Overland.14: The Wild, Wicked Roar

It's 1PM on 05/05/1864. Grant has given the order, born has given the signal. And now Griffin and Wadsworth's divisions are emerging from the eastern edge of Saunders' field to pitch into the enemy. However, as a bugle sound and the men rise of their feet, a wild and wicked roar erupts from the competitive defenses just as colonel Patty Ryan and his hundred and fortieth New York's Oahu. Charge forward to race across 400 yards of open ground. Welcome to War Yankee.

Greetings. I am Kyle in Bondo, and this is War Yankee Overland. My American Civil War History Podcast that follows generally Lizzie's s Grant in the army of the Atomic. On its 47 day, a hundred and 13 mile military campaign south, from Culpepper to Petersburg, Virginia. In this episode, the first large scale engagement of the battle Wilderness is starting, the Battle of Saunders' Field. And I broke this battle up into pieces because it's complex.

There is a lot of moving parts and a lot of confusion in the timeline of how this takes place. This battle is big, covers a lot of ground and it's confusing because it's hidden in the woods on various parts of it. And there's a lot of opportunities lost. There's a lot of attacks and counter attacks that take place where a decisive victory is hard to Damn. It's hard to give anybody the win, the w in his battle.

And there's a lot of historians that say that this is Grant's first failure and Lee's greatest, 1 of his greatest triumphs that he stopped the battle of the army, the Batomik, from going to Richmond and It's Lee's ability to to prevent the union from moving forward, blah blah blah. This battle is the first time these generals have ever met each other. This is the first time they've ever come in contact in regards of grant leading an army and making decisions about that army.

And this is also the first time that leaves a little bit on his on his heels. I mean, they're expecting mines run, they're expecting this attack of coming across the river. At least caught a little off guard about how quickly the the army moved, but he's responding. He's reacting. And he's he's got the advantage of reacting, but the advantage is tough because he has to move his giant army to a place that can counteract Grant, and this is where they meet. But here's the problem.

Grande has moved a majority of his army across the Rabaudan River into the wilderness. Yes. It's a horrible place to be at the moment. But he's moved a lot of his men into this position. Lee, on the other hand, is still pulling forces out of mine's run, out of Orange County, and trying to get them to the battle. So not everyone's there yet. So Grant in pushing Warren and Mead to hit the confederates as hard as possible, is under the assumption due to available intelligence he has at the time.

That the confederates are trying to block the union army in the wilderness or hold them there till the rest of the army gets there. And he's not wrong. And this is the orders that Lee has given his generals. And in this battle, we're Yuval is the is the general who's in charge of the Confederate forces, which is a little large part Regiments made up of Virginians. There's some North Carolanians and some Georgians and some Alabamans. Is that is that a word Alabama? Alabamaans?

Put 60 to 70 percent of the division or the core that's in front of them are Virginians. They're from this part of the country. They know these woods. Their hometown is not far away. They've ridden horses, they've played in the tree line, they've climbed these trees, they've run these creeks. They know this like the back of their hand. But that doesn't stop the fact that they're about to be hit with thousands of union forces.

Just because you know the train doesn't automatically give you all the advantage, but as we will come to find that it gives them enough advantage that even though the confederate army is not entirely in place the Union Army has all its problems and its baggage that it carries with it in this fight. And that's what happens at 1PM. Is this fight is about is taking place? Patty Ryan's hundred and 40 New York is

straddling the orange term pike. And if you think of the orange term pike, we've talked about this in past episodes of that that that that wagon road that drives to the middle of this open cornfield, if you could call it a cornfield, is to the to the right of this field to the north of this field. There's If you go to the battle of Wilderness, the visitor center is realistically where the hundred and fortieth do do most of their activities. There's a monument there for them.

There is a lot of the the murals, the highlight, the hundred and fortyth, hundred and 46 Zolobbs. And there is cannons sitting there that will come into play too. They're not exactly where they're supposed to be. They're actually a little more into the field. But it really doesn't matter because it's a straight road. And in 18 64, it was kind of a windy road talked about this before by the Virginia rolling terrain and the ruts and the mud

and it rained all April I imagine those ruts are pretty deep. And now it's the the hot day on May fifth. And they're lined up on the tree line. Now, I've stood in that tree line and conducted some experiments. And 1 of those experiments was to I I have a what's called a plate carrier. If you don't know what that is, just think of any modern image of soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.

A plate carrier carries ceramic plates to stop bullets. It's really bulletproof vest. And a lot of times a plate carrier, the ceramic plates are quarter inch thick. They depending on what kind they are, they can be they can be kinda heavy. But a a good way to to exercise is to buy yourself a plate carrier and then buy yourself just metal plates. You can just carry them around and and run around to to simulate the weight as if you were carrying real planes.

And it's a it's a exercise hold the gunking. With the backpack, the water tip, the desk on, you walk, you go for walk. Pretty simple. This is a I've put the plate carrier on and the backpack on. So I have roughly 16 and 7 pounds Trying to simulate what it would be like to be a useful hack at the bottle. On this video. And, personally, I wanna go go on the rifle with me, but the the whole thing my grandfather is rifle. They're not lights, but not they are solid.

