowing that they would be at a disadvantage if the Union occupied it 22 The Union soldiers were also busy building their own entrenchments At about 9 a m Maj Gen John Sedgwick was inspecting his VI Corps line when he was shot through the head by a Confederate sharpshooter s bullet dying instantly having just made the celebrated remark they couldn t hit an elephant at this distance Sedgwick was one of the most beloved generals in the Union Army and his death was a hard blow to his men and colleagues Meade ordered Maj Gen Horatio G Wright the senior division commander to replace Sedgwick 23 John Sedgwick On the Union left Burnside s IX Corps approached on the Fredericksburg Road from Alrich led by Brig Gen Orlando B Willcox s division but they were delayed by Fitzhugh Lee s cavalrymen When they reached close enough to observe that the Confederates were at Spotsylvania Court House Burnside became concerned that he was too far in advance of Meade s force and ordered his men to begin entrenching At this same time Hancock was reporting from the right flank that Early s men had pulled back from his front Grant absorbed these two observations and concluded that the Confederates were shifting their men from west to east opening an opportunity for an attack He ordered Hancock to cross the Po and attack the Confederates left flank driving them back toward Burnside s position near the Ni River while the rest of his command in the center watched for an opening to attack there as well 24 Hancock s II Corps advanced across the Po but he became nervous that the Confederates had the Block House Bridge heavily defended and decided to delay his attack until the morning This error was fatal to Grant s plan That night Lee moved two divisions of Jubal Early s corps from Spotsylvania Court House into position against Hancock Mahone s division was placed directly in Hancock s path of advance while Henry Heth s division swung around to approach Hancock s right flank 25 May 10 Grant attacks Edit Grant attacks May 10 Grant attacks May 10 additional map As morning dawned Grant realized his assumptions about Lee s dispositions were wrong and that Hancock was facing a significant threat on his front However this opened a new opportunity He guessed incorrectly that the troops facing Hancock had been withdrawn from Laurel Hill He ordered Hancock to withdraw north of the Po leaving a single division in place to occupy the Confederates in that sector while the rest of his army was to attack at 5 p m across the entire Confederate line which would identify and exploit any potential weak spot Hancock left Francis C Barlow s division behind hasty earthworks along Shady Grove Church Road and withdrew the remainder of his men north of the Po 26 At 2 p m Jubal Early decided to attack Barlow with Henry Heth s division Barlow s men were soon in a difficult position as Confederate artillery lobbed in shells that set the surrounding woods on fire They were able to retreat through a mile long corridor and crossed the Po without being captured destroying the bridges behind them Grant s tactics were criticized for this so called Battle of the Po Since he had ordered Hancock to move late in the day on May 9 he allowed Robert E Lee time to react and nullify the movement on May 10 27 Hancock was needed in the Po sector to help Barlow s withdrawal which meant that Warren was left in charge of the Laurel Hill sector Immediately upon Hancock s departure Warren requested permission from Meade to attack Laurel Hill immediately uncoordinated with the rest of Grant s attack scheduled for 5 p m Warren was embarrassed by his performance the previous day and wanted to restore his reputation for aggressiveness For reasons unexplained Meade acceded to the request At 4 00 PM elements of the II and V Corps assaulted the Confederate trenches at Laurel Hill which required them to move through a grove of gnarled splintered dead pine trees The attacks were beaten off with severe losses 28 Grant was thus forced to postpone his 5 p m coordinated assault until Warren could get his troops reformed 29 Upton s brigade attacks At around 6 p m the VI Corps began its attack with an unusual formation Col Emory Upton led a group of 12 hand picked regiments about 5 000 men in four battle lines against an identified weak point on the west side of the Mule Shoe called Doles s Salient named after Brig Gen George P Doles s Georgian troops who were manning that sector of the line The plan was for Upton s men to rush across the open field without pausing to fire and reload reaching the earthworks before the Confederates could fire more than a couple of shots 30 Once an initial breakthrough was made by the leading element the following lines would widen the breach and spread out on each side Gershom Mott s division was designated to support the breakthrough as well Mott s division 4th Division II Corps was the weakest in the army Once Joe Hooker s command it had been transferred from the defunct III Corps two months earlier The morale of the enlisted men