It's 05/04/1864. Lieutenant Illy's s Grant and Major General George Meade have moved to the vast army of the Potomac across the Rabaudan River and into the fabled wilderness. Of Northern Virginia. Now, at the end of their first day, the Union Army believes they are miles away from any real danger. When they wake in the morning, you will discover a very different and dangerous situation. Welcome. To War Yankee. Greetings. I am Kyle in Bondo, and this is War Yankee Overland.
My American Civil War History Podcast follows General, Ulysses s Grant, and the Army of the Potomac on its 47 day 113 mile military campaign south from Culpepper to Petersburg, Virginia. In this episode, we've reached the night of 05/04/1864. Grant and Meade have decided what the next day's goal should be. And the core generals have all been given new orders to begin marching their soldiers at 5AM. By the end of the day, they expect the army of atomic to be out of the wilderness.
Oh, weren't that easy? So we pick up our story the evening of 05/04/1864. Now, from the last episode, you may remember that Grant established his headquarters down by the Rabaudan River. He crossed with the 6 corps, Sedgwick 6 corps. Later late in the in the morning towards the afternoon time and then stayed around the area to watch the crossing and has been in communication with general need throughout the day.
And while watching the crossing, he found an abandoned house in which he could set up his headquarters and he put his tent out front And now he is thinking about the day's events, watching troops cross the river and getting intelligence reports from all sorts of different sensors,
scouts. The signal station is still on Stoney Mountain, and Mount Pony is still relaying information back. Plus he's getting information from general mead and his staff of what is going on. In addition to things beyond his view, things like what's going on with General Sherman and General Butler and General Francisco
and the other elements within the Overland campaign. So Grant has been here for most of the day. And he wrote in his memoirs years later that if you could take the wagon train that he was watching come across Revnan River, and extend it end to end. It would extend from cold pepper to Richmond, which is so hundred miles away. So if you think about a wagon train extending from 1 part of Virginia to another part of Virginia, you have over a hundred miles. That's how long this massive movement was.
Because not just the torturous moving, but the supplies, the wagons, and everything else that got went with it. Was a never ending line of wagons. And they had marked the size of what each wagon contained when it came to livestock feed or soldier rations or ammunition, etcetera. And so each wagon was coming across full and then there were empties going back the other way.
Wagons horses, men, and cannons on small country roads just jam packed inside this dense and claustrophobic area of the wilderness. So the cold pepper road clogged with soldiers ending at their pontoon bridge of the rapidan, which are going single file over 2 different spans,
then 3 different roads coming off from the Germana Ford. And then converging back onto what is essentially either the Germana road, which becomes old plank road or plank road on its way to Chancesville and then beyond to Frederic This is the scene in which we pick up where the Union Army's at. And Grant is is stained by the river for a particular reason. He's waiting for Burnside's ninth Court to arrive. He's ordered them to make a night march, and he knows that Burnside is historically
slow. As he used to say in the the Union Army, something that Lincoln called McColloll all the time, he's got a case of the slows. So Grant is is staying by the bridges waiting for Burnside's knife core to arrive. So except for the constant traffic, of this nonstop wagon and soldier movement. Everything's very quiet. Everything is very quiet down by the river. Down by the river. All quiet on the river front. Which of course makes military men very nervous.
Now everything is going according to plan. That's not the nervous part. The nervous part is the enemy is lurking out there somewhere. And of course, there's assumptions where the enemy is, but every military man especially when you're moving troops through areas that are contested, you're gonna be thinking, did I do the right thing? Are my assumptions correct? Or I'm about to be attacked.
So that everyone's always has this level of heightened awareness when you're an area that you don't not familiar with, you don't know quite what is around every corner. And the wilderness is a perfect example of that. Not knowing what's around every corner is indicative of the wilderness. Thickets dense forest, can't see down roads, can't see around corners. Makes people nervous. So Grant retires to his HQ. He settles in for the evening.
