A bird's-eye view of where Lee met Grant
Tom Poe puts a Cessna 182 into a tight right turn over a forest clearing not far from Fredericksburg, Virginia. "Right there under the wing tip, do you see it?" A thousand feet below, an isolated clump of trees surrounds an old foundation. "There's where Lee had his headquarters. Now follow that road to those markers," Poe directs.
In the face of a horrific Union attack in 1864, during a battle known as The Wilderness, Lee's troops broke and were running to the rear. Lee, fearing a rout, mounted his famous white horse and galloped to the nearby trenches to rally his troops. But he never got there. "There's where Lee's troops stopped him," says Poe, pointing out the window at the markers. The soldiers, concerned for the safety of their beloved general, promised to rejoin the battle provided Lee returned to safety. Lee agreed and the troops went back to the fight. After suffering heavy losses, Union forces withdrew and the battle ended as night fell.
In the late afternoon light, deep shadows outline the trenches and earthworks that snake across the narrow open ground. From a circling vulture's viewpoint, it's easy to imagine the tens of thousands of troops enveloped by the blue smoke of gunpowder drifting across the ground. What is impossible to imagine is the absolute horror as thousands of men lay down their lives in that narrow strip of ground. In this two-day battle, 28,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fell. By the time the war ended, more than 624,000 American lives were lost. That's more deaths than during World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf combined. More of those lives were lost in the state of Virginia than anywhere else. And if you happen to be flying southbound across the state, you can get a real education if you have the time.
No other event in our history has scarred this country more. Lingering over these battlefields like a hawk allows a level of understanding that escapes the ground-level visitor. There's no better way to visualize the ebb and flow of battle, and the movements of tens of thousands of soldiers, than by orbiting at a thousand feet over the hills and swamps where the soldiers fought and died.
For the true Civil War fanatic, there are so many critical sites in Virginia that it takes entire books to discuss them. If you were to fly over each, in chronological order, your flight path would look like that of a bumblebee on a drinking binge, and you'd burn more gas than a lot of pilots would use in a year. So to keep things simple, and to avoid helmet fire, also known as information overload, it helps to break down the war into phases. And one of those phases begins with Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
March 9, 1864. President Lincoln, suffering continual frustration at the ineffective leadership of Union armies, has promoted Grant to lead all Union forces. Grant, who made a name for himself while fighting in the Mississippi Valley, concludes that the only way to defeat the Confederacy is to destroy two particular Confederate forces: the Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joe Johnston and the Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee. To Grant, all other tasks, from Texas to Florida, are secondary. And the biggest threat is Lee. In May 1864, Grant puts his forces on the move. His overall plan is to draw Lee into open ground north of Richmond and destroy him with the Union's superior numbers and cannon.
May 5, 1864. Grant orders two columns of troops, totaling 118,000 soldiers, to move southeast out of Culpeper County and across the Rapidan River. One column crosses at Germanna Ford (Casanova VOR [CSN] 172-degree radial; 16 nm; Brooke VOR [BRV] 287-degree radial, 21 nm). The other crosses to the east at Ely's Ford (CSN 160 degrees, 19 nm; BRV 284 degrees, 16 nm) and camps at Chancellorsville (CSN 156 degrees, 23 nm; BRV 270 degrees, 13 nm).
As Grant marches southeast down Germanna Ford Road (known today as state Route 3), he enters an area of dense woods called The Wilderness. Lee, never fond of letting his enemy choose the field of battle, realizes that this thick, second-growth forest negates Grant's two-to-one advantage in troop strength and artillery.
Deciding to attack, Lee sends two columns northeast into the jungle-like forest. One moves up the Orange Turnpike. Grant, spotting Lee's forces, turns his western column south to intercept. These forces collide (CSN 170 degrees, 20 nm; BRV 275 degrees, 19 nm) 1.5 nm south of the intersection of the turnpike and Germanna Ford Road (state Route 20 and Route 3). Grant also orders his column at Chancellorsville to move west and south to engage the second Rebel column. These forces meet at a crossroads near the headwaters of three present-day small lakes (CSN 167 degrees, 21.5 nm; BRV 271 degrees, 18 nm).
The two engagements spread into the woods and quickly form one long line of battle. For two days the war roars over ground so thick and tangled that one veteran wrote, "One could barely see 10 paces." The fighting is heated and often hand-to-hand. A war correspondent wrote that it was "impossible to conceive a field worse adapted to the movements of a grand army." During the fight, the thick woods and undergrowth catch fire, the smoke mingling with dust and the haze of gunpowder. Adding to the horror, some wounded soldiers, trapped between the lines, are burned to death when the fires sweep over them.
At dawn on the second day of the battle, Lee's right line comes under attack. As Union forces push his men back, Lee tries to rally the troops — but his soldiers force him to return to safety. When Rebel reinforcements arrive, Grant withdraws and the battle ends as night falls. The toll has been heavy. Grant has suffered 18,000 casualties and Lee 10,000. But instead of retreating back toward Washington, as was the Union habit, Grant slides left and off to the southeast with a night march. In so doing, a race develops for the next battleground: Spotsylvania Courthouse (CSN 160 degrees, 29.5 nm; BRV 244 degrees, 14 nm).
