Longstreet Felled
The Battle of the Wilderness
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
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.
Courtesy hmdb.org
