May 4, 1864---The Overland Campaign begins

MAY 4, 1864:    

The last great military campaign of the Civil War begins, the Overland Campaign, designed by Ulysses S. Grant and The Army of The Potomac to box in General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and destroy it through attrition. Although battle had been a daily occurrence during the Civil War, most of the 10,000 battles were small- to medium-scale engagements. The larger engagements, like Antietam and Gettysburg had been marked by long and slow buildups, massive violence and destruction, and disengagement after which both sides retired to lick their wounds and prepare for the next epic contest. This gave both sides time to recuperate, re-equip, and re-deploy.

Grant throws this strategy out the window. From now on, The Army of Northern Virginia will be under constant and unrelenting pressure as battle follows battle in quick succession, and from any direction of the compass. Although Union losses will be heavy, Grant is counting on the fact that the Union can afford to lose a host quicker than Lee can lose a brigade. For the next terrible, storied forty days he will do just that.

An epic showdown ensues that eventually decides the war. On this day, The Army of the Potomac moves out of its winter quarters and crosses the Rapidan River, advancing to the tangled woods of The Wilderness. Grant plans to move Federal troops quickly around Lee's left flank and advance beyond the Wilderness before engaging with the Confederates. But logistics plays a part; troops and supplies are slow in moving. As the dusk of May 4^th falls, the he Union is not advancing fast enough. Seeing an opportunity, Lee rushes in with his full force, drawing the Federals into an unwanted battle in The Wilderness.