The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-05-19
THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS
[eRoa our owS c,RRssP ,NDEsr. |

lFRoM OUR owS CoRRssP 5NDENr.
ARMY OF Eoeru.Rs VisalNIA,
Battlefield. MAY 7th. 1854. !
Again Il bocomas nay grateful task to chronicle
another Conted-salr Victory. While IL eahaot be
regarded ia its military aspects AS decisive battle
siace the enemy Was n0thef routed not driven back
acfoss the Rap,aan yat waaa We eonsiJet tae cit
cumstaness uader which il was fougat, ;hc elabo-
RATE preparation saade hy the enemy. the large
Hrmy ot veteran u50ps with which ne advanced
and The common consent with which both sides hal
come TO regard the present campaign as probably
the last act of the bloody diana which has con
vulsed the North American continent for the las
ihrse years, we cannot bu, look upon II as one ol
Inc most impor,an, battles of the whole war. The
boa5,ed leader Of the Federal army chose his owa
time and place ID dc I've, battle ne made The at
tack and waa scpcsrd witt heavy losses his coH,-
bina,iohs were paDetSa;ai and defeated, and hi
whole m1veIlenI caeckmatet, AT least for the pre-
seat These are results u! great consequence, aad
for them the country should be grateful 10 the Gvei
Of ali victory, AMI 10 the brave army by Whase yao,
they havs 6sen achieved. But ret us take up tae
nlrrave at .as beginning and briu9 IL wn 10 the
preseaitiins, and thu. SEQ what was done ani b. =
IL wsg done.
Arriving at Gorionsv,i!e Wednesday, The 4th
Ia tant, az one nciocs, ani eafnng that Grant ha
crossed the a.pidan below st 1clmanua ami Ey's
totts, AMI was endcisuIing 10 turu Lee's fight
aaiS, t9yk heIS ala Du he'd "a e., tn point IL
which hoth armies seemed 10 be appEnnchtns. The
RJient Gen Lee dscsraiaea Iiii; Giant had fea ily
cut loose non has base at Caipeper, Hiii's and
E"eil5 corps were Withdrawn fsoni thei1 po.I
tioas on the Rapidaa and ordered 10 advance upon
the eneHy'5 Iiae of iarcii, tho former taking the
plaak road and the latter the turnpike, bo,h lead
ing from O.aage Court House 10 FfedSS:ckSbarg.-
Longatrect, VINO was encamped In Iho vicinity Of
GordonsVie, ready to move upon any point, was
ordered to march down the Catharpln road The
main body of Grants army crossed at Germanna
Ford, and took the road leading from thence In the
direction of Bowling Green and Richmond, and
known Ia the neighb0fhoOd as Brooks road, by
which name | shall speak of IL hereafter The
first object at which ne Aimed doubtless, was to
reach tne point where that road tntersec,s the
Orange and Fredericksburg plank road and turn
pike. These highways .uu nearly parallel to each
other, the distance between them varying from ons
mile 10 three miles and mote. There 10 an untia-
ished railroad which also runa nearly parallel 70
The other TWO Toads and exteBds from Orange II
to Fredericksburg. The turnpike lies Oh the uorth
side OF next to the river! the rail- oad on the south
side, and inc plank ROAD bet.7aea The two. These
roads do not cross B,oc "a road aiong which Grant
was moving, at rtyht angles, 0u. diasonally, the
distance between the points they cut Drock's
road being "a follows: between the railway bed
Is,
between the plank road aad turnpike nearly four
mites TIE eneH,y'i line Of battle extended a,onx
Brock read ton the unfinished railroad across
the plank ROAD to the turnpike, and was conss-
queauy about four niiss In iengsl Chanc elicrs-
villa Is four mites below, on the plank road; and
Fredericksburg about fItecn mies. The surround
iug country IL very appropriately called the vii
cerEesss the people being Ignorant the soil des,t-
t0te OF fertility, the supply OF water scan., the
groand broken and covered with dense and al.