I I often joke with my my best friend about I think The reason why our ancestors were so lucky is because of the confessions because you gotta get mad so many times. If you took 1 of those Civil War rifle that fits on the head with it, I am amazed that their skull is displayed. It is a solid heavy rifle. And steel and wood, it is a beast. But somewhere in the clothing, that heavy wool clothing in its hot day. Imagine they're sweating.

I mean, the sun is just is already wet. It's at the height. 01:00. It's right above them. It's an open field. They're coming out of the coolness of the forest. If you can call it cold, it's Virginia. So, you know, it's like breathing water. To the humidity and they're sweating and they're covered in dirt because they were just laying in the dirt and they come through the branches and the cobwebs because they're spiders are the wearing. They've been they got ticks on them and mosquitoes.

And as they're Emerging to the openness of Saunders' field off in the distance, they can see a cloth, a shallow ridge men digging, trees being lined up, or mix shift, earthworks, and the occasional hotshot, you're there. As the approach, and now they're being told by their commanding officer. That it's time to go into the field,

which they know the minute they emerge in this field. It's not gonna just be potshots. It's gonna be and what we what I I sent the opening. It's gonna be a wild and wicked roar of muscat tree.

Back to veterans called it this multiple times. And if you go there, there the the quote is on 1 of the national park boards about their experience of what happens as they step out of this woods. So that's the that's the the set up. That's the stage. Zo ops are right there, the road to their left because they're using it as a landmark. And to their right are 5 regimental battalions of US regulars.

So you have the United States regular battalions to their rights. So you're looking at of a thousand men. Standing there, ready to go. And they're looking at no man's land, and now they have to cross it. And then you have to imagine what goes through a man's mind, standing there. Now, I like to flip this around to think about, so the confederates have arrived and they've dug in and they've been told that to engage. But here they, you know, they they're kind of engaging. And Lee's not there.

To scold you on getting too close to the to the union line. So they're preparing themselves for what's about to hit them. They see this line of blue. And in the Zoloft case, you know, red, yellow, and white. They they see this in coming to the tree lawn. They know what's about to happen. So they're getting ready too. They get the ram already get the powder ready, get the calf ready, get the rifles ready, a lot of rifles are ready to be fired, they haven't fired yet. And here comes

this line. Now to the hundred and forty's left is Burnett's men and all the thousands of men on the south side of this yield wind up as well to the forest line and then into the forest and then off to their right, those US regulars go off into the woods. So there's a lot more men that meets the eye on both sides. They can see all the movement here all the way. Imagine thousands of men trapeze in through the forest It has to be loud.

And then they get the signal. Internal paddy gets up. Good number. Lost his sword, so he's got his hat in his hand. He will stand up or double quick charge. And leaving his men and swinging his hat. His troops cheer, push forward, direction the trees. And to begin this quarter mile sprint, it's towards depth. And as they emerge out of the tree log, the wild and wicked boar Muscat tree sounds. The confederates now have clear targets all the way across the field. It's targets of opportunity.

As these men move forward, 2 lines deep in some places. They come out of the Sunlight clearing, Why this could you imagine the buttons and the the insignias of their divisions on their caps? And the shine on their rifles, which is just lit the whole place up and they move out of the tree line into the clearing. And the confederates now with clear lines of sight no longer is it skirmishers or snipers, it's regular

soldiers who have all been just waiting and buying their time. You can imagine their commanders like wait, old man, old And then as the union forces step out of the trees and then the distance of your arm, as they come forward, and that confederate Captain swings the sword forward and says fire and boom. Okay. Well, all those bullets go into the blue line. It's in crackling, ear splitting roar. Of all these muskets thousands of muskets going on.

So imagine what that must be like. Let's flip it around. Union soldier. He's he's pumped. Okay. Alright. Got my rifle. Okay. Captain's forward, he says charge step out in the woods and your buddy right next to you. It's the dirt, but you don't have time. You start moving forward. The guy next to you, he hits the dirt. Don't have time. Keep moving forward. And as the line moves forward, This guy drops. That guy drops. This guy's head explodes. That guy takes his his knees gone.

These guys start screaming and dropping, but you're moving forward. You're moving forward. That's behind you. All you see is the explosion of rifles in front of you as you move forward. And I go back to that that that time that I talked about standing there on the edge of the field. With my my plate carrier on, my backpack, and I started stepping forward from that line. And now a lot more trees have grown since then, so it's it's kinda

it's rough. It's a fuzzy area. I don't know exactly where the charge starts, but you get a a good idea. And if you start moving forward, the first thing you realize is the ground starts to slope downwards and it goes back up. So you're going downwards as you move forward. The other thing you realize is how far away that is. Now, technology at the time, the rifles aren't I mean, they're not bad. But you have to be well trained to shoot straight at that range. So the first few yards.

Some men go down. Some men get hit. I mean, it's kinda hard to miss. If you just kinda shoot in that general direction, you're gonna hit guys. But as they're moving and as they're moving downwards, they're changing elevation and your your rifles plus also you're getting shot back at some places, some of these men are moving forward and not even firing at you, but there might be firing coming out of the woods firing of union forces from other places.

But as as a confederate soldier, you're pretty safe in your spot to take aim and shoot. But as they get closer, it becomes easier and easier and easier to hit 1 of these guys. So there's bullets and people dropping everywhere as they move out of this tree line. So the hundred and fortieth moving into this was storm of metal.

