Men pump water at the Spotsylvania County Court House, ca. 1861–1865 (Library of Congress)
After the Battle of the Wilderness, the advance of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade on Richmond by the left flank stalled at Spotsylvania Court House. For two weeks from May 8 to 21,1864, a series of bloody conflicts took place before Grant once again disengaged and continued his advance on the Confederate capital, known as his Overland Campaign.
Locations in this tour led by Civil War historians Ed Bearss and Gregg Clemmer include the Bloody Angle. Here Grant captured nearly a division of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s men and almost cut his army in half during nearly 20 hours of perhaps the most ferocious sustained combat of the war. Also viewed is the Harris Farm, site of the effort to turn the Union’s right flank.
Lunch is at Scafa’s Italian Restaurant in Spotsylvania.
Fringe stop at about 8:25 a.m.
The tour includes up to two miles of walking.
