From the Editor: Death in the Wilderness
Week 175: May 01 to May 07, 1864
From the Editor: For a short time on the night of May 6th, after seeking the privacy of his tent, U.S. Grant lost his composure and wept. According to his Chief of Staff John Rawlins, the general, "threw himself face down on his cot, and gave way to the greatest emotion."1 In his first encounter with the wily Robert E. Lee, Grant had seen both of his flanks turned, and his army almost split in two. As he had been warned, Grant learned he was no longer facing the likes of John Pemberton or Braxton Bragg. Despite absorbing a terrific beating, Grant and his army survived and he won over any remaining doubters in the Army of the Potomac with his decision to march his army south, and not to turn tail and run like previous Union commanders.
Robert E. Lee is also aware that he is facing a different sort of opponent. Lee was able to anticipate Grant's movement and strike a fearful blow against the flank of the Union army on the ground of his choosing. However, Grant’s Army of the Potomac did not turn and run for the nearest river crossings, but turned instead to face Lee's army and strike back. In addition to losing almost 8,000 men, Lee also lost his most effective and trusted corps commander in James Longstreet. Like ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, Longstreet was struck down in the midst of a successful attack by the fire of his own troops. However, at Chancellorsville Lee had been able to hold on to the initiative and force Hooker's army to retreat. Grant's hard hitting and swift moving style forced Lee to remain on the defensive and conform to the movements of the Union army. Lee's problems are compounded by his lack of confidence in the two remaining veteran corps commanders; A.P. Hill's precarious health is on the verge of forcing him to retire from the field, and Richard Ewell has failed to show any of the fighting qualities he displayed before losing a leg in August 1862. Not since Antietam had Lee's army been as close to cracking as it was on the morning of the second day of the battle in the Wilderness. Now Lee will have to rely upon the likes of Richard Anderson and Jubal Early, and take on more tactical responsibility himself, if he is to have any chance of stopping Grant's drive on Richmond.
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