Page "Battle of the Wilderness" Paragraph 1

Grant attempted to move quickly through the dense underbrush of the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, but Lee launched two of his corps on parallel roads to intercept him.

On the morning of May 5, the Union V Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren attacked the Confederate Second Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, on the Orange Turnpike.

That afternoon the Third Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. A. P.

Hill, encountered Brig.

Gen. George W. Getty's division ( VI Corps ) and Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps on the Orange Plank Road.

Fighting until dark was fierce but inconclusive as both sides attempted to maneuver in the dense woods.