And this is a simple tent. He's not carrying a lot with him. He's got 1 trunk, and he's told all his other officers to travel light. And even along the way, to where he's at in his headquarters. He's seen discarded elements of clothing, bed rolls, knapsacks because even the soldiers, as the sun came up, It's getting hot. I'm not gonna carry all this stuff. I'll be fine. I'll get it later. So that's all Grant's HQ really is. His night clothes, a couple coats, extra boots, that's all he has.
And then it's nothing more the headquarters itself, nothing more the empty house. That serving as a staff HQ, some place to roll out maps, rights, dispatches, correspondence, and his unremarkable tent is simply for sleeping. And then there's a cooking fire and a place to reflect outside his tent. That's the HQ of the 3 star general of the US Army. In on 05/04/1864.
And so what is Grant reflecting on? Well, Grant is reflecting on the operation so far. He understood Lee's actions for the past 24 hours, and he knew that Lee was advancing on mine run. They anticipated that. He knew that nothing about Lee's movements really upset the timetable. They're too far away to mount a successful counterattack or or counter flank maneuver around the Confederate right flank. So It wasn't really feeling the threat there.
It was no longer at risk of having Lee go across the river into cold pepper where there are no troops, any more attack DC because he had moved to the mine run defenses. He knew Leo's mobilizing. But the bulk of the rebel army still at least 20 miles away. And in 18 64, 20 miles is a long way, especially in men have to move on foot. So everything was pointing to Lee taking up the mind run defenses and no and then going no further. And that was okay. And while he's reflecting, he's got some
individuals around him. He's got figured or general John Aaron Rawlings around him, which is kind of a sickly guy. He's the Washington liaison that's making sure the messages are going back and forth to Washington that understands what they're doing. He's got lieutenant colonel Eli Samuel Parker. He's a full blooded khanawana band of the Seneca Indians. He's an engineer and Grant's military secretary.
You have colonel lieutenant Horace Porter, he's Grant A to Camp. He's the guy who understands how to write well. So he's making sure that all the correspondence sounds legitimate. He is He is Grant's confidant. Lieutenant colonel Adam Badot is there, and he's Grant Secretary. He's this high, strong, alcoholic who is a champion of journalism, who thinks that correspondence with journalists haven't reported around. It's not a bad idea. So there's these men around Grant, his 12 man staff.
And these are some of the officers that are there in his inner circle that are collected with him at the headquarters. And Grant's manor really is quite off putting to mead side of the fence. Because Grant's staff understands how Mead's works. They've a lot of these guys have been with him in the Vicksburg campaign. Or, you know, down on the Mississippi or in Chattanooga. But mead is still mead is still trying to figure out the man.
And in the past month of no getting to no grant means learn some things about him. He's he definitely knows that he remembers faces and names. Something that is a really interesting habit that is noted many times in in Grant's history. That some officers even said that after 20 years of meeting them, he remembered their name. That's interesting. He he would sit around and tell good war stories. He lived to tell stories around the Camp Fire. He had very good manners.
To the point where he never cursed or never even raised his voice to a high level unless he was surprised or or incredibly angry, so he's not quick to temper, unlike mead who explodes at a moment's notice. He was very civil to ladies when women walked into the room or were nearby he would stand and take his hat off and bow, Grant was shirtless in that regard. Where other officers were not. An interesting thing about his his sparse camp area for his headquarters
is that Grant could fall asleep anywhere. And this is a a trick that a lot of soldiers and sailors have. Is the learning that you can really, you know, their everything is a bed, even standing up is a bed. Well, as it was said that Grant could fall asleep anywhere. So why have all this lavish extravagance if a caught and a tent will do? And his self confidence was was something that was impacting
the officers he was talking to. He because he was a good communicator. And he's sharing info from 1 officer to the to the other, and getting their opinions and having them talk with each other. He was collaborating with them, not dictating to them, or lecturing them. And even at this campfire, his cooking fire, he didn't eat a whole lot. He liked his meat well done as my father would call it Greek offerings, where it's all burnt.
