Gary^The^Procrastinator
Battle of The Wilderness 1864, Brickfair Display Overview
Collaboration with John Rudy, Patrick Taylor, Joshua Brooks and Sam Schmidt for our 2nd Annual Brickfair Virginia Civil War Display. This was a great success, although it took a long time to set up, and we wish we had more of both trees and ground cover. Nominated for Best Historical.
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The Battle of The Wilderness, May 5-7th 1864, was the first battle fought between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee as part of Grant's Overland Campaign to reach Richmond. Grant attempted to move quickly through the dense underbrush of the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, but Lee launched two of his corps on parallel roads to intercept him. Heavy fighting on the 5th was inconclusive but resulted in terrible casualties.
The day of the 6th, as portrayed here in our collaboration, also resulted in heavy casualties, starting with a Federal attack Under General Winfield Hancock which drove back AP Hill's forces. Confederate General James Longstreet (far left on horseback) stopped the Federals and followed up with a surprise flanking attack from an unfinished railroad bed (on the right) that drove Hancock's men back to the Brock Road, but the momentum was lost when Longstreet was severely wounded by his own men.
Years later, when Hancock and Longstreet met, they discussed the attack from the Railroad Cut, to which Hancock famously summarized, "You rolled me up like a wet blanket!"
While a tactical success for the Confederates, it was a strategic victory for the Union, as Grant refused to retreat and instead started a bloody stepped advance of battles which eventually led to the end of the war.
Battle of The Wilderness 1864, Brickfair Display Overview
Collaboration with John Rudy, Patrick Taylor, Joshua Brooks and Sam Schmidt for our 2nd Annual Brickfair Virginia Civil War Display. This was a great success, although it took a long time to set up, and we wish we had more of both trees and ground cover. Nominated for Best Historical.
----------
The Battle of The Wilderness, May 5-7th 1864, was the first battle fought between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee as part of Grant's Overland Campaign to reach Richmond. Grant attempted to move quickly through the dense underbrush of the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, but Lee launched two of his corps on parallel roads to intercept him. Heavy fighting on the 5th was inconclusive but resulted in terrible casualties.
The day of the 6th, as portrayed here in our collaboration, also resulted in heavy casualties, starting with a Federal attack Under General Winfield Hancock which drove back AP Hill's forces. Confederate General James Longstreet (far left on horseback) stopped the Federals and followed up with a surprise flanking attack from an unfinished railroad bed (on the right) that drove Hancock's men back to the Brock Road, but the momentum was lost when Longstreet was severely wounded by his own men.
Years later, when Hancock and Longstreet met, they discussed the attack from the Railroad Cut, to which Hancock famously summarized, "You rolled me up like a wet blanket!"
While a tactical success for the Confederates, it was a strategic victory for the Union, as Grant refused to retreat and instead started a bloody stepped advance of battles which eventually led to the end of the war.