Grant, hoping to get between Lee and Richmond, orders a night march on the crossroads at Spotsylvania. Sensing Grant's move, Lee turns his troops and quickly marches through the darkness to arrive at Spotsylvania just before Grant. Fighting begins immediately and the two armies tear at each other for 12 solid days. The worst of the fighting comes at Bloody Angle, where a Rebel salient 1.5 nm north-northwest of town is broken by a Union assault. Lee counterattacks and before the fighting ends, an oak tree 20 inches in diameter is cut down by unrelenting musket fire. Again, casualties are high. Grant loses another 18,000 and Lee loses almost 10,000.
As the Spotsylvania battle draws to a close on May 21, Grant again slides left, off to the east, and moves farther south. Hoping to draw Lee into another fight, he sends an entire army corps to take the Milford rail station (BRV 192 degrees, 19 nm; Gordonsville [GVE] 95 degrees, 37 nm) just southwest of Bowling Green. From there Grant threatens an important rail junction at present-day Doswell, just below the North Anna River. Lee, rather than launch an attack, responds by moving south along modern-day U.S. Route 1 to defend Doswell.
As Lee's troops reach the North Anna River bridge (Richmond [RIC] 352 degrees, 24 nm; Flat Rock [FAK] 45 degrees, 28 nm), they take time to relax after weeks of constant fighting. Grant, surprised that his force at Milford is unopposed, assumes Lee is in full retreat to Richmond and orders his troops down U.S. Route 1 after him. Lee, convinced that Grant is following the usual Union habit of withdrawing for rest and refitting, is caught off guard when Grant's troops attack at the North Anna bridge on May 23.
Forced to fall back from the bridge, Lee ponders his situation. He sets a trap by taking advantage of the terrain and Grant's eagerness. Lee orders his troops to dig strong earthworks along a 4.5-nm line just below the south bank of the North Anna River (RIC 345 to 355 degrees, 24 nm). He sets the bait by withdrawing his troops from the Union bridgeheads. Grant, again believing Lee is in full retreat, charges into the trap. When Grant realizes his troops are battling the strongest earthworks he has seen, he falls back across the river and starts digging his own. With the trap still capable of bite, Lee is unable to capitalize on the situation because of his illness and the crippling loss of so many of his best generals. The North Anna Battle ends as a minor affair with only 5,000 total casualties.
The two generals continue their bloody dance to the southeast. Once again, Grant moves left and southeast to head down the north bank of North Anna until it flows into the Pamunkey. His movement takes advantage of Virginia's coastal rivers, and Union ships continually arrive in his rear with additional troops and supplies. In the coming days, minor clashes occur as Grant crosses the Pamunkey River at Hanovertown (RIC 24 degrees, 15 nm; Hopewell [HPW] 352 degrees, 25 nm) and then Totopotomoy Creek on the way to the next battle: Cold Harbor, one of the most important — and bloodiest — battles of the entire war.
Grant's arrival at the Cold Harbor crossroad puts him within a day's march of Richmond and sets the stage for a two-day battle. Sensing an opportunity to end the war by breaking through to Richmond, Grant orders a massive attack for the second day, the morning of June 3. In the space of only 30 minutes, more than 7,000 Union lives are wasted during a futile attack on strong Rebel earthworks. Grant later says, "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made."
Cold Harbor, like several other battlefields in the Richmond area, lies under the controlled airspace of Richmond International Airport/Byrd Field, and the extended centerline for Runway 20 passes right over the battlefield about 5 nm from the threshold. With considerable airline traffic, orbiting the area is not always possible. If you have the time, Cold Harbor is probably best seen from the ground.
If you have a few hours — or a few days — to spare, the Richmond area is probably the single best place in America for those interested in the Civil War. Within 20 nm of Richmond there is enough Civil War history to fill volumes. Three battles raged across the property that is now Richmond International Airport, most notably the battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines. One battle, known as the Second Fair Oaks Battle, took place between today's runways 16 and 20; some of its trenches lie under that concrete. As you leave the airport by car, you can see remaining Confederate earthworks and cannon facing Richmond's runways and hangars.
In downtown Richmond there are numerous spots worth visiting, such as the Museum of the Confederacy, which was the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis; the Capitol of Virginia, where the Confederate Congress met; Belle Island, a prison camp for 30,000 Union prisoners; Chimborazo Park, currently the National Park headquarters and site of the largest hospital complex of the war; and the Tredegar Ironworks, now home to the National Park Service's new Civil War Museum and probably the best place to kick off a tour of the entire area.
Just outside of Richmond is Drewry's Bluff, where Confederate cannon overlooking the James River turned back the famous Union ironclad, the Monitor. And there are the battlefields at Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, and fortifications in and around Fort Harrison.