suffered from this and several of its regiments enlistment terms were about to expire in a few weeks making the men extremely gun shy They had been badly shot up and routed in the Wilderness and as they headed towards the Confederate entrenchments a burst of artillery fire caused the men to panic and flee from the field never getting closer than a quarter of a mile to the enemy position 30 Three days later Mott s division was dissolved and Mott himself demoted to command of a brigade comprising most of the remaining troops from the division Upton s men encountered stiff Confederate resistance but drove all the way to the parapets where after some brief fierce hand to hand action their superior numbers carried the day and soon the Confederate defenders were driven from their trenches 30 Generals Lee and Ewell were quick to organize a vigorous counterattack with brigades from all sectors of the Mule Shoe and no Union supporting units arrived Mott had already been repulsed unbeknownst to Upton and units from Warren s V Corps were too spent from their earlier attacks on Laurel Hill to help Upton s men were driven out of the Confederate works and he reluctantly ordered them to retreat British military historian Charles Francis Atkinson wrote in 1908 that Upton s charge was one of the classic infantry attacks of military history Grant promoted Upton to brigadier general for his performance 30 Also at 6 p m on the Union left flank Burnside advanced along the Fredericksburg Road Both he and Grant were unaware that when Lee had moved units to the Po he had left only Cadmus Wilcox s Confederate division to defend that avenue of approach and that there was a large gap between Wilcox and Ewell This lack of information was a tangible consequence of the decision to send all of Sheridan s cavalry away from the battlefield As Burnside began to get resistance from Wilcox he timidly stopped and entrenched That evening Grant decided that Burnside was too isolated from the rest of the line and ordered him to pull back behind the Ni and move to join his lines with Wright s Grant wrote about this significant lost opportunity in his Personal Memoirs Burnside on the left had got up to within a few hundred yards of Spottsylvania Court House completely turning Lee s right He was not aware of the importance of the advantage he had gained and I being with the troops where the heavy fighting was did not know of it at the time He had gained his position with but little fighting and almost without loss Burnside s position now separated him widely from Wright s corps the corps nearest to him At night he was ordered to join on to this This brought him back about a mile and lost to us an important advantage I attach no blame to Burnside for this but I do to myself for not having had a staff officer with him to report to me his position Gen Ulysses Grant 31 May 11 Planning for the grand assault Edit Despite his reverses on May 10 Grant had reason for optimism The one bright spot in the day had been the partial success of Emory Upton s innovative assault He recognized the failure stemming from the lack of support and reasoned that using the same tactics with an entire corps might be successful Grant was then visited by General Wright the new commander of the VI Corps who suggested that the May 10 assaults had failed due to poor support particularly from Mott s division Wright told General Meade General I don t want Mott s troops on my left they are not a support I would rather have no troops there 32 He assigned Hancock s II Corps to the assault on the Mule Shoe while Burnside s IX Corps attacked the eastern end of the salient and Warren s V Corps and Wright s VI Corps applied pressure to Laurel Hill On the morning of May 11 Grant sent a famous message to the Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton The result to this time is much in our favor Our losses have been heavy as well as those of the enemy I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer 33 Although no major combat action occurred on May 11 small scale skirmishing and artillery fire continued most of the day On the Confederate side Lee received some intelligence reports that made him believe Grant was planning to withdraw toward Fredericksburg If this came to pass he wanted to follow up with an immediate attack Concerned about the mobility of his artillery to support the potential attack he ordered that the guns be withdrawn from Allegheny Johnson s division in the Mule Shoe to be ready for a movement to the right He was completely unaware of course that this was exactly the place Grant intended to attack 34 Hancock s men began assembling near the Brown farm that evening about 1200 yards north of the Mule Shoe in a torrential rainstorm The men and junior officers were poorly prepared for the assault lacking basic information about the nature of the ground to be covered the obstacles to expect or how the Confederate line was configured Confederates could hear their preparations through the storm but could not decide whether