You can better start making widows. Of the women from New York, but it doesn't stop these guys. Now, put yourself in the position where A group of men come out of the woods, so you shoot your rifles and you kill a couple of them and win many of them and they're still coming at you. So now you've shot your rifle.

Now you have to do what? You have to reload the thing, so you drop the rifle and you reload. And a lot of times, there are men standing there whose whole job was to reload the rifle and hand a loaded rifle back to the guy who could actually shoot. That happens. But with not a lot of confederates there, maybe they're all having to reload their own.

The soldiers, you know, the soldiers' job. So he's he's watching these men come out of the woods and they're coming closer and closer and getting faster and faster. He's got his rifle, he's gonna pour his powder, put the cap in, put the ball in, tamp it down, cock it back. What does that take? 20, 30 seconds. So I'm in and I'm very good at it. 60 seconds. So I go back to my experiment. How far do I get in 60 seconds? Get pretty far. It's only 400 yards.

With all that weight on, even moving at a good trot, not sprinting. Moving at a good trot, double time, because you could call it. I get almost to the swell in about a minute. So let's say 2 minutes is the halfway mark. And I call it the swale. It's been called the swale, the gully, the ditch. It's a water feature that moves to the center of Saunders' field.

And it's not much to it. And the north side has a lot more protection than the southern side. The southern side, it kinda flattens out. It's not a incredibly deep place. And it's very difficult to to avoid getting shot from inside this thing. If you could make yourself really small, which is I remember that's a military term. Before covering concealment. Make yourself very very small. Make yourself a tiny target. You could probably avoid

taking a bullet. In that area. As long as you keep your head down, don't have your head bobbing around like a pumpkin. But the goalie, the swale, the ditch, the creek, whatever. I'm gonna call it the Gully. Let's call it the Gully. Well, I'll greet the Gully. You think it's a whale? Well, more power to you. Think swells a weird word. So or you call it a ditch. I'm gonna call it a gully. It's the gully. So we're going to the gully, which is wet. It's got some watery

look in it, trench between hills really to the gully, it cuts diagonally across Andresfield. And it's at the bottom of the hill. So halfway that 2 minute mark, everyone makes it to the gully of death. So for 2 minutes, they have been shot at by hundreds of Virginians And in this case, the North Carolinians, I think, are in are, like, right across the the orange turnpike. They're right at the where the road it comes across. The rest of them are all Virginians.

And if you believe the history of the Virgin Islands, A lot of them hunt deer, good shots. Let's assume that that that they're all very good marksman or at least decent marksman. They only know their way around a rifle. And they've been fighting this this war for 4 years now. So there are lots of veterans. Unlike the Union Army that has guys who go home and conscripts and constant reinforcements. The confederates have been fighting this from from the beginning. So they're good at what they do.

They've become masters of death. So you imagine when the men reached the gully. Rather than continuing up the hill, a lot of them seek refuge. They're tired of being shot at for 2 minutes, so they start piling up in this in this gully. Because they don't want to be shot. And it's low enough on the north side of the battlefield that it it gives you enough shadow from where the confederates have set up their earthworks. But they know they can't stay there for long.

And the US battalions moving off to their right are starting to pile up into this small little gully tube, and they have to keep moving because there's more and more men coming trying to pile themselves into this ditch. It's getting crowded. The confederates have something that the union forces are unaware of. They become aware of it very quickly. And that is because Sedgwick's His entire sixth corps being led by rights is bogged down in the forests maybe mile or 2 away.

So as they start piling up in this gully, the Virginians who stretch off into the forest lot further away than the US regulars are at. Here are all the shooting. See all the shooting. Don't see any union people in front of them. I start getting curious. Well, there's nobody in front of us Where are they? This becomes a this has become very important very quickly. So we're at the 2 minute mark. Piling up and they realize they gotta keep moving forward.

They gotta keep moving forward to the they have to go and hit the confederates head on, or the the violence being thrown down on them will not Stop. And this is where some heroes emerge. 1 of them, I'd like to highlight.

Because we're gonna get deep into the hundred and fortieth here. This is a a gentleman from New York named John Patterson. Now he enlisted as a first lieutenant in the eleventh US infantry, the regular battalion, after Fort Sumner. So he's been Oh, he's been in this war since the beginning, but he didn't go to West Point. So he's a he's a commission officer without a professional military training. And he's leading the men of the eleventh US regular battalion.

And he's right alongside his sister regiments. He's in the middle. You got the hundred and fortieth on the left. You have Patterson's the eleventh middle the eleventh infantry and they're advancing in the wood line. So remember, saunders steals off very big. So if you have 5 US regular battalions underwrites of the hundred fortieth, and Patterson is in the eleventh, and he's in the woods. That means there are 3 battalions in the woods and only 2 on that field.

So what do we know about the what do we know with the hell of a willingness that we know about the woods, that the woods is a character in this story, which means is the hundred and fortieth and the first 2 US regular battalions move forward. The other 3 are in that wood line, trenching through, slashing through, trying to keep their lines straight.