No blood. He liked his meat well done, and he was not really a fan of food with 2 legs. So he wouldn't eat a whole lot. And Grant, not a very big man as it is anyway. So eating sparingly means that he didn't have to carry a lot of food with him. His his staff didn't have to find a lot of food for him. A lot of times he'd eat what the soldiers were eating, if you could stomach it.
So when me to arrives to talk to Grant that evening, the the evening was like a summer day, not a spring day. Remember it's May, but Virginia May's are deceptive because it could be hot and muggy. Could feel a lot warmer than really is. But down by the river, there's a nice, you know, the sounds, the backgrounds of river flowing. Very tranquil. Along with just the, you know, the movement of wagons and men.
And Grant invited me to sit there by the campfire, light up a cigar, grab a drink of coffee, and they would talk he and his staff, or me and his staff would have conversations, tell war stories, talk about the day's events. And couriers would come and go during his entire time. And this fire they had started with fence rails was inviting to share and get to know each other. So again, while the darkness fell, smoking their cigars,
need and grant sat and smoked and clocked by this open fire. And everything is going slow, but it's an orderly fashion. And between me and Grant, They're they're getting to know each other. They're getting to understand each other's mannerisms slowly. So everything, although their relationship is going slow, so is the traffic around them going slow, so is the the movement of the armies going slow. But it's orderly. And orderly is okay. And so in the less stress of the campfire,
Grant and me talk about the next day goals. And what the army would be doing in the morning. So some of these goals surrounded the intelligency we're receiving. Me delivered a grant, the intelligence he received from Wilson's cavalry scouts that had probed all the way out down farm roads and main roads along a 10 mile front. And they had ranged east and south as far as the carpathian road.
And his scout had even gone near mine run, and they had skirmished. Wilson had reported the fifth New York cavalry had skirmish with the enemy scouts a mile east of mine run, which confirmed their intelligence report that Lee had moved troops there.
Wilson had even reported that they had found and captured a few Confederate scouts. And a strange thing about the civil war is captured soldiers tend to chat Wilson had discovered from these confederate scouts that Lee's main corps was still in Orange Court House 30 miles away. And except for these few scouts they had captured,
or path to travelers down the road. They had not seen any rebels throughout the day. So Wilson had ensured me via messenger that there were patrols and advance parties well out to Pennsylvania and Orange roads. Meade is under the understanding that Wilson has calvary scouts along all the roads the union army is touching at this moment.
And furthermore, Wilson had heard rumors that there was confederates even seen as far away as Fredericksburg in a place called Hamilton's Crossing and possibly even sponsoring a courthouse, they had heard rumors that the Confederate cavalry general Jeb Stuart and his rebel horsemen were active in that area.
Now grant thought Stuart horsemen could threaten the entire supply train. Especially if it turned out not to be imaginary. A lot of times they would call rumor intelligence or ruminant and a rumor in the military. A lot of times, it's just a premature fact. So they're taking it as gospels. Wilson's hearing and relating this information back to me to and grant that possibly Jeb Stewart's cavalry is out there. That's true. The supply line is could be in danger. That could be a problem.
So they both agreed to make cavalry assignments in the morning to protect the wagons. Rather than send the cavalry out, in advance and down these roads and support Wilson after the crossing has taken place. They're gonna now order major general, Philip Sheridan, who's now in command of the cavalry, to stay with the supply line, to stay with the Wagons,
especially since Burnside's ninth Court has yet to arrive. The cavalry is going to be the protector of the wagon train. Grant cannot allow the wagon train or the supply line to be disrupted. So they would refocus a cavalry, especially if Stewart is a threat to the east towards Fredericksburg. So the cavalry is gonna go and be the screen between whatever threats out there, consider a cavalry and the supply chain.
And, you know, in some ways, be the eyes and ears of the of the of the military, but that's gonna be more Wilson's job with his smallest amount of his cavalry division. He alone will now screen Warren, Sedgwick and Hancock's core. And he's only got 3500 troopers to cover a 10 mile front and you think 3500 is a lot, but 10 miles of the wilderness is a lot. That is having troopers spread out over a large track of land. And Wilson is the newest commander.
