The two mile long loop trail begins at the parking lot of the NPS auto tour stop #3- 38.3174035, -77.7567703. Individual stops on the trail are shown in the NPS brochure below, which has a nice map on where the field fortifications are located relative to the stops.

The text describing each stop is from the April and June 1995 issues of Blue and Gray Magazine.

Stop 1- 140th NY Monument- When Griffin (V Corps) was coerced to attack with his division at I:00 p.m on May 5. Ayers’ brigade advanced on the north side of the Orange Turnpike in two lines of battle. In the first line, the 140th New York rested its left flank on the turnpike, and the battalions of U.S. regulars formed on their right. In the second line, the 146th New York followed in the wake of the 140th, while the 91st and 155th Pennsylvania regiments extended the line northward. All of the volunteer regiments in Ayres’ brigade wore a version of the distinctive, colorful zouave uniform. Ayres’ men advanced in good order across Saunders’ Field until they climbed out of the ravine. No Union forces supported the right of Griffin’s division, and Confederates appeared at the edge of the woods to the north. The 140th New York continued advancing straight ahead, but the regulars veered to the right. The second line of the brigade was approaching, as well as Shelton’s section of artillery of the 1st New York, Battery D. The two guns went into battery just to left (south) of the Orange Turnpike, in the depression, while the 146th New York paused to the right of the guns. According to a member of the 146th, “Just as we reached the gully, a withering volley of musketry was poured into our line.” The cannon fired up the swale, obliquely to the right, sweeping the gap that had formed in the first line. Artillery rounds blasted across the front of the 146th New York. As one soldier reported, “some of us were so close that we could feel the strong wind of the discharges.” Into the breach charged the second line, with the 146th entering the woods to the right of the 140th.

Stop 2- Confederate defenses– General George H. “Maryland” Steuart with his brigade of North Carolinians and Virginians defended the Orange Turnpike and the ground just above it. The 3rd North Carolina or 10th Virginia was positioned here, near the western edge of Saunders’ Field. The Confederates’ earthworks are visible a few yards ahead, just beyond a dirt road. As Ayres’ second line filed into the gap in the northwest corner of the field, the New York artillerymen shifted their fire. Although Shelton’s gunners could not see the crest of this ridge from the gully, they estimated an appropriate range straight ahead to a point near where the 140th New York grappled with Confederates at close range. Their discharge had the opposite effect from what they desired, however. As Lieutenant Henry Cribben of the 140th lamented, “The shot went plowing through our ranks, badly demoralizing the heroes who were stemming the tidal wave of bullets pouring in upon them.” Farther to the Union right, as Captain H. W. S. Sweet remembered, the 146th New York engaged the Confederates “with bayonet as well as bullet.” Sweet described a scene of men “firing, shouting, stabbing with bayonets, beating each other with the butts of their guns” in a desperate hand-to-hand struggle. Without the support of the VI Corps on his right. Ayres could not maintain his position. As the right of the brigade fell back, however, the zouaves of the 140th and 146th New York continued to fight, unaware that Confederates were closing in past both flanks and upon their rear. Members of Battle’s and Steuart’s brigades reached the ravine and claimed capture of the two cannon. As captured Union artillery officer Shelton was being escorted to the Confederate rear, he sadly observed “men in blue zouave uniforms [who] were offering themselves, with no intentional generosity on their part, as targets” of the Confederates down in the swale. When the two struggling zouave regiments initially received fire in their rear, they presumed it came from the mistaken aim of reinforcements sent to aid them. Colonel George “Paddy” Ryan of the 140th sent back Lieutenant Henry Cribben to straighten out the misunderstanding. Instead, Cribben found “a Confederate line of battle which was deliberately loading and firing into the backs or our men, apparently without any opposition.” Some zouaves attempted to run the gauntlet of fire back to safety, some surrendered, and some fought to the very end. As most of the soldiers who were not casualties succeeded in reaching their respective positions, a few from each side remained in the ravine. Whether too exhausted to return to their lines, or waiting to make their attempts to reach safety under the cover of darkness, the soldiers who remained between the lines became the subjects of several amusing stories. One such anecdote, as told by John H. Worsham of the 21st Virginia of Jones’ Brigade, involved a Yankee and Rebel who went out onto the turnpike to have a fist-fight. The winner apparently would claim the loser as a prisoner. Worsham reported that “a yell went up along each line, and men rushed to the edge of the opening for a better view!” The end of the fighting did not end the horrors of Saunders’ Field. About 7:00 p.m., one of the raging brush and forest fires that have come to characterize the struggle in the Wilderness erupted across the field. As the fire reached the dead and some of the helpless wounded still on the field, “it ignited the powder in the cartridge-boxes of the men and blew great holes in their sides.” “The almost cheerful ‘Pop!Pop!’ of the cartridges,” wrote one of the zouaves, “gave no hint of the almost dreadful noises their horrors bespoke.” The Confederate earthworks here were the scene of hand to hand fighting. The other two sites related to the fighting on May 5th are: “Culpeper Mine Road” (Trail Marker 3) and “Fighting on the Evening of May 5, 1864” (Trail Marker 4).