most impeletsabie growth Of stunted bushes pines,
and back jacks. Is is blasted region, adjoining
Ihe district kaoWn as tha 'patsoned fields of Or
anse," and producing bu, little for the Subsistence
Of ether man OF beast. So thick arc the woods In
some places that II is imp ssibie u distinguish
man, even tn the abseRce OF verdufe, al dstanco
OF hity plces The reader can readl Imagine
that II would be difficult to select more uHtav0ra-
Bile ground fof a battls betweea two great armies
Il only remains 10 be I'D led that The battle was
fought near the western boundary OF Spotsyivania
county, the line 0f batle being NEATLY Ut hight
sies to straight line crawD from Fredericksburg
through Ehancel.orsviiie to Orange Court House,
II tue reader will keep these points clearly IN his
mind, ana Will place good map before him, he
will find bat little difficulty In forming satisfactory
conception Of the battle.
AS has already been stated, Ewell moved down
the turnpike, which is on the lett aud nearest 10
the river, aud Hill down the plank road. Stuart
passed still further to the South, and march I'd
down the Catharpin road, as 10 throw his caval-
ry In front OF tbs head Of Grants army and retard
Its march, His troopers did their duty well, espe-
cialiy Rosser's brigade, OF Hamptoh's division, and
forced the Federal cavalry, which was marching
mp the road 5y which he was advancing, back Into
Brooks road with considerable loss in men aud
horses. Indeed GraD, had thrown his cavalry up
the turnpike, plank road and CathRspn road, Ia the
vain hope that he might be able To intsTpose
screen between himself and the Contederatrs, ana
liius bOth protect and conceal his movements. But
Lee was not snw ia penetrating his designs, and
iGlme datsly sprung npon his flank like tiger upan
the side of un vi. E@eI aud iliii pushed rapidly
down the turnpike aud plank roads, encountered
~ HsaS In, IN AVAtf nd
whicn had been thrown forward To block up these
highways, ami compelled the whole army 70 halt
aud defend itseif. stuart in the meantime had
reached Books road, In front of The enemy, aud
ttua opposed another obstacle to hts further al
vance, II Is not known that arapt specially direct
ed 20 give batla here but ne saw The danger st his
position ana Immediately io.mrd inio line af battle
aad advanced nearly Two milrs la iueet the threat.
eua1 attack. This, Il viii be Seen hereafter, was
Il! that saved hun from most dIstsH0us defeat,
since Il gave him time 10 send hs ttaihs 10 the
and throw up strong ealEenchnenfs, parallel with
and IN front Of the road BY which he had been
marcning, and behIad which he might rally his
troops 10 the event they were beaten baSA. This
wac Thursday, the 9th, one year and oac day after
the great battle OF Cna1csilorsvlile
II was about tour In the afternoon when tha two
armies encountered each other Grant attacked
heavily and repeatedly along the whole line, and
especially on our right, which he showed = dispo
Lee's army and Richmond; but in every instance
he was repulsed with heavy lass. He was peSsiss.
ent however, la his efforts 70 break our lines, and
continued bis assaults until night. Hls last I'd
vance against Htsis front was made just before
dark, aud was handscmely rcpuseA w Wiicoxh
aud Heth's diviat0ns. Hi1 Anal attack npoa Eweli
was made after night sgafhst thar part OF The ine
held by Edward Johnsoa's div,sI6n, Here, sa0,
hs was heaien back, ieavtax many dad and
wonnaed on the ground. DURING thess Operations
Ewel cap ured % pfts0Hets, nearly Oh OF whom
WERE taken by Gordon's George brigade and
Hays's Loulsiaaa, hoah oS WHOM behaved with dis-
tingaisiied gananisy.
Losssbeel had not yes reached the ground -
Leaving 0oIdonsville u O'Clock WaAneeday ef,
tesnoon, ha masched Ailsen miles thst night Tbe
uext day he narehsa down TIE Csthaspla 90 (eo
m.lss, hls or4ers bsins - ssstke osueks reo1 -
paint aoush Il lheSn1ntahed railroad. 1e hA1Do1
during the n Anoo1 Within elehb nDeo oe ~ -.
i!s.as!al ~ eXtsg g - Isesllssu Z eeellllee G!