Crisis in Tapp Field
Battle of the Wilderness
Here on the morning of May 6, 1864, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army faced perhaps their greatest crisis. Soon after dawn, hundreds of disorganized Confederates tumbled from the woods to your left, driven by a powerful Union assault. As the Confederates swept past, only General Lee, his staff, and some 12 cannon stood between the Union army and Confederate disaster.
Southern reinforcements under Longstreet were on the way, but would they arrive in time to prevent Lee’s destruction? Lee fretted as he rarely had. The Confederate artillery fired furiously but only slowed the Federals. Then, as the Union troops advanced into this field, the Texas Brigade, the first of Longstreet’s corps, trotted eastward up the Plank Road.
Lee rode to the head of the column, intent on personally leading it into battle, but the Texans stopped him. “Lee to the rear!” they shouted refusing to move forward until the general retreated to safety. He did, and they moved forward – commencing a counterattack that would drive the Federals away.
Marker is on Hill-Ewell Drive, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
