✦ 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 Cavalry Corps (Union Army) II Corps (Union Army) Irish Brigade (Union Army) IX Corps (Union Army) V Corps (Union Army) Iron Brigade VI Corps (Union Army) Union Army 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 Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia 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