Battle of the Wilderness • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The “Grant’s Headquarters” and “Uneasy Partnership” wayside markers are at the end of a short trail from Stop One on the Battle of the Wilderness Auto Tour (see map below).
The “Grant’s Headquarters” (left) and “Uneasy Partnership” (right) wayside markers.
Text from the “Grant’s Headquarters” wyside marker:
Grant’s Headquarters
On May 5, 1864, this knoll was bordered by a second growth of scraggly pines and scrub oak. From here Grant and Meade could see little of the battle. Instead, they relied on subordinates to keep them apprised of the situation at the front. In the evenings the generals retired to their camp at the foot of the knoll, between here and the Germanna Plank Road (Modern Route 3). Otherwise, they rarely left this spot.
Over the next three days, as the two armies grappled in the deep woods, Grant and Meade remained at this knoll, sending and receiving dispatches as they fed troops into the battle. More than once Meade lost his temper. Outwardly Grant remained calm, but his nervous puffing of cigars and whittling of sticks showed that he too felt the strain.
“Grant and Meade…spent most of the day at their post on the hill, waiting for further intelligence. They sat or lay on the ground, and discussed the chances, and studied their maps, and read the dispatches…and listened constantly for the outburst of musketry which should tell that the battle was renewed.”
– Adam Badeau, Aide-de-camp
From the caption to the drawing at lower left:
An artist’s depiction of Grant’s headquarters knoll. The Orange Turnpike (modern Route 20) is at left.
From the caption to the drawing on the lower right:
Grant wore white gloves in the Wilderness. By the end of the battle they were in tatters, the result of his intense whittling.
Text from the “An Uneasy Partnership” wayside marker
An Uneasy Partnership
At the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, Grant would not only struggle against Lee’s army, but also against the conservative, sometimes timid, methods of the Union Army of the Potomac. George G. Meade, commander of that army, was a cautious leader – much like the commanders who preceded him. Lee made a career of using Union caution to his advantage.
Although Grant had no wish to interfere with Meade’s handling of the Army of the Potomac, he increasingly found it necessary to impose his will upon his subordinate. The aggressive tactics employed by the army throughout 1864 and 1865 carried Grant’s stamp above all others.
Lee’s army will be your objective point. Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also.
– Ulysses S. Grant to George G. Meade
From the caption to the two inset photos on the right:
Ulysses S. Grant
George G. Meade
From the caption to the drawing:
Meade and Grant in the Wilderness.
Location of the markers
The markers are about 60 yards down the trail from Tour Stop One of the Battle of the Wilderness Auto Tour. (38°19’20.0″N 77°44’02.4″W)
(go to the Battle of the Wilderness Auto Tour Stop 1 page)