The Battle of the Wilderness

On the ridge ahead of you stood the Chewning house, an important landmark on the Wilderness Battlefield. Sixty-nine-year-old William V. Chewning scratched out a living on this 150-acre farm during the war with the help of his wife Permelia and their two grown children. Union troops looted the farm in November 1863 but left the two-and-one-half-story frame house standing.

The building, extensively remodeled after the war, fell victim to fire in 1947. The farm road to your right leads to the Chewning house site. Exhibits there discuss the clearing's tactical importance and its occupation by both Union and Confederate armies during the Battle of the Wilderness.

Trail length: 0.25 mile

Hiking time (roud trip): 20 minutes

Grade: This is an easy hike

Marker is on Hill-Ewell Drive, on the right when traveling south.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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