And the rebels are opening up opening fire on them through the woodline because they're really struggling to be cleanly dressed as if they're on parade. Their information. They're very well trained. And the rebels are working their lines. Like a machine gun. They're going from the left to the right, they're raking, and then flicking as much damage as they could possibly do.

For the first time, they rake them through the tree line, they don't make a whole lot of damage because they see the regular battalions, the woods, prevent a lot of that. And the distance as well, but the second sheet of fires they move forward, that's when men start to fall. That's as they start to get close. Men start to drop.

And in the woodline, that gully gets shallow again. And then remember just a few minutes ago, we talked about the Virginians looking forward to hearing all the shooting and not seeing any union forces. And they quickly realized that's because there's nobody in front of them. So they began to swing themselves out of their earthworks and onto the right flank of the US regular propellants. Who because right and Sidewick are not there,

have they're hanging in the air, as they call it. Their flank is wide open, and they didn't dress their flank to be ready to accept an assault. So the Virginians have come out of their earthworks through the woods and realized that the US regular battalions have nobody looking at them. They're all looking forward They don't see the Virginians about the Salem from their right.

Additionally, as they get close, and his first wave hits them in the second wave of bullets hit them and the third wave of bullets hit them. The union soldiers who are moving forward okay, they're buddy droppings and they're keep out of your mind forward. Remember from your training? And then they look around and realize that

Past, their units gone. Because by the time the third wave has hit the US regulars, there are men cap holding at all sorts of directions and clumps of 8 and 10 as waves of bullets keep hitting them. And when you are a newly conscript did union soldier, and 8 of you guys in your unit just dropped dead wounded hit the ground. It makes you reconsider which direction you're going. So Patterson in the eleventh is having an difficulty keeping these men going, they're starting to to to flinch

as bullets are hitting all over the place. It is an onslaught of bullets hitting them. And then the bullets start coming from their right. And he realizes Oh my god. We're being flanked. Those aren't bullets coming from the front. Those are bullets coming from the right hand side. That's why everyone's dropping so quickly. And the Virginians have come out of their Earthworks, Arnard just raking the eleventh US battalion, among the others.

There's some historical accounts of the position of the Gully that has a direct impact on what happens here. Now.

It's at an angle. When the 400 forties hit the goalie and then they regroup themselves and then they move up the hill again. They're no longer moving straight with the turnpike directly on their left. They're now moving slightly towards the turnpike. While the US regulars because the the goalie gets shallower and shallower as it moves into the woods, they don't experience that angling

So they're moving straight ahead. And I can imagine what happens. Well, you have 5 regiments or battalions moving straight ahead. And then suddenly the the hundred and fortieth move off at a 20 or 30 degree angle to the left. Gap opens. And so the regulars are moving further and further away from the hundred and fortieth who are moving up the hill. There's an opening appearing within the line.

And then there's a group of them stuck in the trees, and now you have the 20 third and 30 seventh Virginia imagery units coming in close to the US regulars the eleventh and hammering them from the woods. And as the US, as the eleventh US pressed forward and beyond the field to Western Edge, now they're slugging out these Virginians in the woods. Now it's every man for himself. And the US regulars are direct contact

with the Virginians that have come out of their earthworks. And it's all of the woods out of sight to where no 1 can really see what's going on on the far north side of the battlefield. It's a confusing mess going on inside the tree line. That's happened. No one's quite realized that the confederates have outflanked them.

Now, meanwhile, the hundred and fortieth New York has moved forward and pulled away from the US regulars. You're tucking fighter and so on and left the the woodline, hit the Gully, and are coming up the hill. And now the huge gap is mode, is formed. And as the New York move forward, now their flank is exposed. So you have these Virginians who are shooting at them.

And you have these Virginians looking at the US regulators move away to to 1 side of the battlefield and then New York's the hundred and fourth New York going another way in the battlefield, and you realize that, well, heck, nobody there to stop me to kind of step out and hit those, you know, on the fortieth right from the side.

This begins to taro pieces of the hundred and fortieth off as they continue them move forward. But the advantage of the hundred fortieth versus the US Italian. Because it works both ways, because the Virginians can turn to their left too and hit the US battalions from the flank. So now they're hit from both flanks. And as the hundred and 40 from before, they're being hit from their flank.

Maybe even both sides, depending on as we'll talk about what happens to carpet, but at least from their right with that giant gap opening up in the middle. The advantage to the hundred and fortieth is they are tough guys. They aren't staggered by this heavy fire. They're moving straight into it. So, like in the last episode where we juxtaposed, thezo ops versus the US regulars. US regulars, peoples are dropping and getting a little hesitant. Not the hundred and fortieth.

Those men were running. They're going straight into the Confederate line. And now we're at 4 minutes. And that was my experiment. How long would it take me with heavy weight on to move from 1 side of Saunders' field where the hundred and fortieth started to the other side of Saunders' field where the hundred and fortieth reaches the confederate line. It roughly took me 4 minutes.

So imagine in 4 minutes, actually took me longer to explain what happened than it took them to cross the field, but still in 4 minutes, how many times the confederates reload their rifles and shoot. How many men are scattered across that field behind them? How many are left by the time they reach that line? Now, thankfully, the Zowards live up to the reputation. But what the federals do not know is that the defendants were not supposed to get involved in his general engagements.

