Into the Wilderness

— Lee Vs. Grant - The 1864 Campaign —

When the 1864 Overland Campaign started, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia held the upper fords of the Rapidan River, blocking the Union army's route to Richmond. Rather than attack Lee head on, Grant chose to cross here at Germanna Ford, several miles beyond Lee's right flank, and maneuver his adversary out of position.

Grant seized Germanna Ford on May 4. At dawn, soldiers of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry splashed across the river, scattering a few Confederate pickets who stood guard here. Union engineers then threw down two pontoon bridges and the army began pouring across. A Connecticut soldier, awed by the seemingly endless procession of men, wagons and artillery, concluded that such an army might "overcome the world." Theodore Lyman, an officer on Meade's staff, had a more sobering thought. "How strange it would look," he mused, "if every soldier destined to fall in the coming campaign wore a large badge!"

The Fifth and Sixth Corps crossed the Rapidan here on May 4, going into camp between here and Wilderness Tavern. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock's Second Corps crossed farther downstream, at Ely's Ford, followed by the army's huge wagon train. As the Union columns crossed the river, they entered the Wilderness, a densely wooded area marked by thick woods and unusually heavy undergrowth. In the heart of this forbidding forest, the first battle of the campaign would be fought.

When a reporter asked Grant how long he thought it would take to get to Richmond, he replied, four days. "That is, if General Lee becomes a party to the agreement," he added with a smile, "but if he objects, the trip will undoubtedly be prolonged."

(sidebar) On May 4, the Army of the Potomac broke camp near Culpeper and marched southeast, crossing the Rapidan River at Germanna and Ely's Fords. Burnside's independent Ninth Corps, starting north of the Rappahannock River, did not cross at Germanna Ford until May 5. As soon as Lee learned of the Union crossing, he moved eastward with Ewell's and Hill's Corps to intercept Grant in the Wilderness. Longstreet's Corps, camped near Gordonsville, headed for the battlefield via Brock's Bridge.

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Germanna Ford
Germanna
Germanna Ford
Culpeper County / Orange County
The "Enchanted Castle" at Germanna, circa 1720-1750
Spotswood Family Cemetery
Gordon's Flank Attack
Captain John Spotswood
Orange Grove 1728 - 1864
Orange Grove 1865 - 1967

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