The earthworks initially are to the left of the trail.

On the way to stop number 3 the trench moves to the right side of the trail and becomes shallower with a few exceptions, one of which is shown below.

Stop 3– Culpeper Mine Road– The Culpeper Mine Road ran from the Germanna Plank Road, about two miles ahead of you as you face the sign, to the Orange Turnpike about a half-mile behind you. The road allowed Confederates to bring artillery to this area, and provided an avenue of advance for Union general John Sedgwick’s VI Corps. On May 5, fighting erupted over the ground before you at about 3:30 p.m. as Union and Confederate forces stumbled into each other. General James A. Walker’s Stonewall Brigade advanced on the left of the road and General Leroy A. Stafford’s Louisianians stepped off farther to the left. Walker’s Virginians lagged behind in the advance. As his brigade was trying to shift to its left to close on the Louisianians, the Federals struck and caught Walker’s men off balance. The Virginians fell back about 75 yards. During the afternoon’s contest a Confederate artillery round decapitated an unfortunate Federal soldier. The remains of the victim’s head flew through the air and landed squarely in the face of Thomas Hyde, an officer on Sedgwick’s staff. Hyde, startled, sickened, and covered with gore, confessed that he was “not much use as a staff officer for fully fifteen minutes. Well into the evening on May 6, after John B. Gordon’s flank attack had come to a halt, the general appeared along this sector of the line pleading for the troops to renew their assault. Since the enemy troops confronting him at this time had aligned along the Culpeper Mine Road, about 1/4 mile ahead of you, Gordon apparently felt that an attack from this sector would flank the Federals and enable the assault to resume momentum.

Just before the sign at stop #3 I took a slight deviation off the trail to see the Culpepper Mine Road.

Retracing my steps I returned to the spot of sign #3 on the trail.

Stop 4– Fighting on the Evening of May 5, 1864– Stafford’s Louisiana Brigade advanced from these earthworks on the afternoon of May 5, and about a quarter-mile ahead collided with Federal soldiers. Stafford soon discovered that Walker was unable to keep up on his right. Colonel Henry W. Brown’s New Jersey brigade took advantage of the gap and struck the right of the Louisianians. Leroy Stafford was left with no choice but to retreat, and while withdrawing was shot through the upper torso. The wound severed his spine, leaving the general paralyzed. He died in Richmond on May 8. General Harry T. Hays, also commanding a brigade of Louisiana troops, then led his men through this sector, meeting with similar results. His attack was unsupported, except for the 25th Virginia of Jones’ Brigade, which was captured by the 5th Wisconsin. Francis Cordrey, Company E, 126th Ohio, wrote of the action on May 5: “Our lines moved forward, struggling through the natural abatis, while a blast of leaden hail from the enemy’s thundering guns poured in the face of our advancing line…. Here the brave bearer of our battleflag, D. W. Welch, fell dead by my side.”