an attack was imminent or the Union Army was preparing to withdraw Allegheny Johnson became suspicious and requested to Ewell that his artillery be returned Ewell agreed but somehow the order did not reach the artillery units until 3 30 a m on May 12 30 minutes before Hancock s assault was planned to start 35 May 12 The Bloody Angle Edit Grant s grand assault May 12 Grant s grand assault May 12 additional map The Battle of Spottsylvania by Kurz amp Allison The Bloody Angle site Hancock s assault was scheduled to commence at 4 a m but it was still pitch black and he delayed until 4 35 when the rain stopped and was replaced by a thick mist The attack crashed through the Confederate works virtually destroying Jones s Brigade now commanded by Col William Witcher As Barlow s division swung around to the eastern tip of the Mule Shoe it overran the brigade commanded by Brig Gen George Maryland Steuart capturing both Steuart and his division commander Allegheny Johnson On Barlow s right Brig Gen David B Birney s division met stronger resistance from the brigades of Col William Monaghan and Brig Gen James A Walker the Stonewall Brigade 36 The recent rain had ruined much of the Confederates gunpowder but they fought fiercely hand to hand The Union troops continued to spread south along the western edge of the Mule Shoe Despite the initial success at obliterating much of the Mule Shoe salient there was a flaw in the Union plan no one had considered how to capitalize on the breakthrough The 15 000 infantrymen of Hancock s II Corps had crowded into a narrow front about a half mile wide and soon lost all unit cohesion becoming little more than an armed mob 36 Following the initial shock the Confederate leadership at all levels began to react well to the Union onslaught John B Gordon sent Brig Gen Robert D Johnston s brigade of North Carolinians racing toward the gap where Steuart s men had collapsed Although Johnston was wounded his brigade halted the breakthrough in that sector Gordon then sent forward the brigade of Col John S Hoffman and three regiments from Col Clement A Evans s brigade 37 General Lee was at the scene to witness these men moving forward and similar to his action at the Widow Tapp farm in the Battle of the Wilderness he attempted to move forward with the men only to be stopped by Gordon and chants from the men Lee to the rear These brigades were able to secure most of the eastern leg of the Mule Shoe after about 30 minutes of fierce fighting On the western leg Maj Gen Robert E Rodes coordinated the defense and the brigade of Brig Gen Stephen D Ramseur suffered heavy casualties as they fought their way to regain the entrenchments lost by the Stonewall Brigade 37 Grant sent in reinforcements at about 6 30 a m ordering both Wright and Warren to move forward The VI Corps division of Brig Gen Thomas H Neill headed for the western leg of the Mule Shoe at the point where it turned to the south This sector of the line where the heaviest fighting of the day would occur became known as the Bloody Angle As Union brigade after brigade slammed into the line William Mahone brought two of his brigades under Brig Gens Abner M Perrin and Nathaniel H Harris hurrying back from the extreme left flank to come to Ramseur s aid Perrin was killed By 8 a m heavy rain began to fall and both sides fought on the earthworks slippery with both water and blood The South Carolinians of Brig Gen Samuel McGowan s brigade joined the defense at the critical point At 9 30 a m the VI Corps division under Brig Gen David A Russell joined the attack A section of Union artillery was able to advance close to the Confederate lines and cause numerous casualties But Confederate artillery also had a severe effect on the advance of Russell s men 38 Warren s attack at Laurel Hill began on a small scale around 8 15 a m For some of his men this was their fourth or fifth attack against the same objective and few fought with enthusiasm After thirty minutes the attack petered out and Warren told Meade that he was not able to advance at present The irascible Meade ordered Warren to attack at once at all hazards with your whole force if necessary Warren relayed the order to his division commanders Do it Don t mind the consequences The attack was yet another failure adding to the high toll of casualties as the Union corps was held up by the fire of a single Confederate division 39 Not only was the V Corps unable to take its objective it had also failed to draw Confederate troops from elsewhere in the line as Grant had intended Both Meade and Grant were upset with Warren s performance and Grant authorized Meade to relieve Warren replacing him with Meade s chief of staff Maj Gen Andrew A Humphreys Humphreys diplomatically coordinated the withdrawal of the V Corps units without relieving Warren but Meade began to order Warren s subordinates to reinforce Wright and no further attacks against Laurel Hill would be planned 39 Ambrose Burnside was also part of the grand assault advancing against the eastern leg of the Mule