He's a topography officer. He's a good engineer. He's experienced engineer, but he's a new cavalry officer. With the smallest division, and now Grant and Meade have put their confidence in him to handle an assignment without any additional men. Now, this problem of having 3500 troopers cover the 10 mile front with an officer
who's new to the cavalry will come back to hunt them later. But right now, that is the that is the setup for tomorrow morning. For 05/05/1864, Greg and his cavalry forces and with Phil Phil Sheridan, they are gonna push out towards Fredericksburg to block or screen from the phantom cavalry of the Confederacy. Wilson will cover the entire corps. The hundred thousand men moving through the wilderness That'll be Wilson's job with his his 3500 troopers.
Before I get into what happens as the army of Potomac bids down for the night. I wanna first talk to you about the American Battlefield Trust. If you love Civil War history, then I wanna take a brief moment to remind you of a profound statement from Abraham Lincoln. He said, the world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
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In the darkness, at the end of the day, formation of the army of the Potomac is Sedgwick is camped between Germana Ford and Spotswood Plantation, which is only about 2 or 3 miles away from the Germana Ford at self. And they're still crossing the rapidan as the sun goes down. They're still wagons coming across the rapidan river just because it's dark, doesn't mean you can stop these wagons. Can't wait for morning. They're gonna move nonstop to convoy. Meanwhile, Hancock is camped at Chancesville,
And they too are still crossing an Eli's Ford. So there's more and more and more coming across Eli's Ford as well in the Chancesville. And Warren is in the center. Warren is camped at Wilderness Tavern. Warren's fifth course arrayed around the Germanan orange crossroads. And at at this location in a place called L Wood, which is where the Lacey family is based out of his beautiful red house, wide open fields Warren has majority of his artillery
sitting on their front lawn. And it's just kind of haphazardly arrayed because they don't expect any threat to come from orange turnpike. They already got reports from Wilson saying that orange turnpike is clear. The orange planck road is clear. There's nothing out there. Lee stopped at mines run. That's where everything is at. So there's no threat. Additionally, just to protect
the flank or the that area of Orange Flank Road, Warren has his lead division at the time under the commander of brigadier general Charles Griffin. They have been bivawacking a mile west of the Willord's tavern along the orange turnpike. So if anything does come down the orange turnpike, griffins per grade is is there and waiting. And Griffin has even further put tickets out on the turnpike, but there's no cause for alarm because there's no 1 out there.
But this is the the way, you know, when they come to a stop, this is how these armies are used to organizing themselves. They're used to putting the pickets out These are their their scouts, their alarm system. Hey, who goes there? Because it's better to have a little bit of warning than no warning at all.
And they know Wilson's watching the roads because he's reported a more clear enemy, that meant that the nearest rebel force is least 12 miles away. Griffin didn't think there was a threat coming down orange turnpike either. I mean, orange courthouse is 30 miles away. Mine run. 12 some odd miles away. Nothing's going on that way. So at the end of the day,
24 hours after leaving cold pepper, the army has moved across the right hand. And yeah, they're stuck in the wilderness. But Warren Knead and even Gran are relieved that Lee's movements have been slow. So me openly expressed that he believes that Lee would fight behind mine run rather than hit the Union Army in the wilderness. That's what he believes. He's got intelligence to back that up and everything is telling him that Lee is still far away and they've relaxed.
And Grant agrees with mead success the assessment. And Grant is already heard from other fronts. He already knows that Sherman Butler and Siegel are underway. So he's he's he knows that the giant operation has moved very well on day 1. So at the end of their end of their engagement media issues orders to all the forces that they will begin marching at 5AM.
The supply train will just continue, especially with new and improved wooden pontoon bridges over the Germana and ELIS 4 will get the entire supply train over
Hancock is gonna proceed down the Brock Road towards spots on your courthouse. That's their objective. And he's supposed to reach that by the end of the day on the May fifth. Sedgwick will take Warren's position as Warren moves out of Waldron's tavern, and Warren's going to move into Orange Plank Road area down Parker Store because If they do decide to come out of mind run the next day, then Warren will be the front.
