Wilderness Campaign

Overland Campaign

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, respectively, opposing commanders in the Overland Campaign

Date	May 4 (1864-05-04) – June 24, 1864 (1864-06-25)
Location	Virginia
Result	Union strategic victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Ulysses S. Grant
George G. Meade

Robert E. Lee

Units involved

Army of Northern Virginia

Strength

103,875–124,232 ("present for duty")

60–65,000

Casualties and losses

54,926 total
(7,621 killed;
38,339 wounded;
8,966 captured/missing)

31–35,000 (estimated)

The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, and other forces against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Although Grant suffered severe losses during the campaign, it was a strategic Union victory. It inflicted proportionately higher losses on Lee's army and maneuvered it into a siege at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, in just over eight weeks.

Crossing the Rapidan River on May 4, 1864, Grant sought to defeat Lee's army by quickly placing his forces between Lee and Richmond and inviting an open battle. Lee surprised Grant by attacking the larger Union army aggressively in the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5–7), resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Unlike his predecessors in the Eastern Theater, however, Grant did not withdraw his army following this setback, but instead maneuvered to the southeast, resuming his attempt to interpose his forces between Lee and Richmond. Lee's army was able to get into position to block this movement. At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (May 8–21), Grant repeatedly attacked segments of the Confederate defensive line, hoping for a breakthrough, but the only results were again heavy losses for both sides.

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