Shoe before dawn The attack by his division under Brig Gen Robert B Potter against the sector just below Steuart s Brigade materially aided Hancock s breakthrough The North Carolina brigade of Brig Gen James H Lane fought back reinforced by a Georgia brigade under Brig Gen Edward L Thomas and the North Carolina brigade of Brig Gen Alfred M Scales The two sides became stalemated At 2 p m Grant and Lee coincidentally ordered simultaneous attacks Grant considered this sector to be lightly defended and hoped for a new breakthrough while Lee wanted to take out an artillery position that the IX Corps was using to harass his line The advance by Union Brig Gen Orlando B Willcox s division against a minor salient in the line was stopped as Lane s brigade moved forward and hit them in the flank 40 The appalling sight presented was harrowing in the extreme Our own killed were scattered over a large space near the angle while in front of the captured breastworks the enemy s dead vastly more numerous than our own were piled upon each other in some places four layers deep exhibiting every ghastly phase of mutilation Below the mass of fast decaying corpses the convulsive twitching of limbs and the writhing of bodies showed that there were wounded men still alive and struggling to extricate themselves from the horrid entombment Every relief possible was afforded but in too many cases it came too late The place was well named the Bloody Angle Grant s aide Horace Porter Campaigning with Grant 41 It was a bright May day There was no fighting on any part of the line and by permission I went The pickets permitted me to pass and I went over the breastworks to that portion of the field which had been occupied by Ramseur s Brigade On my arrival in this angle I could well see why the enemy had withdrawn their lines The stench was almost unbearable There was dead artillery horses in considerable numbers that had been killed on the 10th and in the early morning of the 12th Along these lines of breastworks where the earth had been excavated to the depth of one or two feet and thrown over making the breastworks I found these trenches filled with water for there had been much rain and in this water lay the dead bodies of friend and foe commingled in many instances one laying across the other and in one or more instances I saw as many as three lying across one another All over the field lay the dead of both armies by hundreds many of them mangled by shells Many of the bodies swollen out of all proportion some with their guns yet grasped in their hands Now and then one could be seen covered with a blanket which had been placed over him by a comrade after he had fallen These bodies were decaying The water was red almost black with blood Offensive flies were everywhere The trees saplings and shrubs were torn and shattered beyond description guns some of them broken bayonets canteens and cartridge boxes were scattered about and the whole scene was such that no pen can or ever will describe it I have seen many fields after severe conflicts but no where have I seen anything half so ghastly I returned to my company and said to old man Thomas Carroll a private in the company who was frying meat at a fire You would have saved rations by going with me for I will have no more appetite for a week This quote needs a citation Sgt Cyrus Watson Company K 45th North Carolina Infantry Throughout the afternoon Confederate engineers scrambled to create a new defensive line 500 yards further south at the base of the Mule Shoe while fighting at the Bloody Angle continued day and night with neither side achieving an advantage until around 12 00 AM on May 13 the fighting finally stopped At 4 A M the exhausted Confederate infantrymen were notified that the new line was ready and they withdrew from the original earthworks unit by unit 42 The combat they had endured for almost 24 hours was characterized by an intensity of firepower never previously seen in Civil War battles as the entire landscape was flattened all the foliage destroyed An example of this can be found in the Smithsonian Museum of American History a 22 inch stump of an oak tree at the Bloody Angle that was completely severed by rifle fire There was a frenzy to the carnage on both sides Fighting back and forth over the same corpse strewn trenches for hours on end using single shot muskets the contending troops were periodically reduced to hand to hand combat reminiscent of battles fought during ancient times Bodies piled up four and five high and soldiers were forced to pause from time to time and throw corpses over the parapet since they formed an obstacle in the way of the fighting Dead and wounded men were shot so many times that many of them simply fell apart into unrecognizable heaps of flesh 42 Surviving participants attempted to describe in letters diaries and memoirs the hellish intensity of that day many noting that it was beyond words Or as one put it Nothing can describe the confusion the savage blood curdling yells the murderous faces the awful curses