Battle of the Wilderness • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The ‘Valuable Crossroads’ wayside marker is on the loop walking trail at Stop Eight of the Wilderness Battlefield Auto Tour, at the intersection of Brock Road and Orange Plank Road.
Text from the marker:
Valuable Crossroads
Just after noon on May 5, 1864, Union troops raced toward this intersection. With Confederates from General A.P. Hill’s corps sweeping down the Orange Plank Road from the west, blue-clad troops under George W. Getty arrived here just moments before the Confederates. The Federals immediately started building earthworks to defend the crossroads. The remnants of those works are still visible along the Brock Road.
Later on May 5, men of the Union Second Corps launched attacks westward from these earthworks. They did not get far. About 200 yards behind you, they crashed into Hill’s line, entrenched among the leaves. For the next five hours, fighting raged in these woods. Neither side gained an advantage. Thousands fell. May 6 promised a bloody renewal of the contest for the Plank Road-Brock Road intersection.
Caption to the inset photo:
The Orange Plank Road soon after the war. Note the tangled growth along the roadside, which made fighting in this region especially difficult.
Location of the marker
The marker is along the half mile loop trail that begins at the parking area on the south side of Orange Plank Road. (38°18’02.5″N 77°42’31.7″W)