Civil War Virginia, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Virginia, circa 1971-1990

Civil War Virginia, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Virginia, circa 1971-1990. Caption: "Civil War Virginia, The Wilderness. On May 5, 1864, Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee engaged in battle for the first time in a tangled forest known as the Wilderness. Units lost all semblance of order in the woods and accidentally shot many of their comrades. To add to the horror, the dry woods caught fire from the flashes of the guns, and when the two-day battle ended in a stalemate the Wilderness was filled with blackened corpses. Background: The Wilderness Battlefield. Top right: Union Brig. General James S. Wadsworth Monument." Postcard number: VA 186