and the grisly horror of the melee Some men claimed to have fired as many as 400 rounds that day May 12 was the most intensive day of fighting during the battle with Union casualties of about 9 000 Confederate 8 000 the Confederate loss includes about 3 000 prisoners captured in the Mule Shoe 42 May 13 16 Reorienting the lines Edit Reorienting the lines May 13 16Despite the significant casualties of May 12 Grant was undeterred He telegraphed to the Army s chief of staff Maj Gen Henry W Halleck The enemy are obstinate and seemed to have found the last ditch He planned to reorient his lines and shift the center of potential action to the east of Spotsylvania where he could renew the battle He ordered the V and VI Corps to move behind the II Corps and take positions past the left flank of the IX Corps 43 On the night of May 13 14 the corps began a difficult march in heavy rain over treacherously muddy roads Early on May 14 elements of the VI Corps occupied Myers Hill which overlooked most of the Confederate line Col Emory Upton s brigade skirmished most of the day to retain possession of the high ground Grant s command was too scattered and exhausted to undertake an assault against Spotsylvania Court House on May 14 despite Lee having left it practically undefended for most of the day When he realized what Grant was up to Lee shifted some units from Anderson s First Corps to that area Grant notified Washington that having endured five days of almost continuous rain his army could not resume offensive operations until they had 24 hours of dry weather 43 May 17 18 Final Union attacks Edit Movements May 17 final Union attacks May 18The weather finally cleared on May 17 Grant made an assumption that led him to his next attack plan since Lee had observed Grant s buildup along the Fredericksburg Road it was likely that he had countered the Union moves by shifting his forces away from the former Mule Shoe positions He ordered the II Corps and the VI Corps to attack there at sunrise May 18 They retraced their steps to the vicinity of the Landrum house the night of May 17 Hancock s II Corps would make the primary assault with support from Wright on their right and Burnside on their left 44 Unfortunately for the Union plan the former Confederate works were still occupied by Ewell s Second Corps and they had used the intervening time to improve the earthworks and the obstacles laid out in front of them And unlike May 12 they were not caught by surprise nor had they sent their artillery away As Hancock s men advanced they were caught up in an abatis and subjected to artillery fire so devastating that infantry rifle fire was not necessary to repulse the attack Wright and Burnside had no better luck 45 May 19 Harris Farm Edit Main article Harris Farm Engagement Confederate dead from the Harris farm engagement This unidentified dead Confederate soldier of Ewell s Corps was killed during their attack at Alsop s farm He was wounded in both the right knee and left shoulder and probably died from loss of blood Confederate killed in Ewell s attack May 19 1864 on the Alsop farm This photograph was taken just to the right and in front of the preceding photograph Confederate dead of General Ewell s Corps who attacked the Union lines on May 19 lined up for burial at the Alsop Farm Grant reacted to this final repulse by deciding to abandon this general area as a battlefield He ordered Hancock s II Corps to march to the railroad line between Fredericksburg and Richmond and then turn south With luck Lee might take the bait and follow seeking to overwhelm and destroy the isolated corps In that case Grant would chase Lee with his remaining corps and strike him before the Confederates could entrench again 46 Lee was engaged in his own planning however Before Hancock began to move Lee ordered Ewell to conduct a reconnaissance in force to locate the northern flank of the Union army Ewell took the majority of his Second Corps divisions under Rodes and Gordon up the Brock Road and swung widely to the north and east to the Harris farm There they encountered several units of Union heavy artillery soldiers who had recently been converted to infantry duty 47 Fighting commenced against these relatively green troops who were soon reinforced by the 1st Maryland Regiment and then David Birney s infantry division The fighting lasted until about 9 p m and Lee concerned that Ewell was risking a general engagement while separated from the main army recalled his men A number of them lost their way in the dark and were captured The Confederates had lost over 900 men on a pointless skirmish that could have been assigned to a small cavalry detachment 47 Aftermath EditGrant s intended advance of Hancock s corps was delayed by the Harris farm engagement so the troops did not begin their movement south until the night of May 20 21 Lee did not fall into Grant s trap of attacking Hancock but traveled on a parallel path to the North Anna River The Overland Campaign continued as Grant attempted several more times to engage