Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was part of the Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. It was fought from May 8 to May 21, 1864. After the Battle of the Wilderness, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant decided to march south to get between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. As part of the Union plans, they had to capture the important crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House. But Confederate cavalry arrived there first, followed by Confederate infantry.

Part of the Confederate line bulged outward; this part was soon called the "Mule Shoe". On May 12, Grant attacked the Mule Shoe with several thousand men. The Union attack captured part of the Confederate line but Confederate commander Robert E. Lee sent reinforcements to counterattack. The fighting lasted all day at the Mule Shoe. By the end of the day, an oak tree almost two feet wide was completely severed by all the rifle fire.

The battle continued until May 21st. Grant then decided that he could not defeat Lee at Spotsylvania, so he ordered the Union army to move southward.

Battle Of Spotsylvania Court House Media

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  Map of Southeastern Virginia.

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  Union marches and operations in Central Virginia (1864–65).

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  Spotsylvania Courthouse, 1864

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  Movements on May 7, 1864; cavalry actions inset*     Confederate*     Union

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  Attacks on the Laurel Hill line, May 8

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  Positions and movements on the Union flanks, May 9

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  TITLE: Portrait of Maj. Gen. en:John Sedgwick, officer of the Federal Army*CREATED/PUBLISHED: Between 1860 and 1865

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  Grant attacks, May 10 (additional map).