They don't know that the the confederates didn't pick the front of the hill. They picked the back of the hill. To set up their earthworks. There's a curve there. And this saves some of the hundred and fortieth as they come up this hill. Because there's a there's some weird, shallow, shadowing spots on that hill where you can't see the confederate line. So there's a moment where you're not being shot at from McGully up.

And this is where thezoaves regroup and charge up the hill, and they're coming straight at the confederate. And the Virginians in North Carolina is looking at that fact that the hundred and 40 or the hundred and 40 North is not light. It looks very good. And they're about to be hit. The commanders begin to discuss, hey, I don't want to be hit by the Zooms because when they hit us in the next minute, we're gonna be overrun.

Because remember, you know, it's just a sort of of engagement and general engagement. And if you do, you need to pull back. So the confederates are thinking about

pulling their line about being hit by a hundred and 40. Because they don't know what's gonna hit the next. They don't know how many men are gonna come out on that tree line. They're a little bit in the dark of the union disposition just as much as the union is in the dark about the competitor disposition. They don't wanna be overrun. So the commanders tell their men, everyone get ready. We're gonna hit the Zoab's head on.

So as the Zooms come screaming up the hill, the Virginians step out of their earthworks and they charge direct into the hundred and 40 is New York's momentum as it comes. In which case, both these groups of men The New York hundred and fortieth in the North Carolina and the Virginians, which is at the first and third North Carolina and the tenth and 20 third Virginians. Slammed violently into China.

Now if you could imagine, the hundred and fortieth may have they may have shot once, maybe at the gauntlet, they have shot at the horn, and they've reloaded once. But they haven't really given the Virginian North Carolina's the watchful and quiet yet, while the Virginian's North Carolina's been pouring led down on them. But as they come into contact, it stops becoming a shootout. It becomes hand to hand combat and it's savage. These these Zoaves

are good at hand to hand combat. Just like the Virginians are good. The veterans of the Virginians in North Carolina are good at hand to hand combat. And it is an all out a ball at the top of this hill. If you go to the park and you walk the trail past the hundred and 40 marker and get to the top of the hill, from this this this area where the trail

I think it turns to the right, and that's where the the confederate earthworks begin. You see that competitor earthworks are back back on the back side of the hill, which is unusual. But if you can imagine, if you stand in that place, at 4 minutes, 4 minutes. It took you to get to that spot and you've been shot at and your friends been hit and you you don't know where half your men are and you've your adrenaline is pumping and you want to make these guys pay.

You can't imagine the brutality that takes place, and it is so intense that Even though the Virginians and North Carolina came out of their trenches to hit the Zowave's head on, no rifle to rifle and the butt stroke. And punch the face and the kick and the stab with a knife or a shot with a pistol or I kick you in the chin or punch you in the nose. And then it's It's hatchets and and bayonets.

And then it's I'm hitting you with the broken piece of my rifle or a stick or I pound your face in with a rock. I mean brutal. The Zowards are so intensely angry. That the Virginians are real and the North Chileans realize they're not going to stop these crazy dudes from New York. And they pull back. You can imagine the bodies. Just just imagine the needle. You think about these 2 lines at each other to shoot each other, you know.

Good old civilized, you know. Bing bang, Bing bang, oh, you beat me. I withdraw. Nuh-uh. This is this is straight up brutality, and the Zowards are done. They want their pound to flesh. And Virginia's North Carolinians, I can imagine many of them dead on the ground beaten the head, hit with a rock, stabbed, and these guys are screaming and yelling at them. And their commanders are like, okay, we need to pull back to our second defenses, and that's what happens.

The Virginians and the archalians fall back from the hundred fortieth brutal and aggressive charge right into their line.

There's a moment. There's a moment. This battle could have gone another way, and it's right here. It's right here with the zaws, have grabbed the Confederate line but have built buckled. And they've hit them so hard that regardless of how many Zoa bodies are behind them, they hit the Virginian and North Carolanians so hard. The confederate line buckles.

And as the Soviets hit that confederate line, errors in Griffin and Warren missed their opportunity because the battlefield, the smoke, the trees, the distance. They've hit that line so hard. They pushed them back into the tree line, and thezoas are starting to disappear over that hill. And if they had known, that that happened. The Zowards have actually had success right there. They've acted sooner.

They could have put reinforces right there. It could have pushed that line right there, but they missed their opportunity. And why they missed their opportunity? Well, I talked about It's not it's not that thick yet. The smoke, but it's thick enough. And they're back far enough. And the fighting and the mixing of men at that line is brutal enough. It's kinda hard to see what's happening. They don't quite understand what the dissolves have accomplished at that point.

And realistically, what I think is happening is that Warren and heirs and Griffin are paying attention to the disaster that is happening to the right of the zoaves, that they miss the zoaves, hit the line, and punch a hole in it.

Because they're watching groups like Patterson in the eleventh US regular battalions being grinded up By the flanking forces of the Virginians coming through the woods and the thickness of the woods they can't quite see, the actual destruction is taking place and how bits and pieces of the US regular intelligence are being just ripped apart. So the confederates are winning on 1 side of Andersfield and losing on another. This is wilderness battle at its high point

where 2 things can be true at once. The confederates can be losing and winning and the union can be losing and winning. In the same battle within a quarter mile piece of land. And the leaders of these armies are unaware of what is taking place in front of them. Because without light of sight or intelligence or communications, they don't know. The Zoets are punched through, and they they don't know. The US regular battalion is un is unprotected on its right flank.