Lee found himself stymied by strong defensive positions and moved again around Lee s flank in the direction of Richmond Major engagements occurred at the Battle of North Anna and the Battle of Cold Harbor after which Grant crossed the James River to attack Petersburg The armies then faced each other for nine months in the Siege of Petersburg 48 Casualties EditWith almost 32 000 total casualties Spotsylvania Court House was the costliest battle of the Overland Campaign and one of the top five battles of the Civil War 49 As at the Battle of the Wilderness Lee s tactics had inflicted severe casualties on Grant s army This time the toll was over 18 000 men of whom close to 3 000 were killed 6 In two weeks of fighting since the start of the Wilderness Grant had lost about 36 000 men and another 20 000 went home when their enlistments ended Grant on May 19 had only 56 124 effectives Lee did not come out of these battles unscathed At Spotsylvania he lost another 10 13 000 men about 23 of his army versus 18 of Grant s While the Union had many men available to reinforce Grant the Confederates were forced to pull men away from other fronts to reinforce Lee Making matters worse the army was taking heavy losses among its veteran units and its best officers 50 Estimates vary as to the casualties at Spotsylvania Court House The following table summarizes a variety of sources Casualty Estimates for the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Source Union ConfederateKilled Wounded Captured Missing Total Killed Wounded Captured Missing TotalNational Park Service 51 18 000 12 000Bonekemper Victor Not a Butcher 52 2 725 13 416 2 258 18 399 1 467 6 235 5 719 13 421Eicher Longest Night 53 17 500 10 000Esposito West Point Atlas 54 17 18 000 9 10 000Fox Regimental Losses 55 2 725 13 416 2 258 18 399 Kennedy Civil War Battlefield Guide 56 18 000 9 10 000Salmon Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide 57 18 000 12 000Trudeau Bloody Roads South 58 2 725 13 416 2 258 18 399 6 519 5 543 12 062Young Lee s Army 59 1 515 5 414 5 758 12 687Five general officers were killed or mortally wounded during the battle Union Maj Gen John Sedgwick and Brig Gens James C Rice and Thomas G Stevenson and Confederate Brig Gen Junius Daniel and Abner M Perrin 60 Sedgwick s death is notable in that he was the highest ranking officer by seniority to die in the war He also famously said the ironic words They couldn t hit an elephant at this distance shortly before his death 61 Among the wounded and captured were Confederate Maj Gen Edward Johnson and Brig Gens John R Cooke Harry T Hays Samuel McGowan Stephen D Ramseur Cullen A Battle James A Walker Robert D Johnston George H Steuart and Henry H Walker Medal of Honor EditForty three men received the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House including Frederick Alber George W Harris John C Robinson Archibald Freeman and Charles H Tracy 62 Battlefield preservation EditPortions of the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield are now preserved as part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park In addition the American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved more than 151 acres 0 61 km2 of the battlefield in five different transactions from 1989 to 2023 63 See also Edit American Civil War portalTroop engagements of the American Civil War 1864 List of costliest American Civil War land battles Armies in the American Civil WarFootnotes Edit Organization of the forces operating against Richmond on the morning of May 5 1864 2 This Army Corps was under direct orders of Lieut Gen Ulysses S Grant until May 24 1864 when it was assigned to the Army of the Potomac 3 This Army Corps was under direct orders of Grant until May 24 1864 when it was assigned to the Army of the Potomac 3 Return of Casualties in the Union forces Battle of Spotsylvania Court House May 8 21 1864 Recapitulation 5 Notes Edit NPS U S War Dept Official Records Vol 37 1 pp 106 116 a b U S War Dept Official Records Vol 37 1 p 113 a b c 100 000 Union 52 000 Confederate according to the NPS Salmon p 279 Eicher p 679 cites 110 000 Union engaged more than 50 000 Confederate Kennedy p 286 estimates combat strength of 111 000 Union 63 000 Confederate U S War Dept Official Records Vol 37 1 p 149 a b c Young p 236 Casualty estimates from various authors are listed in the Casualties section Salmon p 251 Grimsley p 3 Hattaway amp Jones p 525 Trudeau pp 29 30 Eicher pp 661 62 Kennedy p 282 a b Salmon p 253 Kennedy pp 280 82 Welcher pp 957 58 974 77 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 330 39 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 340 46 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House p 46 Jaynes p 82 a b Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 30 42 Welcher pp 959 61 Salmon p 271 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 22 23 Grimsley p 62 Salmon pp 270 71 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 45 53 Welcher p 960 Salmon p 271 Jaynes pp 86 87 Eicher pp 672 73 