✦ History

Part of American Civil War

Battle of the Wilderness

May 5–7, 1864 · The Wilderness, Virginia

Result Inconclusive

Fought 5-7 May 1864 in Virginia, the first battle of Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Fighting in dense woods produced nearly 29,000 casualties on both sides and was tactically inconclusive. Grant disengaged and continued his advance toward Richmond, beginning a war of attrition against Lee's army.

On the map Contemporaries

Union

Confederacy

United States
Confederate States of America
Ulysses S. Grant George Meade Winfield Scott Hancock military commander Ambrose Burnside military commander Philip Henry Sheridan military commander Gouverneur Kemble Warren military commander John Sedgwick military commander
Robert E. Lee James Longstreet military commander Richard S. Ewell military commander A. P. Hill military commander J. E. B. Stuart military commander

Strength and losses

Strength
118,700101,895, 37,822, 118,000
Casualties
17,66618,400
Killed
7532,250, 2,246
Wounded
3,34712,050, 12,037
Missing
3,4003,383
Guns
318
Guns lost
2
Strength
66,14061,025, 62,000
Casualties
11,03311,400
Killed
1,000
Wounded
6,000
Missing
300
Guns
224

Units

Army of the Potomac Strength 120,000 George Meade Major general · 1863–1865 Cavalry Corps (Union Army) Philip Henry Sheridan Major general · 1864 II Corps (Union Army) Winfield Scott Hancock Major general · 1864 Irish Brigade (Union Army) IX Corps (Union Army) Under Grant's direct orders, not the Army of the Potomac, until May 24, 1864 Ambrose Burnside Major general · 1864 V Corps (Union Army) Gouverneur Kemble Warren Major general · 1864–1865 Iron Brigade VI Corps (Union Army) John Sedgwick Major general · 1864
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14th Infantry Regiment (United States) 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment 4th Infantry Regiment (United States) 7th Indiana Infantry Regiment 87th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
Army of Northern Virginia Strength 61,000 Robert E. Lee General · 1862–1865 Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia J. E. B. Stuart Major general · 1862–1864 First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia James Longstreet Lieutenant general · 1862–1864 Charles William Field Major general · 1864 Richard Herron Anderson Lieutenant general · 1864 Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Richard S. Ewell Lieutenant general · 1863–1864 Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia A. P. Hill Lieutenant general · 1863–1865 44th North Carolina Infantry Regiment

Related events 1 degree away • 2 degrees away

1864
 
Second Battle of Chattanooga
 
Battle of the Wilderness
 
Battle of Spotsylvania

Also involved 3