A very bloody affair

April 28, 2024

And in the end it did nothing except delay the inevitable

IN HIS DOCUMENTARY about the Civil War, Ken Burns included a segment titled "A Very Bloody Affair", the theme of which was how completely both sides underestimated the determination of their opponent to prevail. It didn't focus on the battlefield I visited today- Spotsylvania was nearer the end of the war than the beginning, and by the time it was fought all parties understood the grim reality- but it applies with equal relevance.

There are numerous Civil War battlefields, both major and minor, within 100 miles or so of where I live. Over the past 35 years I've gradually visited nearly all the sites of major engagements in the region, as well as many of the lesser sites, but until today I'd never made it to Spotsylvania. Perhaps relatedly, that battle is one about which I knew (know) relatively little. The main focus of today was, therefore, a visit to Spotsylvania Battlefield National Historic Park.

But first I had to get there.

Miles and miles of pleasantly shaded empty roads.

"Let us cross over and rest in the shade of the trees."

@Greg Garceau, it's not just trees that block views.

I knew the battle was just one in a series of clashes between the Federal Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, headed respectively by U. S. Grant and R. E. Lee. I knew that Grant was trying to outflank and outmaneuver Lee, attempting to get between Lee and Richmond. I knew also that Lee was a wily and skilled commander, adept at understanding not only the grand strategy but also his opponent's mindset, habits, and tendencies. He was also a master at fighting battles.

Grant had set off from Washington in mid to late April 1864 with an army of 100,000 or more, as opposed to the 60,000 or survivors in Lee's army. Lee had lost heavily the year before at Gettysburg and elsewhere, and was largely unable to replace his losses, whereas Grant could count on replenishing the ranks with fresh soldiers as often as he needed.

It was therefore a war of attrition, and one the Confederates could ill-afford to fight. After a tactical vitory in The Wilderness in the first few days of May 1864 (the same place where, almost exactly a year earlier, Lee had decisively beaten Joe Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville), Lee deduced correctly that Grant would disengage, sidle south, and try to take possession of Spotsylvania a few miles to the south. It therefore became a race: which army would get there first?

Lee did, by a matter of just a few hours. The Confederates dug in furiously, erecting a miles-long line of trenches and brestworks that included a bulge dubbed "The Mule Shoe" for its shape.

Recreated breastworks, from the defender's side.

And from the point of view of a local resident.

There are literally miles of these low mounds, marking where the trenches stood.

The Union dug in opposite this salient and, over the next two weeks (May 8-21, 1864), attempted repeatedly and in various ways to take it by force and capture or destroy Lee's army.

The "Mule Shoe" as of May 12, 1864. Map source: American Battlefield Trust https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/spotsylvania-court-house-mule-shoe-may-12-1864

In several instances they came very near success, but Confederate resolution and stubborn defense ultimately held the position, buying Lee enough time to construct a line easier to defend, about 0.6 miles to the south.

A Union Colonel led 5,000 men down this "road" and mounted a surprise assault on the Mule Shoe. They actually got in but were trapped due to lack of support and had to fight their way back out a few hours later.

The ravine leading to the Bloody Angle. Union dead lay four and five deep, after a while.

At one end of The Mule Shoe there was a small angular projection, extending the Confederate line to take advantage of a small knoll overlooking a shallow ravine. The ravine was the obvious avenue of attack open to the Union, but it exposed the soldiers to heavy artillery and infantry fire. Time and again the Union generals sent their men in waves against the Confederate breastworks, only to have them bloodily repulsed. Of the over 17,000 casualties on both sides, the majority were inflicted there at the "Bloody Angle".

The fight for that piece of turf was a 20 hour affair, featuring vicious hand-to-hand combat, bayonets, clubbed muskets... a bar fight, on an epic scale. And it was fought in pouring rain. In two weeks, we'll reach the 160th anniversary of that horrible day.

At a critical moment in the Confederate defense of the Bloody Angle, Lee was in the act of taking personal command of the fighting along the front line. Realizing this, the Confederate soldiers wouldn't allow it: two of them took hold of Lee's horse's bridle and turned him around, with the soldiers all around chanting "General Lee to the rear! General Lee to the rear!" before they turned and got to the task of defending the line.

Near the Bloody Angle stands a monument to a New Jersey regiment, placed by the survivors and their descendents. At its base it lists the total number of men in the unit and the casualties the unit sustained in that one day.

428 engaged. 118 killed, 168 wounded, 38 missing. 324 casualties in total. A very bloody affair indeed.

On the side of a nearby monument to another unit is this poem, which brought me near to tears as I read it:

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo.

No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.

On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread.

And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

And all for what?

After two weeks of furious, bloody, and nearly non-stop warfare, Grant disengaged again and once more sidled south, resulting in further battles along the North Anna River, at Cold Harbor, and finally Petersburg, 20 miles south of Richmond. Neither The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, nor any of the following battles really settled anything.

Grant's message to Lincoln, "I propose to fight it out along these lines, if it takes all summer", proved all too prophetic since it took not merely all summer but the fall of 1864, the winter of 1864/65, and the early spring of 1865 before he eventually broke the Confederate hold on Petersburg and, by extension, Richmond.

Later in the day, as I passed the historic Salem Church on the outskirts of Fredericksburg, I found this plaque. It's unusual in that it acknowledges the valor, determination, and devotion of members of both sides to their respective causes and points of view. We could use a little more of that balance and respect now.

Covering the remaining miles to my hotel was rather a letdown. Not only did I have lots to mull over, but the sprawl around Fredericksburg is horrible. Traffic was intense, following roads created with no thought to or provision for anything other than motor vehicle use.

Where possible I used the Virginia Central Bike Trail, or the sidewalk, but it wasn't always possible. And the sidewalk... maybe better than a busy road with no shoulder, but not ideal.

The Virginia Central Bike Trail. Waaaayyyy better than the alternatives.

Why I Hate Riding On Sidewalks, Reason #372.

Culture shock after 9 days of rural riding. Ugh, ick, and eeewwwww.

Walking "across the street" from my hotel to dinner at a chain steak house, I had to cross an intersection featuring three or four through lanes, two left turn lanes, and a right turn lane in one direction, crossed by a street featuring five turn lanes and two through lanes. Yeesh, what a mess.

What a nightmare. First I had to cross from the lower to the upper part of this image, then from left to right. Repeat in the opposite direction on the way back after eating.

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Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 470 miles (756 km)

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