The Wilderness

• The Wilderness Tavern

  

  View of the remains of the Wilderness Tavern - a key landmark during the Battle of the Wilderness.

  Rob Shenk

• Original Roadbed

  

  View of the original roadbed that thousands of Union soldiers used to march into the Wilderness. This land was saved by the Civil War Trust in 2009.

  Rob Shenk

• Grant's Headquarters at the Wilderness

  

  The Battle of the Wilderness was the first Civil War battle where U.S. Grant and Robert E. Lee fought each other. Unlike other Army of the Potomac commanders, Grant would not retreat back above the Rappahannock despite taking heavy losses at the Wilderness.

  Library of Congress and Rob Shenk

• Ellwood

  

  View of Ellwood - the plantation home used by Gouverneur K. Warren as his headquarters during the battle. This is the only Civil War-era building still standing on the battlefield.

  Rob Shenk

• 5th Corps in the Wilderness

  

  A replica Union 5th Corps flag flies outside of Ellwood - the plantation home used by 5th Corps commander Gouverneur K. Warren during the Battle of the Wilderness.

  Rob Shenk

• Hotchkiss Map of the Battle of the Wilderness

  

  Map showing the Battle of the Wilderness produced by famed Civil War cartographer Jedidiah Hotchkiss

  Library of Congress

• Satellite Image of Saunders Field

  

  Satellite view of the 49-acre property at the Wilderness Battlefield that the Civil War Trust saved in early 2011. Take note of all the recent residential development at the edges of this historic battlefield.

  Google Earth

• Saunders Field in 1866

  

  View of Saunders Field in 1866

  USAMHI

• Saunders Field

  

  View of a section of Saunders Field - the site of some of the toughest fighting at the Battle of the Wilderness.

  Rob Shenk

• Saunders Field Landscape

  

  View of the Orange Turnpike and Saunders Field from the property that the Civil War Trust saved in early 2011.

  Rob Shenk

• Saunders Field after the Battle

  

  View of Saunders Field after the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness.

  National Park Service

• Saunders Field Today

  

  View of a section of Saunders Field as it looks in 2010.

  Rob Shenk

• The Wilderness - Gordon's Flank at Attack

  

  View of the wooded landscape near the spot where John B. Gordon launched his May 6 flank attack.

  Rob Shenk

• Wilderness Woods

  

  View of the woods on the preservation target property near Saunders Field in the Wilderness. These forests are more mature than the "second growth" brambles that the Union and Confederate forces encountered in May of 1864.

  Rob Shenk

• Rebel Breastworks Wilderness Battlefield 1864

  

  Rebel Breastworks Wilderness Battlefield 1864 - a photo of Saunders Field

  John Richter

• Union Soldiers at the Brock Road

  

  Civil War illustration showing Union soldiers along the Brock Road line in the Wilderness.

  Library of Congress

• The Orange Plank Road

  

  View of the Orange Plank Road near the site where Robert E. Lee attempted to join a Confederate counterattack.

  Rob Shenk

• The Vermont Monument

  

  View of the Vermont Monument on the Wilderness Battlefield. The Vermont Brigade lost 1,234 soldiers during the intense fighting near the Brock Road.

  Rob Shenk

• Sun Beams in the Wilderness

  

  Sunlight filters its way to the forest floor on the Wilderness Battlefield.

  Chris Heisey

• Skeletons in the Wilderness

  

  View of three skeletons of soldiers in the Wilderness.

  Library of Congress

• Intersection in the Wilderness: The Brock and Orange Plank Roads

  

  View of the intersection of the Brock Road and Orange Plank Roads - scene of some of the toughest fighting during the Battle of the Wilderness

  Rob Shenk

• Confederate Artillery at the Widow Tapp Field

  

  View of a Confederate artillery piece on the Widow Tapp field on the Wilderness Battlefield.

  Chris Heisey

• 12th New Jersey Monument

  

  View of the 12th New Jersey Monument near the Brock Road on the Wilderness Battlefield.

  Rob Shenk

• The Widow Tapp Farm

  

  View of the Widow Tapp Farm field on the Wilderness Battlefield.

  Rob Shenk

• The Development Threat

  

  Civil War Trust map showing the close proximity of the proposed commercial development site at the Wilderness Battlefield. This proposed development is the most significant threat facing the Wilderness today.

  Civil War Trust

• Longstreet Wounding

  

  Marker showing the approximate location of the serious wounding of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet. Longstreet, like Stonewall Jackson a year earlier, was wounded in a friendly fire incident.

  Rob Shenk

• Harpers Weekly Coverage of the Wilderness

  

  Woodcut illustration made by Alfred Waud. This image shows Union soldiers under General Wadsworth fighting deep in the Wilderness.

  Library of Congress

• Fire in the Wilderness

  

  Civil War illustration of Union soldiers carrying wounded comrades to safety. Nearby fires are in the background.

  Library of Congress

• Wilderness Relic

  

  This segment of a tree on the Wilderness Battlefield sports two cannon balls embedded within the trunk. You can see this relic of the battle at Ellwood on the Wilderness Battlefield.

  NPS/Rob Shenk

• Heading South

  

  Civil War illustration showing Union soldiers cheering Grant shortly after his decision to march south, rather than back north.

  Library of Congress