Grimsley pp 64 67 Welcher pp 960 Kennedy pp 286 87 Eicher pp 673 74 Grimsley pp 64 68 Welcher p 962 Welcher p 961 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 74 76 78 81 Welcher pp 960 61 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 71 74 86 Humphreys pp 74 75 Trudeau pp 143 44 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 89 91 Welcher pp 963 64 Salmon p 272 Grimsley p 70 Salmon pp 272 74 Eicher p 675 Grimsley p 71 Welcher p 963 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 93 95 Cullen p 31 Eicher p 675 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 103 14 Welcher p 963 Grimsley pp 72 73 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 113 14 Salmon p 274 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 131 32 Grimsley p 75 Eicher p 675 Welcher p 965 Eicher p 675 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 135 42 Grimsley p 73 Welcher p 965 Grimsley pp 75 76 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 142 49 Salmon p 274 Grimsley p 76 Welcher p 966 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 165 68 a b c d Grimsley pp 76 80 Welcher p 966 Kennedy p 285 Salmon pp 274 75 Eicher p 676 Trudeau p 162 Atkinson p 265 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 183 85 Welcher p 964 Grant Ch LII p 13 The Spotsylvania Campaign Gary W Gallagher p 45 Simpson pp 307 308 Kennedy p 285 Cullen p 31 Grimsley pp 80 82 Welcher p 967 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 219 21 225 26 Salmon p 275 Jaynes pp 93 94 Eicher p 676 Grimsley pp 83 84 Welcher p 967 Salmon p 275 a b Kennedy p 285 Jaynes p 94 Salmon p 276 Cullen p 32 Grimsley pp 84 85 a b Jaynes pp 98 100 Welcher p 968 Salmon p 276 Cullen p 32 Eicher p 678 Grimsley pp 86 87 Salmon p 277 Grimsley p 87 Welcher p 969 a b Welcher p 970 Grimsley pp 87 88 Salmon p 277 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 282 90 Jaynes pp 103 104 Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 244 46 295 303 Welcher p 970 Porter p 111 a b c Rhea Spotsylvania Court House pp 293 311 12 Kennedy p 285 Salmon pp 277 78 Cullen p 32 Eicher p 678 Welcher p 970 Smithsonian Spotsylvania Stump a b Rhea To the North Anna River pp 31 33 65 94 Jaynes p 125 Cullen pp 33 35 Welcher p 971 Rhea To the North Anna River pp 127 31 Welcher p 973 Eicher p 679 Welcher p 973 Jaynes p 125 Rhea To the North Anna River pp 131 53 Rhea To the North Anna River pp 156 57 Eicher p 679 Grimsley pp 130 31 a b Jaynes pp 125 30 Kennedy pp 285 86 Salmon pp 278 79 Grimsley pp 131 33 Welcher pp 973 74 Salmon pp 255 59 Grimsley p 134 See the list of major battles in List of American Civil War battles Major land battles Salmon p 279 Jaynes p 130 Union offensive continued NPS Bonekemper pp 308 309 Eicher p 679 Esposito text for map 133 Fox Chapter XIV Kennedy p 286 Salmon p 279 Trudeau p 213 Young p 236 Smith p 225 Foote p 203 See List of Medal of Honor recipients for the complete list Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield American Battlefield Trust Retrieved May 12 2023 References EditBonekemper Edward H III A Victor Not a Butcher Ulysses S Grant s Overlooked Military Genius Washington DC Regnery 2004 ISBN 0 89526 062 X Cullen Joseph P Battle of Spotsylvania In Battle Chronicles of the Civil War 1864 edited by James M McPherson Connecticut Grey Castle Press 1989 ISBN 1 55905 027 6 First published in 1989 by McMillan Eicher David J The Longest Night A Military History of the Civil War New York Simon amp Schuster 2001 ISBN 0 684 84944 5 Esposito Vincent J West Point Atlas of American Wars New York Frederick A Praeger 1959 OCLC 5890637 The collection of maps without explanatory text is available online at the West Point website Foote Shelby The Civil War A Narrative vol 3 Red River to Appomattox New York Random House 1974 ISBN 0 394 74913 8 Fox William F Regimental Losses in the American Civil War Dayton OH Morningside Press 1993 ISBN 0 685 72194 9 First published 1898 in Washington DC Grimsley Mark And Keep Moving On The Virginia Campaign May June 1864 Lincoln University of Nebraska Press 2002 ISBN 0 8032 2162 2 Hattaway Herman and Archer Jones How the North Won A Military History of the Civil War Urbana University of Illinois Press 1983 ISBN 0 252 00918 5 Humphreys Andrew A The Virginia Campaign of 64 and 65 The Army of The Potomac and the Army of The James New York C Scribner s Sons 1883 OCLC 479956 Jaynes Gregory and the Editors of Time Life Books The Killing Ground Wilderness to Cold Harbor Alexandria VA Time Life Books 1986 ISBN 0 8094 4768 1 Kennedy Frances H ed The Civil War Battlefield Guide permanent dead link 2nd ed Boston Houghton Mifflin Co 1998 ISBN 0 395 74012 6 McPherson James M Battle Cry of Freedom The Civil War Era Oxford History of the United States New York Oxford University Press 1988 ISBN 0 19 503863 0 Rhea Gordon C The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7 12 1864 Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 1997 ISBN 0 8071 2136 3 Rhea Gordon C To the North Anna River Grant and Lee May 13 25 1864 Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 2000 ISBN 0 8071 2535 0 Salmon John S The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books 2001 ISBN 0 8117 2868 4 Simpson Brooks D Ulysses S Grant Triumph over Adversity 1822 1865 New York Houghton Mifflin 2000 ISBN 0 395 65994 9 Smith Derek The Gallant Dead Union amp Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books 2005 ISBN 0 8117 0132 8 Trudeau Noah Andre Bloody Roads South The Wilderness to Cold Harbor May June 1864 Boston Little Brown amp Co 1989 ISBN 978 0 316 85326 2 Welcher Frank J The Union Army 1861 1865 Organization and Operations Vol 1 The Eastern Theater Bloomington Indiana University Press 1989 ISBN 0 253 36453 1 Young Alfred C III Lee s Army during the Overland Campaign A Numerical Study Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 2013 ISBN 978 0 8071 5172 3 National Park Service battle descriptionMemoirs and primary sources Edit Atkinson Charles Francis Grant s Campaigns of 1864 and 1865 The Wilderness and Cold Harbor May 3 June 3 1864 The Pall Mall military series London H Rees 1908 OCLC 2698769 Badeau Adam Military History of Ulysses S Grant Vol III New York D Appleton amp Co 1881 Grant Ulysses S Personal Memoirs of U S Grant 2 vols Charles L Webster amp Company 1885 86 ISBN 0 914427 67 9 Longstreet James From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of the Civil War in America New York Da Capo Press 1992 ISBN 0 306 80464 6 First published in 1896 by J B Lippincott and Co Porter Horace Campaigning with Grant New York Century Co 1897 OCLC 913186 U S War Department 1891 Operations in Northern West Virginia Maryland and Pennsylvania May 1 August 3 1864 Reports Union and Confederate Correspondence etc The War of the Rebellion A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Vol XXXVII XLIX I Washington DC U S Government Printing Office hdl 2027 coo 31924077728289 OCLC 857196196 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Further reading EditAlexander Edward P Fighting for the Confederacy The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander Edited by Gary W Gallagher Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1989 ISBN 0 8078 4722 4 Bearss Edwin C Fields of Honor Pivotal Battles of the Civil War Washington DC National Geographic Society 2006 ISBN 0 7922 7568 3 Carmichael Peter S ed Audacity Personified The Generalship of Robert E Lee Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 2004 ISBN 0 8071 2929 1 Catton Bruce A Stillness at Appomattox Garden City NY Doubleday and Company 1953 ISBN 0 385 04451 8 Frassanito William A Grant and Lee The Virginia Campaigns 1864 1865 New York Scribner 1983 ISBN 0 684 17873 7 Gallagher Gary W ed The Wilderness Campaign Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1997 ISBN 0 8078 2334 1 Hogan David W Jr The Overland Campaign Archived April 22 2016 at the Wayback Machine Washington DC United States Army Center of Military History 2014 ISBN 9780160925177 King Curtis S William G Robertson and Steven E Clay Staff Ride Handbook for the Overland Campaign Virginia 4 May to 15 June 1864 A Study on Operational Level Command Archived May 3 2016 at the Wayback Machine PDF document Archived November 15 2012 at the Wayback Machine Fort Leavenworth Kan Combat Studies Institute Press 2006 OCLC 62535944 Lyman Theodore With Grant and Meade From the Wilderness to Appomattox Edited by George R Agassiz Lincoln University of Nebraska Press 1994 ISBN 0 8032 7935 3 Mackowski Chris and Kristopher D White A Season of Slaughter The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House May 8 21 1864 El Dorado Hills CA Savas Beatie 2013 ISBN 978 1 61121 148 1 Matter William D If It Takes All Summer The Battle of Spotsylvania Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1988 ISBN 978 0 8078 1781 0 Miller Francis Trevelyan Robert S Lanier and James Verner Scaife eds The Photographic History of the Civil War 10 vols New York Review of Reviews Co 1911 ISBN 0 7835 5726 4 Power J Tracy Lee s Miserables Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1998 ISBN 0 8078 2392 9 Rhea Gordon C The Battle of the Wilderness May 5 6 1864 Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 1994 ISBN 0 8071 1873 7 Rhea Gordon C In the Footsteps of Grant and Lee The Wilderness Through Cold Harbor Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 2007 ISBN 978 0 8071 3269 2 Smith Jean Edward Grant New York Simon amp Schuster 2001 ISBN 0 684 84927 5 Wert Jeffry D The Sword of Lincoln The Army of the Potomac New York Simon amp Schuster 2005 ISBN 0 7432 2506 6 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Battle Maps histories photos and preservation news Civil War Trust Animated map of the Overland Campaign Civil War Trust National Park Service battlefield site Animated history of the Overland Campaign Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Battle of Spotsylvania Court House amp oldid 1156101702, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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