Longstreet Felled-The Battle of the Wilderness - Lake Wilderness VA
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 38° 17.877 W 077° 42.877
18S E 262610 N 4242360
As Longstreet galloped down the road at the head of his victorious troops – near this spot – he inadvertently rode between two Confederate lines maneuvering in the dense roadside foliage. One of them fired a volley. A bullet struck Longstreet.
Waymark Code: WM134D7
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 09/13/2020
Views: 0
Longstreet Felled-The Battle of the Wilderness— Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park —It was the most successful day of James Longstreet’s career. He had arrived on the Wilderness battlefield early in the day to find the Confederate army in full retreat and in danger of being destroyed. His troops had prevented disaster. Now, at midday, he had just launched a flank attack that knocked the Union army back in confusion.
As Longstreet galloped down the road at the head of his victorious troops – near this spot – he inadvertently rode between two Confederate lines maneuvering in the dense roadside foliage. One of them fired a volley. A bullet struck Longstreet in the throat; another killed his subordinate Micah Jenkins, riding at his side.
Like “Stonewall” Jackson a year before, Longstreet had been felled by his own men. Unlike Jackson, Longstreet would survive. But his wounding here, on May 6, stalled the Confederate advance. By the time Lee was able to revive it, the opportunity for victory had passed.
…I shall not soon forget the sadness in [General Lee’s] face, and the almost despairing movement of his hands, when he was told that Longstreet had fallen.
Captain Francis W. Dawson, Longstreet’s staff.
LOCATION: Marker is near Lake Wilderness, Virginia, in Spotsylvania County. Marker is at the intersection of Orange Plank Road (Virginia Route 621) and Wilderness Park Drive, on the right when traveling east on Orange Plank Road. Marker is in the Wilderness battlefield section of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, on Orange Plank Road (Route 621), about 1/2 mile west of Brock Road (Route 613). Located at stop seven of the driving tour of the Wilderness Battlefield. Postal address: 10925 Orange Plank Rd, Spotsylvania VA 22551
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