![]() Both commanders replenished their losses. ![]() He made “turn the left flank” the order of the day, and by Thursday, June 2, Union troops had fought their way within ten air miles of Richmond. To put the losses in perspective, one has to remember that the United States population today is ten times that of 1864 (taking into account populations both north and south).īattle of the Wilderness, Attack at Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, 1865 Painting by Alonzo Chappel (Source: )ĭespite the heavy losses, Grant continued forward, unlike the Union commanders who preceded him. In the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, the Union army suffered casualties – killed, wounded, or captured – of 36,000 men while the Confederate casualties totaled 24,000. Throughout the month of May, Grant and Lee danced their deadly Tarantella, suffering losses in proportion to their numbers. Grant was determined to destroy Lee’s 60,000-man army and capture Richmond in the process. On Wednesday, May 4, 1864, Grant sent Meade’s 120,000 soldiers across the Rapidan on pontoon bridges constructed by the army’s engineers at two points: Ely’s Ford and Germanna Ford. During the winter of 1863-1864, every American identified the river as the boundary line between General Meade’s Army of the Potomac and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. From there, the river descends east, gradually widening until it flows into the Rappahannock River northwest of Charlottesville and Fredericksburg. Its headwaters begin 4,000 feet above sea level near the Big Meadows in the Blue Ridge. Portrait of General Meade (Source: )Īs Virginia’s many rivers go, the Rapidan receives scant notice.
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