33rd Virginia Infantry - 1864: The Wilderness and Spotsylvania

1864: The Wilderness and Spotsylvania

The ill-fated spring of 1864 would begin with news of Union General Ulysses S. Grant's crossing of the Rapidan River. General Lee responded by maneuvering his ever-shrinking army to meet Grant on ground of his own choosing. On 4 May, the Army of Northern Virginia and Army of the Potomac collided in the tangled landscape that sprawled between Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania Court House known as the "Wilderness". Fighting raged amidst the broken terrain 4 May–5. Fewer than 100 men remained in the regiment. About 11:00 a.m. on the 5th, the regiment became heavily engaged, taking several casualties.

A slight lull occurred as the repulse of his army caused General Grant to side step Lee in his continual descent towards Richmond. On 10 May, both armies had shifted their positions and Lee had managed to cut off Grant's line of march at Spotsylvania Court House. At 6:00 a.m. on the 12 May, the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac surprised the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Overrunning the salient known as the Mule Shoe, many of the brigades under Allegheny Edward Johnson were captured en masse. Among those captured were the majority of the Stonewall Brigade. Though some got away, the brigade effectively ceased to exist as a unit at that point.