Posts Tagged ‘battle of the wilderness’

May 7, 1864

Posted: May 7, 2016 in On this Day in the Civil War
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On this day in the Civil War, after the bloody battle of the Wilderness, Federal General U.S. Grant plans to flank the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederate army is led by General Robert E. Lee.

In conferring with one of his officers, General Lee states: “General Grant is not going to retreat. He will move his army to Spotsylvania…I am so sure of his next move that I have already made arrangements to march by the shortest practicable route, so that we may meet him there.”

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General Robert E. Lee

(Photo Credit: Library of Congress)

May 5, 1864

Posted: May 5, 2016 in On this Day in the Civil War
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On this day in the Civil War, the Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee clashes with the Union Army of the Potomac under General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of the Wilderness. After several days of fighting, in which the Confederate army prevails, General Grant surprises his troops by continuing to press toward Richmond instead of retreating. A Union officer describes Grant’s tenacity by stating that he: “Habitually wears an expression as if he had determined to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it.”