Audio
Wilderness Driving Tour, #8, Brock Road-Plank Road Intersection
Transcript
While Longstreet's wounding may have been a lucky break for the Federals, it would not have done them very much good if they had not made the proper preparations the evening before. Unlike the Confederate 3rd Corps, the US 2nd Corps had spent the night entrenching. Here at the intersection and stretching to the north and south, US troops dug several lines of trenches and earthworks along the Brock Road. As they retreated towards the road, these defenses made natural rallying points. South of the Orange Plank Road, the US troops, were shattered, but to the north, protected from the worst of the flank attack, many of the regiments came back largely intact. Taking up positions behind their trenches, these regiments were ready to defend the vital Brock Road in relatively short order. Shattered as they were, many of the Union soldiers on the south side of the Orange Plank Road began working on reorganizing and solidifying their lines for another fight behind the protection of trenches. "It was our one hope – shattered, fatigued, and out of ammunition as we were by this time – to get across the parapet and, after a short rest in the hollow ground in the rear, to re-form and be ready again for action." Thomas Galwey 8th Ohio. Winfield S. Hancock, commanding the 2nd Corps, threw his energies into reorganizing and preparing his command for the inevitable Confederate attack. Around 4:15, Confederate troops beat back the US picket lines and began to slam into the Federal trenches. Lee hoped to simply smash through the Federal battle line with pure brute force. For half an hour, the Confederates blasted away at the US positions, however, the Union soldiers were well protected as they poured lethal rifle fire into the stubborn and exposed Confederates . A chance to break the US line came when a portion of the trenches here caught fire, forcing the defenders to abandon them. Confederates seized the opportunity and broke through right in front of a US artillery battery, which loaded their guns with canister—cans of iron balls—turning them into giant shotguns. US infantry surged into the breach and beat the Confederates back in hand-to-hand fighting. By 6 pm, the Confederate attack had failed, leaving Lee little more than a long causality list to show for it. On the north side of the battlefield, back at Saunders’ Field, the Confederates tried one more attack and struck the Federal flank there, but it came too late in the day, and the setting of the sun all but ended the battle of the Wilderness on the evening of May 6. On May 7th, Grant and Meade had a hard decision to make. More than 29,000 men were dead, missing, or wounded, 17,666 Federals and approximately 11,400 Confederates. It became clear to them that any more fighting where they were was useless. They had tried everything they could, and none of it had worked. At any other point in the war, the two armies would have separated. They would have spent the next few weeks or even months recovering from their fight before either made a move. But this was not any other point in the war, and Lincoln was about to find out. On May 6th Henry Wing, a correspondent from the New York Tribune, left the battlefield for Washington with reports of the first day of the battle. As it would turn out he would be the first person to bring any news of the fighting to the national capital. Haggling for time on a US government telegraph line in Union Mills 20 miles from DC, his report came to the attention of Lincoln himself. Wing was transported to the White House to report on the situation directly to the President. Wing revealed that before leaving the wilderness Grant have given him a message for the president. Grant’s message was simple “Well, if you see the President, tell him from me that, whatever happens, there will be no turning back.” Lincoln was so overjoyed by this news that he lifted Wing off the ground in a bear hug and planted a kiss on the messenger's forehead. For more than three years, Lincoln had been looking for a General that would stand his ground and finally fight the war to a finish. Now he knew he had finally found one. As soon as the sun set on May 7, the Army of the Potomac marched for Spotsylvania Courthouse. There, Grant hoped to return to the original plan of getting in between Lee and Richmond. For the first time, the Army of the Potomac had fought the enemy and made the decision to keep the initiative; to force Lee to react to them, rather than the other way around. For the next 11 months, the Army of the Potomac would only do two things. They were either fighting the Confederates, or marching to the next fight. The Battle of the Wilderness was the beginning of the end for the Army of Northern Virginia. But first, the two armies would come to blows once again, just 10 miles down the Brock Road around the Spotsylvania County Courthouse.
Description
Part 8, the final part of the Wilderness Driving Tour, explores the critical juncture that Federal forces defended throughout the Battle of the Wilderness. With access to the route south, Federal Commander Ulysses S. Grant decided to do what other leaders had previously avoided: push south. This decision would prove to be one of the most consequential moments in the war.
Credit
NPS
Date Created
05/17/2022
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