WILDERNESS. The Battle of the On 9 March 1864 President Lincoln handed to Gen eral Grant his commission as lieutenant-general and two days later placed him in command of all the armies of the United States. Grant made immediate preparations for an early cam paign to be conducted simultaneously, east and west. He made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. Before coming to the East he had expressed himself as favoring a coast movement south of James River, and an ad vance on Richmond on that line. After his arrival at Washington and a study of the prob lem he proposed to act with the Army of the Potomac on what was known as the overland route from the Rapidan to the James, while General Butler, with 30,000 men, should ascend James River from Fort Monroe and establish himself in an intrenched position near City Point, whence he could operate against Rich mond and its communications with the south. and at a proper time form a junction with the Army of the Potomac. moving down from the north. At the same time General Sigel, commanding troops in West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, was instructed to form two columns, one of 10,000 men, under General Crook to move from the Kanawha and operate against the Virginia and East Tennessee Rail road. the other 7.000 strong, under Sigel, in person, to advance, as far as possible, up the Shenandoah Valley, to draw detachments from Lee. Grant's main reliance, however, was the Army of the Potomac, which, 30 April 1864, was composed of the Second, Fifth and Sixth corps of infantry and a cavalry corps, com manded respectively by Gens. W. S. Hancock, G. K. Warren, John Sedgwick and P. H. Sheri dan. The Ninth corps, Gen. A. E. Burnside, united with the Army of the Potomac on 6 May, hut acted under the immediate orders of General Grant, until the 24th, when it became a part of the Army of the Potomac.
The strength of the army, including the Ninth corps, 30 April, was 118,769 officers and men, with 316 guns. The army was commanded by Gen. George G. Meade. Formed in battle line, two ranks deep, with one-third in reserve, it would cover a front of 21 miles. Its train of 4,000 wagons was 65 miles long. The assigned duty of this army was to attack the Army of Northern Virginia, and by constant hammering destroy it and take Richmond. The army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Gen. R. E. Lee, was composed of the First, Second and Third infantry corps, commanded by Gens. J.
Longstreet, R. S. Ewell and A. P. Hill. A cavalry corps of two divisions (Wade Hamp ton's and Fitzhugh Lee's) was commanded by Gen. J. E. B. Stuart. The most reliable esti mate gives Lee's strength, present for duty, on I May 1864, as 48,700 infantry, 4,854 artillery and 8,399 cavalry, an aggregate of 61,953 officers and men, with 224 guns. On 1 May the Army of the Potomac was encamped in the vicinity of Culpeper Court House, be tween the Rapidan and the Rappahannock, and the Ninth corps on the railroad from Man assas Junction to the Rappahannock. Lee's army lay south of the Rapidan, Ewell's corps above Mine Run and A. P. Hill's on Ewell's left, higher up the Rapidan. Longstreet's corps was near Gordonsville. Stuart's cavalry lay along the lower Rappahannock. Lee's head quarters were near Orange Court House, 70 miles from Richmond.
Lee's army being the first objective, it was finally determined to cross the Rapidan, turn his right and compel him to fall back toward Richmond or come out of his intrenchments and give battle on open ground. The principal objection to this movement was the difficulty presented by the Wilderness, a forest of un usually dense growth, with an almost im penetrable undergrowth, where infantry could pass with great difficulty and where cavalry and artillery could not be used. It was thought to avoid this difficulty by moving at night, cross ing the Rapidan and getting through the Wilder ness before Lee could discover the movement and intercept it by moving on the Orange turn pike and Orange plankroad. These two roads lead from Orange Court House down the Rapi dan toward Fredericksburg. They follow the general direction of the river and are almost parallel to each other; the turnpike nearest the river and the plank road a short distance south of it. Grant's proposed route lay directly across these two roads along the western bor ders of the Wilderness. The movement began at midnight of 3 May. Hancock's Second corps, preceded by Gregg's cavalry division, crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford and moved to Chan cellorsville, where the entire corps with its trains had arrived by noon of the 4th. War ren's corps, preceded by Wilson's cavalry, crossed the river at Germanna Ford and marched to Wilderness Tavern, at the inter section of the Germanna road by the Orange turnpike. It reached its position by 2 P.M. of the 4th.