So both things are happening at the same time. And because there's this moment where if heirs and Warren and Griffin had pushed forces into where the Soviets had punched through and had backed up the US regular battalions and had actually protected their flank. They could have swept Johnson's whole force from the field right then, but they didn't. And because there's this moment, this pause, where no 1 knows exactly what's happening, the confederates have an advantage.

And that is they have men that were not supposed to engage so they've prepared themselves to be pulled back. And as the Virginians and North Carolina come running backwards from being hit by the zooms. But the zooms don't realize is what's lurking behind the North Carolina and Virgin Islands. The new units that have arrived, the fresh units that have arrived that have just been setting up and waiting and not sure where to go quite yet. 5 hours. It took war in 5 hours.

What other the confederates been doing this whole time? Moving more men into the wilderness. And that is what's lurking behind the North Carolina Virgin Islands. The moment the XOLAVS pushed through the confederate line passes. Before we get into

the consequences of this moment passing, wanna talk to you about another consequence of a moment that that's about to pass. And that is in your support for the American Battlefield Trust. If you believe in preserving battlefields for the future, to preserving this for the history for our grandkids or great grandkids, then you need to support the American Battlefield Trust today. Right now, they are fighting off in Virginia.

Orange County. In Orange County, has decided to rezone a chunk of land that's part of the the battlefield, the Wilderness Battlefield area. And rezone it for a mega project. They have the audacity of the call, the Wilderness Crossing mega development. It's gonna have residential units and data centers, and it's going to be huge.

And the American Battlefield Trust along with they're partnered with the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust and friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, all tried to convince the Orange County Board of Supervisors not to do this. And what happened? Well, in April, they voted 4 to 1 to approve the project, which means 1 person on that board understood the consequences.

The other 4 didn't care. But if you care, the American Battle of Trust is going to need your support in order to stop these guys from mowing down history. And if you want to preserve these battlefield, these hallowed ground for future generations to experience and explore,

then you're gonna have to put your money where your mouth is. You're gonna have to go to battlefields dot org and support the American Battlefield Trust in finding the last good way because because legal fights and injunctions and appeals are expensive. Lawyers and paperwork and etcetera in order to preserve these battlefields. So if you care about this like I do, please go to battlefields dot org. That's battle field with an s dot org and support the American Battlefield Trust. Thank you.

Well, meanwhile,

Grant is paying attention to the battle. And he's paying attention to it, sitting on a small hill, just the north of the Orange Orange Turnpike, listening to the Sound of muskets and canifier and the commotion going on just a mile or so down the road. And it's not very far. If you go to what is called Grant's Knoll. Well, don't forget to stop off at the at the sheets there.

Get your corn dog and your soda pop. By the way, cross the street where the 07:11 is, that's where meats head quarters was before he moved to the Elwood banner. And if you simply just go up there, US 20, About maybe 3 minutes, on the right hand side is just a little tiny stop, little poke with the side stop called Grant Snow. And realistically, the Elwood banner entrance is just before that.

So if you go to the left, you go to Elwood Manor, which is a long driveway, you can walk down there to often often walk the gates often walk. Park in the gravel and walk down the driveway, which is a nice nice little stroll. It's a good it's a good place. Beautiful house, well preserved, but the plaques markers you can go around and see the the area. In fact, the the roads

for the wilderness run are all still there. Can still see with the wagon tracks ripped up into the mud and the grass has grown over it. It is a nice place to visit and it's often overlooked. You can actually stop at the Wilderness Tavern ruins off of Route 3. There's a trail that'll walk you to Elwood. And then from there, you could walk almost across the street to Gransthorpe. Now, at this point in the battle, looks a little past 01:00. Grant doesn't look like he's paying attention.

He's been issuing orders, and Rollins has been been sending out messengers and officers been coming in and out, and Warren has come back and forth, and Mead has sent notes back and forth. The Mead really considering the way in which this battle is ascribed. Can look from Elwood and see where Grant where Grant has set up his his headquarters, his little command center. And Grant has been issuing orders all morning, but he's been sitting and wiggling on a piece of wood. He's got his gloves on.

These leather gloves he uses for whittling because you don't want to cut your fingers off in your whittling wood. And he's whittling a piece of wood? He's smoking a cigar and he's looking calm and disinterested. He's just sitting there. On a piece of cut wood or a stump. And he's looks like he's disconnected

from everything going on. Like, he doesn't care about the men stepping forward into Saunders' field, the gunfire going off in the distance, the cannons that are starting to pound and ripped through the trees. Grant's not that far away. There are there are hundreds of men in the woods right around him. Elwood is surrounded.

With hundreds of men, there are cannons everywhere strewn through the fields of the Elwood banner. And on the plantation there, and Grant sits on the hill as if he doesn't care. Now that's the outward look. Of what Grant is doing. But Grant is doing something that many of the men who have been around him since vicksburg, maybe before that, but definitely since oficksburg. And what he's doing is he is listening and paying attention

and fighting the battle in his head is where he sees the pieces in his head as they move forward. And as he gets reports back from the battlefield of what the reaction was to this attack, the mad attack, and these troops were born of where they are now and how they're doing. The pieces are moving in his head. And unfortunately, Because of the way the structure of this command is working, where intelligence is moving to Grant to Meade or to Meade than to Grant, He doesn't have a full picture yet.

