HOW I SEE IT: Small victories at Wilderness battlefield

Earlier this month on a balmy Sunday I visited Wilderness battlefield, scene of one of the most horrific battles ever fought.

One hundred forty-five years ago, the armies of Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee clashed in the dense forests and underbrush along a five-mile front. It ended in a bloody stalemate, with neither side gaining clear advantage.

The May 5-6 battle included the last significant Confederate assault of the Civil War, as Gen. James Longstreet’s corps mounted a brilliant flank attack on the Union left that nearly rolled up Gen. Hancock’s federals. The action stalled when a) Longstreet was seriously wounded by friendly fire moving up to intensify his counterattack and b) heroic Vermont units held a key road junction (Brock and Orange Plank roads), enabling Grant to wheel toward Richmond down Brock Road the next day, forcing Lee to redeploy farther south.

For the Confederacy, it was the beginning of the endgame that culminated with surrender at Appomattox 11 months later.

If you have not visited Wilderness battlefield in recent years, you might not notice some significant changes — some of which trace back to our campaign aimed at recognizing Gen. Longstreet — initiated during a tribute program conducted in May 1999.

Ironically, that tribute itself was sparked by a bizarre accident (November 1998) when the undersigned slowed his car along Orange Plank Road, searching for obscure historical markers.

Today, there is a safety turn-off and marker — with several interpretative panels at the site of Longstreet’s wounding. Deeper into the woods, there is a path to a large granite monument placed in 2006 to honor the Green Mountain brigade of Vermont, which suffered terrible casualties but stood firm against Longstreet’s ferocious flank attack launched from an unfinished railroad trace.

For all of those who campaigned for more complete interpretation in this area of the park, these small victories more than justify the struggle to overcome the inertia and negativity that had long dominated this important theater in U.S. history.

While more remains to be accomplished, future generations will have the opportunity of contemplating these American heroes at their finest hour, with less worry about getting rear-ended in the process.

Hollis is president of the General Longstreet Recognition Project.