Horror on the Orange Plank Road
The Battle of the Wilderness
Some of the Civil War's heaviest fighting occurred along the Orange Plank Road on May 5 and 6, 1864. One of two major roads passing through the Wilderness, the Plank Road became a magnet for both armies as they struggled to maneuver through the tangled forests. Battle lines surged up and down the Plank Road corridor, littering the roadside woods with fallen men. Fires scorched the forest, consuming the dead and wounded indiscriminately. Though violent and horrifying, the fighting here ended in stalemate.
Loop Trail
A half-mile loop trail leads you through part of what one soldier called "a wilderness of woe." The trail begins and ends at the object of the soldier' toil and blood: the Orange Plank Road-Brock Road intersection, 50 yards to your left. Along the way, you will traverse the woods that were consumed by combat and fire, pass a monument honoring the Vermont Brigade, and see earthworks built by Union soldiers to defend Brock Road and the intersection.
Marker is at the intersection of Orange Plank Road (County Route 621) and Brock Road (County Route 613), on the right when traveling east on Orange Plank Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