He doesn't know. Sedgwick has not arrived. Right's guys are still chopping through the woods. They haven't got to the flank where they need to be. And because of that, the battle is starting to go badly for Warren. Grant doesn't appear to be shut shaken by it. Doesn't appear to be phased at all. He's already issued orders to get getty to the Orange Planck Road.

So he's he's paying attention to the turnpike right in front of him, but he's paying attention to the Orange Bank Rose, paying attention to waiting for reports from Citrix 6 corps that he's ordered to move to the wilderness. He's waiting to hear about Burnside coming across the river. He's waiting to hear about the wagon train where that's at. Where is Wilson? How far as Hancock to the south is he coming back? Is Getty holding the Brock Road?

What is the progress of Warren's men that have already pitched in a saunders field. These are all the things going on around him and beyond. But the reports of what Sherman is doing, and what other generals are doing, And these officers keep running up to them. The senior officers run up to other overwork and their breathless and their panic, their excited because the battle's happening. Men are coming back, wounded, and hurt, or have run away from the battlefield. The gunfire is consistent.

The cannon fire coming from the confederal lines coming. And now Grant's Knoll is starting to get hot too. Because the confederate guns overshooting the union 1. And 1 union officer looks at credit and says, we should retire. We should move out of the way. And he says this right as a confederate cannonball comes ripping through the trees and lands within feet of where Grant is sitting whittling on a piece of wood. And as the officer scurrying around, like, oh my gosh. Here come shells.

Grant is unfazed. And his officer comes back to Grant says, sir, we need to retire. We need to move over the way. We are in range. And Grant simply looks up with this man and says, it might be better if we bring up artillery and fire back. And this is great. Unphased, unshaken about what is going on around him. He is immersing himself in the ambiance that is that is the battle that is taking place. And it just got started. These men are already getting stressed. He's not stressed.

I think this is an advantage he has. Of being able to see things that aren't there. That's not perfect. And he'll learn very quickly that he's not getting all the pieces. And when he finally understands who he doesn't have all the pieces is when Grant finally gets angry. But right now, he thinks the battles going forward He also believes

that the confederates he's facing is not the full core completely out of mind's run. He doesn't know Lee has dreamed his entire army out of mind's run is coming at him with both barrels. He doesn't know that yet either, but neither does it really any other Union officer. They don't know quite what they're facing yet. The day is young, and Warren has been trying to organize himself for 5 hours. So these confederates have been moving more and more and more men into this position

but they're not all on the line at Sondersfield. They're behind the line at Sondersfield. As soon the groups, like the hundred and 40, they're about to find out, So the comment that Grant makes,

it might be better if we bring up artillery and fire back, is taken seriously by the artillery officer who is in charge of this operation, Griffin, because he's got his his artillery hackles up sends in captain George b Winslow with a rush order to get his guns. Into the fight. And so Winslow is in charge of 2 guns from battery d, the first New York artillery.

And orders lieutenant William h Shelton on horseback to get those guns on the turnpike past the woods to support the hundred and 40 New York or are currently muzzled to muzzle the competitor line in the smoke, in the the the melee of fierce combat. So Shelton, brushes down the turnpike at a trough. And as the canons come down the turnpike, rebels see these cannons are gonna move into place.

Now, this is this is a bad news for the confederates because of the Union Army can bring its massive artillery into play. I could turn inside the battle very quickly. So immediately, immediately. Rebel sharpshoot will start with the treetops. It's on her skill. Start picking away at the artilleryman and the horses. And this is his Winslow and his battery being led by Sheldon come across the ditch. The the swell, the the bully.

And as they our chiller runs over that silly little wooden bridge, goes over that. They tried to take up the position. Horse guys. A man forms. They're getting picked off and shot at from all other places that are not currently engaged in human forces. Then who can see the bigger picture of what's happening. Now that ditch from the other line is only 200 guns. It's not far. But now we're starting to get the fog of warm moving. The more muskets that fire, the more smoke that is in the air.

If you ever go to a reenactment, you'll see this where a lot of shooting will take place. Although it's not quite the same kind of powder per se, it does make the place smoke up really good. Especially if you start getting cannons involved. But you get that the smell of of gunpowder in the air. They got a hands. If there's not a lot of wind just keeps hanging and the more firing and the more firing and the more firing, it starts to fill the air Just right about chest level, like a thong.

This is what wins low as he comes into this area he's experiencing. That he's being shot at. Some of them are getting hit. Some of the horses are getting hit. And now because you really can't push the guns any further. Because he's he's basically right behind the union line to go any further. He's gonna be, you know, shaking hands with the confederates. He takes an exposed position

that he later describes as holy unpractical, unpractical, That's a word. That's the word of the day, unpractical, and unlimited guns across the road. He aims them diagonally towards the northwest. Realistically straight on over the heads of the hundred and fortieth New York. And begins to fire. They start firing into that cloud smoke to the thickets of the woods. But here's the problem. It's a hundred and fortieth. Have barreled up into the confederate line and beyond.

