Zion Methodist Church - 1864 Overland Campaign
N 38° 11.639 W 077° 35.192
18S E 273490 N 4230500
Zion Methodist Church served as Confederate headquarters during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
Waymark Code: WMBF7K
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 05/14/2011
Views: 1
In the spring of 1864, Union Gen. U. S. Grant launched an offensive against the Confederate army in Virginia. While Federal forces came from the east and south, Grant led the Army of the Potomac on the Overland Campaign from the north driving Confederate Gen. R. E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to Petersburg.
In May, after leaving Wilderness, the armies next engaged in battle at Spotsylvania Court House. Confederate Gen. A. P. Hill set up headquarters at the Zion Methodist Church and while he and Lee met with officers, the signalmen monitored the battle with telescopes from second-floor windows. The church suffered heavy damages when Union troops fired upon it.