The trench continues on the right side of the trail.

Stop 5– Morning of May 6- Both Lee and Grant had ordered general assaults for the morning of May 6. Grant had originally directed that the attack begin at 4:30 AM, but changed it to 5:00 AM when Meade requested more time. However, Confederate Second Corps commander, General Richard S. Ewell, moved forward at 4:45 AM. The slight delay by the Federals proved fateful. Ewell’s forces delivered more of a probe than an attack, but firing heated up and significant casualties ensued. Sedgwick eventually moved out and attacked with his right. Warren nudged forward to the edge of Saunders’ Field, but never made active offensive efforts. Charles Edinborough, a member of the 67th New York in General Alexander Shaler’s Brigade, participated in the attack near this point, during Sedgwick’s offensive. Edinborough described the action: “On the morning of the 6th of May orders came for our regiment to charge the enemy, only a few rods in our front behind heavy breastworks. The underbrush was so thick in our front that a rabbit could not get through without picking his way. I thought it was a strange order, but we went in, and, as matter of course, we got badly cut up.” The action eventually quieted down, but some of the Federal units that were most heavily engaged in the morning would have their hands full that evening.

On the way to stop 6.

Stop 6– John Gordon Proposes A Flank Attack– Appreciating that the Confederate line overlapped the Federal position, Gordon, throughout the day on May 6, had sought authority to launch a flank attack. Late in the afternoon, Gordon was given permission to take his brigade and that of General Robert D. Johnston to Roach’s Field, nearly 1/2 mile from the Federal flank, and make the assault. Posted here was a Virginia brigade whose commander, General John Pegram, had been wounded in the action late on the 5th. Commanding during Gordon’s flank attack was the senior regimental commander, Colonel John S. Hoffman of the 31st Virginia. A member of Hoffman’s regiment described him as “a hard, brave fighter, but a dull and slow man, unsuited to command…a brigade.” This unit was to play a key role in providing pressure on the Federal front, while Gordon and Johnston swept down upon the enemy flank and rear.

After stop #6 I crossed another trail. The blue trail is straight ahead.

I took a short detour by turning left on the other trail to the following monument where that trail ends at the edge of a church parking lot in the Lake of the Woods community.

Back to the blue trail and on to stop #7. I did not see any works on the way to stop #7. Based on the map this part of the trail appears to be a no man’s land between the Confederate and Union trenches.

Stop 7– Gordon’s Flank Attack– As you stand with your back to the marker, with the line of existing Federal earthworks ending on your right, the Union line would have extended farther ahead of you. Two brigades, not all of which were entrenched by the evening of May 6, were located on the hill ahead of you, just beyond the intermittent stream. The brigades were commanded by Generals Alexander Shaler and Truman Seymour. Because of the shifting of troops, designed to detach reinforcements for use elsewhere, the regiments of the two brigades were mixed together. Just across the ravine, the front line was occupied by Seymour’s 122nd Ohio, and the second line by Shaler’s 122nd New York. Gordon’s assault had plowed through four other regiments before it reached the two 122nds. Colonel William H. Ball, commander of the 122nd Ohio, recounted in his report: “At sunset a feint was made upon our front and a vigorous assault upon our right flank. The regiments on my right gave way one after another. When my regiment was ordered to retreat, there was not a man in the intrenchments on my right or left. So quick were the movements of the enemy that when I first discovered them in our rear, they were in rear of the center of my regiment, scattering the second line with all speed.” Z. T. Griffen of the 122nd New York recalled that Federals from the right “came pell-mell through our ranks.” The New Yorkers barely had time to grab their weapons “before the enemy was literally tramping us down in the dust.” The Confederates, wrote Griffen, “made the very woods tremble with their unearthly yells, as they came firing and crashing through the dry brush.” The unit of Gordon’s Brigade that swept through this area was the 38th Georgia. The regiment’s Sergeant Francis Hudgins wrote that it was his company that hit the end of the Union entrenchments. He went forward more than a mile, directly behind the earthworks. He discovered that the Yankees had been preparing dinner, as evidenced by his encountering pots of coffee and pork frying over fires behind the trenches. As the Georgians advanced, “their confused mass became more dense,” Hudgins recalled. Z. T. Griffen selected the course of General Shaler’s headquarters flag bearer as his own route of retreat. Shaler was “loudly calling out to his men to stand, but his voice was soon drowned in the confusion, while the enemy swept on, rolling up our line to the left.” After collapsing both Shaler’s and Seymour’s brigades, Gordon’s men continued down the Union line, next encountering General Thomas H. Neill’s brigade. As you continue along the trail, you will be following his line.