Cannon fire is now dropping into the entwined masses. Winslet is now firing on his own man. So does our chillery come to save the day? No. As this unit artillery moves in behind the hundred and fortieth, it seems like, well, the hundred and fortieth with artillery could break the line. But when these guns open fire, the hundred and fortieth that are in hand to hand combat with confederates suddenly have grape and canister balls exploding

around them. And they're blowing up Yankee and rebel lines. They're killing friend info alike. They're hitting men from the hundred and fortieth. They're hitting men from the North Carolina's first and third. They're hitting men from the Virginia tenth, 20 third, 30 seventh. There's might even be some US regulars mixed into that monster mess. And if you've ever heard him that mister Murphy from mister Murphy Law, he would say friendly fire, ain't friendly. But Winslow can't see

exactly where he's shooting. He's shooting into what he knows in the confederate line. But he isn't know, the hundred and fortieth are up in there. Because as he's looking to the northwest, he sees the US regulars who are not up in there.

So as this Can and fire starts to kick off. This is right around the time the US regular battalions who are being flanked from the right because there's no Sedgwick. Finally reach close enough to the catheter position. Whose left is made it right up to that point and the rebels see this too. And they see that the US right right flank is floating in the air because they've been remember, they came out of their trenches. They're coming, they're peaking, they're they're probing, they're testing.

Well, now they've realized that there is nobody there. And the confederates decide to take complete advantage of this. And they press the US regulars in the right thing. If you are familiar with the battle transfer game, so now Jackson rolling up the right flank of PME1, and hook holes there just a year before this. It is a miniature version of the same problem. Union Army seems to always have their right flank wide open floating in the air. And here comes the confederates into the woodline.

And as they start shooting the US regulars, who now realize that they are in really bad position. They start moving out of the woods into the open field to where their other confederates can nest. They're starting to bunch As they move backwards, they're running into the other regular use. What's left about? And so the confederates now realize they have the advantage, at least on this side of that field. And they plow towards them with a rhythm and fire.

And then new guns start opening up from the Russian woods. And if firing starts coming from the left, where the hundred and fours are supposed to be, but the hundred and fortieth are not there either, they've moved to the to and an angle up into the tree line or the confederate saw. So as the US regulars look around, there's no hundred and fortieth on your There's no Sedgwick on their right, and all they see is rubbers on all sides, and they have nowhere to go.

And the fire is now coming down on from 3 sides. The union assault on the Northside Asana field has completely lost all momentum. They've reused regularly and stopped. Where they're where they're at. And 1 by 1, men start going, why am I standing here being letting myself be shot at? And 1 man says, forget this and turns to step backwards, and then another man falls back. And then another man falls back. And within seconds of the fear rolling through the lines they realize of their surrounding.

The entire US regular line, all 5 regiments break and men start to turn and run, and the entire union line on north side of the battlefield flows back into the Gully and starts moving across the field as the rebels realize they now have them on the line. And this is bad news for a hundred fours in New York zones because they don't see this The gap is so wide and they're so far ahead into the woods. They're so far into

the confederate line. And then as artillery shells are lobbying in position, you're moving around, you're trying not to get blown up, you're trying to get shot, you're trying to get stabbed, And although those rebels are moving back into the woods, to their right, the entire rest of the line has moved forward to capitalize on the total route of what's left of 5 US regular battalions. Hundreds are now streaming back across Sondersfield,

back into the ditch, behind trees, behind bushes, anywhere they can get. To get away from being shot or being hit by a competitor artillery. Now you remember that moment, that moment where the US regulars are moving forward fortieth. Hit the line.

My moments gone now. Use regulars in a routed. Hundred and 40 are being shelved by their own guns. And the confederates realize when it's happening and they rally. Officers get in charge of the men who are being pushed back by the hundred and fortieth The rest of the line comes back forward to Saundersville to the opening, and that's when the Zooms look around and see that they have both their left and right flanks are wide open.

They're taking cannon shots from those guns, and they're now alone on the hill. And they're alone on the enemy side of the battlefield, which is bad. And these new rallying confederates are now appearing not only in front of the regiment, but now they're popping out in the unprotected sides as well. They're becoming quickly surrounded and they have men strung out from here to the goalie. And as this rally starts to move forward, whole groups a minute disappearing.

Their numbers are dwindling rapidly. And the hundred and fortieth starts to fall back from where they have punched a hole. But even with all this bad news. All is not lost yet.

In the next episode of Oregon, for a pulse of the hundred and fortieth of New York Soviet is only the beginning of this wicked battle. As the US regular battalions retreat, is all really lost or warned Griffin and heirs see the disaster forming in time and send in reinforcements before it's too late.

Thank you for listening to War Yankee Overland. Hope you've enjoyed this episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the show and help War Yankee grow by sharing this show with a friend. Or Yankee is available wherever you find podcasts, and all my show notes references are available at or yankee dot com. Finally, you like to support the show? Please go to war yankee dot com slash support. I turn every cup of coffee you buy me into Civil War history. War yankee Overland is a once stole production.

Follow the Overland campaign's march to petersburg at 4 yankee dot com.