On this date 155 years ago....

The survivors of the Battle of the Wilderness woke up to the sounds of the moans from the wounded still left alive between the two armies. Nearly 30,000 men had been killed, wounded, and captured or made missing over the previous 48 hours of explosive combat. Ranked by casualties, the Wilderness was the fifth bloodiest battle of the entire Civil War. Unlike those ranked around it, however, there was no clear winner.

The Army of the Potomac's advance deeper into northern Virginia had been checked, but the high commands of both armies knew this campaign was only just beginning. Lee knew that Grant would undoubtedly continue south but was mixed on where he thought Grant would move his army next. Lee's subordinates argued that Grant was not going to advance at all, and would instead follow the pattern of previous Union generals by retreating back across the river and re-thinking their strategy.

Grant was not like other Union generals. He had been forced to fight a battle he did not want but was still adamant in his belief that the best course of action was to flank around Lee's army and get between it and Richmond. Lee would either then have to attack a superior force in the open, or retreat. And this is what he would do.

On the afternoon of May 7, 1864, Grant issued his orders to George Meade. The Army of the Potomac would march after dark over two routes. Their objective was to reach Spotsylvania Court House, a distance 10 miles to the southeast, by the morning of May 8. It was at Spotsylvania that Grant hoped to use the more open terrain to his advantage. If he could get between Lee and Richmond, the Grey Fox would have no choice but to attack and be destroyed.

Warren's V Corps would take the Brock Road, followed closely behind by Hancock's II Corps. Sedgwick's VI Corps would head toward Chancellorsville on the Orange Plank Road before turning south. Burnside's IX Corps would follow behind Sedgwick.

Meade began the march southward by ordering Philip Sheridan's Cavalry Corps to clear the Brock Road of any potential Confederate entanglements. Sheridan's troopers soon became bogged down by Confederate cavalry under Wade Hampton and Rooney Lee. The battle initially began at Corbin's Bridge before Union troopers retreated to Todd's Tavern where, behind hastily constructed earthworks, they repulsed several Confederate attacks.

Sharp fighting at the Battle of Todd's Tavern would continue late into the afternoon before the Confederate cavalrymen were forced to withdraw. As night fell, Sheridan decided against continuing to carry out his original orders from Meade in the dark and instead ordered his troopers to get some sleep. The infantry began moving at 8 PM that night and immediately became plagued by traffic jams. When Meade arrived at Todd's Tavern after midnight, he became infuriated when he saw Sheridan's sleeping cavalrymen and ordered them to resume their road clearing operation.

Lee now knew the Army of the Potomac was on the move but was confused as to their final destination. Reconnaissance patrols had informed him that the Union army's river crossing and bridge building equipment had been removed from Germanna Ford. So Grant wasn't retreating across the river as his predecessors had done. Lee surmised that either the Union army was heading west towards Fredericksburg or moving south to outflank his present position. Whatever Grant was doing, the crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House would play a vital role in the coming days.

And so Lee ordered his artillery chief, William Pendleton, to begin constructing a road through the woods from the Confederate position due south to the Catharpin Road. He also ordered Richard Anderson, who had replaced James Longstreet as the commanding officer of the First Corps, to move out along that road. Anderson's men began marching at 10 PM and the race for Spotsylvania Court House was officially on.

May 7-8, 1864 - The Race to Spotsylvania Court House


Elsewhere in Virginia, Benjamin Butler and his Army of the James was wrapping up the Battle of Port Walthall today. After being beaten back by the Confederate forces of Johnson Hagood on May 6, Butler immediately ordered up reinforcements to deal with his Confederate adversary. The newly arrived Union division attacked on May 7, driving Hagood and another Confederate brigade under the charge of Bushrod Johnson from the depot at Port Walthall, allowing Butler and his army to successfully cut the railroad lines at Port Walthall.

Confederate defenders retired behind nearby Swift Run Creek to await reinforcements from the Richmond-Petersburg defense line. Butler's Army of the James suffered some 300 casualties in the two-day fight for Port Walthall. Confederate losses are estimated at around 200.