Battle of the Wilderness

Wilderness, Battle of the, opening engagement—fought May 5–6, 1864, in central Virginia, 10 mi (16 km) west of Fredericksburg—of the Wilderness Campaign in the U.S. Civil War. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 118,000-man Army of the Potomac, advancing to annihilate the Confederate Army in open battle, was met and held in heavily wooded country by 60,000 men under Gen. Robert E. Lee. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Grant then turned to attack Spotsylvania Courthouse (May 8–19). Fighting continued until early June 1864.

See also: Civil War, U.S.