By 4 a.m. on May 13, troops of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had built new defensive works outside Spotsylvania Court House. The terrible fighting the day before had compelled the Confederates in the Mule Shoe salient to fall back into these new works. This ended 24 hours of non-stop combat. A new era of warfare had begun, in which defenders entrenched themselves behind fieldworks and attackers charged in much more compact, powerful lines to create gaps in the enemy line. This type of fighting would not only dominate the rest of this campaign, but it would serve as the model for how future wars would be fought.
Major-General George G. Meade’s Federal Army of the Potomac may have taken the Mule Shoe, but the Confederate line that ran from west to east before curving southeast was now more compact and stronger. Colonel Theodore Lyman of Meade’s staff assessed the results of the terrible fighting that caused this adjustment: “Thursday May 12th was the date of one of the most fearful combats, which lasted along one limited line and in one spot, more than 14 hours, without cessation. I fancy this war has furnished no parallel to the desperation shown here by both parties.”
The New York Times declared that the Confederate army was “defeated, demolished, crushed and annihilated by the courage of our soldiers and the masterly generalship of their Commander.” But in truth the Federals had gotten the worst of the fighting so far. Since May 10, they had lost 10,920 killed, wounded, or missing. General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant notified Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck of the day’s events:
“The eighth day of battle closes, leaving between 3,000 and 4,000 prisoners in our hands for the day’s work, including two general officers and over 30 pieces of artillery. The enemy are obstinate and seem to have found the last ditch. We have lost no organization, not even that of a company, while we have destroyed and captured one division, (Johnson’s) one brigade (Doles’) and one regiment entire of the enemy.”
Some of Grant’s information was false. The Federals had not captured as many guns as he claimed, and they did not capture Doles’ brigade. Nevertheless, the Federals advanced on the morning of the 13th and found nothing but dead and wounded men in the Mule Shoe. Burial details were dispatched to inter the corpses. Grant wrote his wife Julia that day:
“The ninth day of battle is just closing with victory so far on our side. But the enemy are fighting with great desperation entrenching themselves in every position they take up. We have lost many thousand men killed and wounded and the enemy have no doubt lost more… Among our wounded the great majority are but slightly hurt but most of them will be unfit for service in this battle… I am very well and full of hope. I see from the papers the country is also hopeful.
“The world has never seen so bloody or so protracted a battle as the one being fought and I hope never will again. The enemy were really whipped yesterday but their situation is desperate… To lose this battle is to lose their cause. As bad as it is they have fought for it with a gallantry worthy of a better.”
At Federal headquarters, members of Grant’s staff blamed Meade for yesterday’s failure to break through the Confederate line, but Grant rejected calls to remove him as army commander (or at least bypass Meade and give direct orders to the corps commanders). Grant refused because he thought Meade was doing a fine job under the circumstances, and any effort by an outsider like Grant to remove a high-ranking commander from the Potomac army could harm morale. Instead, Grant recommended to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton that both Meade and Major-General William T. Sherman in the West be promoted:
“General Meade has more than met my most sanguine expectations. He and Sherman are the fittest officers for large commands I have come in contact with. If their services can be rewarded by promotion to the rank of Major-Generals in the regular Army the honor would be worthily bestowed and I would feel personally gratified. I would not like to see one of these promotions at this time without seeing both.”
Grant’s last line was an effort to avoid worsening the intense rivalry between the eastern and western armies.
As for action on the 13th, Grant wrote Meade, “I do not desire a battle brought on with the enemy in their position of yesterday, but want to press as close to them as possible to determine their position and strength. We must get by the right flank of the enemy for the next fight.” Grant would try to maneuver around Lee’s army once more. Halleck notified Grant that 10,000 reinforcements were on their way to Meade’s army.
On the night of the 13th, the Fifth Corps under Major-General Gouverneur Warren began moving out of trenches on the right flank (west) to take new positions on the left (southeast). Major-General Horatio Wright’s Sixth Corps was to follow. The men, exhausted from fighting, marched sullenly as the rain continued to fall and the roads turned to mud.
On the Confederate side, General Robert E. Lee had lost about 6,000 men in three days, or a tenth of his Northern Virginia army. He needed reinforcements, specifically Major-General Robert F. Hoke’s troops defending Richmond. Lee wrote President Jefferson Davis, “If Genl Hoke with fresh troops can be spared from Richmond it would be of great assistance. We are outnumbered and constant labor is impairing the efficiency of the men.”
Since combat operations began on May 5, Lee’s Confederates had consistently repelled the full force of the Army of the Potomac. But Lee knew that if this struggle became a war of attrition, it would be a war he could not win.
Bibliography
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