But if you need to keep moving, then stay to the east side of Richmond, just as Grant did, as you work your way south toward what many consider the final stop: Petersburg.
Heavily bloodied at Cold Harbor, Grant quietly withdraws and moves southeast, passing less than 4 nm east of Richmond. Grant has decided that the key to Richmond — and Lee's army — lies with the railroads coming north into Petersburg. Cut those supply lines, and Lee and Richmond will fall. Grant sneaks off to build a 2,000-foot-long pontoon bridge across a narrow neck in the James River (HPW 160 degrees, 3 nm; RIC 147 degrees, 18 nm) downstream from Hopewell. As soon as the bridge is finished, Grant's troops rush across and immediately march on to Petersburg. By the evening of June 13, Union soldiers lie at Petersburg's doorstep.
After a brief battle, leading elements of Grant's army capture part of the Confederate defenses on the east side of town. As evening falls, Petersburg is defenseless. But the local Union commander, still rattled by Cold Harbor and unsure of what traps lie before him, dismisses a night march into the city. It is a decision that lengthens the war by at least a year at the cost of thousands of lives. The overnight delay allows Lee to rush in reinforcements from Richmond, and by dawn a new line of Rebel earthworks is built. Grant, remembering the lessons of Cold Harbor, settles down for siege warfare. By war's end, trenches and earthworks will extend in an almost unbroken line from southwest of Petersburg to the east side of town, and then north, across the James River, to join existing earthworks along the eastern and northern reaches of Richmond. In all, almost 40 miles of earthworks will be created.
One of the most spectacular events of the entire war takes place at Petersburg. After months of siege-induced boredom, a Union regiment comprised of coal miners from Pennsylvania develops an audacious plan. With Grant's blessing, the miners dig a 511-foot tunnel beneath one of the strongest of the Rebel forts. With the tunnel complete, it is filled with tons of black powder and detonated early on the morning of July 30.
The huge blast obliterates the Rebel fort and opens a gap in Lee's line hundreds of yards wide. The planned Union assault, suffering from an abysmal lack of leadership, loses focus and quickly becomes disorganized. Rather than advance around the massive crater and beyond, the advancing troops dive in and use the 30-foot-deep, 60-foot-wide, and 170-foot-long hole as a massive pit. The breakdown in Union leadership gives Lee's troops time to respond with artillery-supported counterattacks. Grant loses a second chance for a quick victory as the crater turns into a slaughterhouse.
From the air, the Crater (HPW 248 degrees, 14 nm; RIC 198 degrees, 17 nm) sits well inside today's city of Petersburg just south of Blandford Cemetery, north of the four-lane U.S. Route 460 and west of the railroad leading into town. It lies in a field surrounded by a ring of trees that makes it hard to spot unless the sun is low in the sky. The main portion of the Petersburg National Battlefield Park is located in the area between the cemetery and present-day Fort Lee. In the northern portion of this largely wooded tract, Grant's troops had their initial success at the start of the siege as they moved in along the railway and roads leading toward Hopewell and City Point. Lee later tried to break the siege in this area with a failed attack on Fort Stedman, a Rebel fort taken by Union forces at the start of the Petersburg Campaign.
As the siege wears on, Grant slowly moves left, advancing his earthworks westward and causing Lee to extend his lines as well. While Grant can rely on shipborne troops and supplies constantly arriving at City Point (HPW 270 degrees, 8 nm; RIC 177 degrees, 12 nm), Lee finds his ranks becoming thinner by the day as his supply lines are cut one by one. His troops grow hungry, desert, and vanish in the night as the summer fades to winter.
The end of the siege comes during the first two days of April 1865. It starts on Grant's far left and all around today's Petersburg Municipal Airport. The four-lane road bordering the airport on the south, Boydton Plank Road/U.S. Route 1, is one of Lee's last supply lines. Just north of the airport is his last railway. Both are major objectives for Grant's forces.
The collapse begins 6 nm west-southwest of the airport (RIC 222 degrees, 26.5 nm; HPW 250 degrees, 27 nm) at another road junction called Five Forks as Union troops, led in part by Gen. George Custer, drive the Confederates from the junction. The next day, April 2, Union troops break through Confederate earthworks a mile east of the Petersburg hangars at the Pamplin Historical Park. The breakthrough opens a floodgate of Rebel retreats. That night Lee evacuates Petersburg and Richmond and begins running west, hoping to hook up with Rebel forces in North Carolina. One week later, on Palm Sunday, the war ends for Lee at Appomattox Courthouse.
Circling a thousand feet over the time-worn battlefields, it's not hard to imagine the sweeping expanses of open ground, where trees and buildings stand today, as tens of thousands collide in the chaos of war. But what remains impossible to imagine from any altitude is the complete horror it must have been on the ground.
Tim Wright, AOPA 1139149 , is a pilot, freelance writer, and photographer who lives in Richmond, Virginia.