Looking just over the left upper edge of the sign there is a shallow trench highlighted by the red arrows which is more visible in person.

I turned around and with the sign to my back the trench continued on, highlighted in red.

The walking path narrows between stops 7 and 8 giving a much better perspective on what things were like in 1864. At very short intervals on occasion, I saw a very shallow trench on the left, highlighted by the red arrows. It’s easy to understand why these areas are not visible on LiDAR using 1-meter DEMs (digital elevation models), much higher resolution would be required.

Stop 8–Gordon’s Attack Falters– This line of earthworks, perpendicular to the Union works you have been following since the last tour stop, was built by Gordon’s men after their flank attack was over. The flanking force advanced past this line of works during its assault, some Confederates cresting near the next tour stop. Then the Georgians fell back to this area and constructed earthworks of their own. Commanding the 49th New York in Neill’s brigade was Colonel Daniel D. Bidwell. His official report of the battle stated, “About half an hour before dark the enemy made a desperate attack on the right of the general line…and all fell back on our line.” The brigade was able to shift its second line to protect its flank, and then “the front line repulsed several attacks of the enemy.” The attack on the front of the Federal line was begun by Pegram’s Brigade, commanded by Colonel Hoffman. As indicated in Bidwell’s report, his men were able to throw back multiple assaults from that sector of the Confederate line. Captain James Bumgardner of Pegram’s Brigade explained part of the reason for the feeble Confederate frontal assaults. “Conflicting orders were given,” the captain recalled. He heard instructions “to dress and close to the right,” followed by directives “to close and dress to the left.” Bumgardner “heard both orders several times.” As a result, when the line reached “the immediate front of the Federal works the men were in scattered groups.” Gordon’s plan had called for other Confederate brigades to add their weight to the attack. As it was, with Hoffman stalled, only the two original brigades in the flanking force could proceed effectively from this point.

A short distance after stop #8 the vegetation becomes less dense, and I could see a shallow trench on the left side which was very close to the trail for most of the way to stop #9.

Stop #9 which is the final stop has a different name on the sign than in the brochure (it is not called A Rearranged Battlefield).

Stop 9– The Federals Fall Back- You are once again standing on the Culpeper Mine Road. Farther north on this road (in the direction of the sign informing hikers that the trail turns around) is where the remnants of Union generals Shaler’s and Seymour’s brigades of Sedgwick’s VI Corps rallied from Gordon’s attack. Z. T. Griffen of the 122nd New York noted that “a furious cannonade from the Confederate batteries was commenced and kept up on our only path to get out of the woods” (that is, the Culpeper Mine Road). Griffen continued, “I had not gone many rods down this path when the terrible shower of shells that was falling in it warned me to sheer off to my left into the bushes. Here I was at once challenged in no very polite terms to surrender by a number of a heavy column of Confederates moving very rapidly to our rear, parallel to the old road.”

The line of works is easily visible to the right of the sign shown below.

Just on the other side of the line here is the Culpepper Mine Road.

Just off in the woods to the left is a very shallow trench representing the Confederate line discussed on the sign, seen along and between the red arrows.

The trench continues along and close to the trail for a considerable distance.

Next- The Wilderness Driving Tour- Stop #3 The Exhibit Shelter