Battle of the Wilderness • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The marker is at Tapp Field, Tour Stop 6 on the Battle of the Wilderness Battlefield Auto Tour. The marker is on the other side of the field (about half a mile by trail) from the Auto Tour stop, but is at a parking area and trailhead on Orange Plank Road that is not part of the Auto Tour (see map below).
Text from the marker:
Wilderness Campaign
May 6, 1864, Hancock’s Federal soldiers opened the second day of battle about 5 a.m. Hill’s Confederates were driven westward to this vicinity, the small clearing of the Widow Tapp Farm where Lee had his headquarters. As Col. William T. Poague’s cannon staved off disaster, Longstreet’s belated Corps came swinging up. Lee waved his hat and personally started to lead the countercharge of Longstreet’s men, only to be restrained by the cry of “Go back, General Lee, go back!” Longstreet quickly saved the immediate situation. He later outflanked the Federals rolling their lines (“like a wet blanket,” said Hancock) to the trenches along the Brock Road.
United States Department of the Interior – National Park Service.
Location of the marker
The marker is on the other side of the field (about half a mile by trail) from the Auto Tour stop, at a parking area on Orange Plank Road that is not part of the Auto Tour. (38°17’20.3″N 77°43’36.6″W) To reach the parking area from the Auto Tour Stop continue 1/3 mile on Hill-Ewell Avenue to Orange Plank Road. Turn right (southwest) and continue a half mile. A dirt drive on the right is marked with a circular “Battlefield Tour” sign and leads to a small parking area.