Sedgwick will then become his right flank, and Hancock will become his left flank and they'll be out of the wilderness almost facing each other at that point. That's their expected expectation. And Burnside's knife core will arrive the morning of the fifth. To then be the rearguard and replace the cavalry and defend the supply chain.
So everyone has their orders They know when Burnside arrives, Sedgwick will start moving, Warren will start moving, Hancock will start moving, and everything will start moving down the Orange Flank Road towards Parker Store, down the Brock Road towards possibly a courthouse. That's their goal. They'll have a good line of defense for any confederate movements from the west. And if Lee moves out of mines and run defenses near orange, they'll be ready.
It's an interesting footnote A historian Gordon Rae states in his book the Battle of the Wilderness, quote, there is something about the Wilderness that seems to cloud yankee minds. And this is because a year before, they had made the same mistake with the cavalry. They didn't use cavalry to recon Lee's movements. They use their cavalry as screens for other things. And because they don't effectively use their cavalry, to keep constant tabs on the enemy,
the enemy tends to move when you don't expect them to. With their decision to spend the night in the wilderness, combined with this unfortunate light cavalry patrols with trust put into an inexperienced officer, which is Wilson, who although as an experienced officer for engineering, not for cavalry, they have this false sense of security. So they've they've set their plans, grant mead and the arbitomic are all ready to go in the morning. So they go to bed for the night.
The long quiet night in the wilderness. Warren has greater general Griffin positioned to block orange turnpike, just in case. Griffin got his pickets out. And from where Grant and Mead sit, things are going well the sunsets. And an interesting thing happens. Just before nightfall, A soldier from the first Michigan regiment notices a puff of smoke on the horizon just over the tree line. It seems to be coming from campfires only a few miles away.
And he sees this and finds that rather odd, so he is a dutiful soldier he goes and reports it. And it goes up the chain. And after reporting this, he's told that it was nothing. It's probably federal calvaryman probably Wilson's pickets a long orange turnpike. Because a common tactic of cavalry is to ride down to certain areas and then set up camps to watch places like roads or enemy activity. So this first Michigan soldier is told all as well, There's nothing to worry about.
It's probably Union Calvary. And with that, griffin's men settle in for the night. Must be nothing. And this is the problem with assumptions in war because assumptions in war are dangerous. Because they've made a mistake that they're not even aware of yet. Because like I said, with Wilson as an excellent engineer, he's a very inexperienced Calgary officer someone call him a green horn. Very little field experience, especially with the orders he was given.
He thinks he should be out scouting or screening ahead of the army also not blocking these roads as everyone expected him to be doing. And that means that he's not covering every trailer road from here to the rapidan. Because of his inexperience and conflicting orders on the evening of May fourth, Wilson doesn't have any calvary men on Orange Turnpike. He didn't think he had to leave any there because the army was set to move quickly in the morning. Along with all their other cavalry.
And since none of Wilson's troopers encountered any confederates on the road, they didn't think they should waste any men by leaving him there. This means Warren and the entire fifth corps are unaware that they do not have calvary scouts out to their west, their right flank down orange turnpike road. So if Wilson does not have troopers on their orange turnpike, what this first Michigan soldier sees in the distance. It's not Wilson's Calvironman. Then who do those distant campfires belong to?
In the next episode of War Yankee, the army of the Potomac is all set to begin marching at 5AM on 05/05/1864. But the Camp Fire that 1 young first Michigan soldier spotted the night before is about to come back to haunt them. And before the army has even begun to march itself out of the valuable wilderness, things take a turn for the worst. Or Yankee Overland is my American Civil War History podcast created by me, Kyle and Bondo. And produced by Gagapod.
I hope you can join me as I continue to follow the civil war history. I need to get my own backyard. While the Overland campaign marks the Petersburg, at warringy dot com.