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Page 17 · column 4 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
Lee sent a dispatch to Longstreet on the evening of the 5th, asking him to make his way as quickly as possible to relieve Hill. The qrgency was not related to Longstreet, and he waited until 1 a.mXthd next morning to march.
The Union attack down the Orange Plank Road began at 5 a.m. on May 6 when seven Federal divisions pounced on Lee’s weary two. Just when it seemed that Lee’s right flank would be destroyed, Longstreet’s men arrived.
Their vicious counterattack stunned the Federals, who came to a standstill. Lee tried personally to continue the assault across the open fields of the Tapp Farm. Brig. Gen. John Gregg’s alarmed Texans politely but firmly sent Lee back with cries of “Lee to the rear!”
Longstreet’s men resumed the offensive, flanked the Union line, and sent it whirling back to earlier lines of entrenchments. The combination of stiffening Union resistance and Longstreet’s wounding by friendly fire, stalled the Confederate counterattack.
The Battle of the Wilderness was blind and vicious. The woods caught fire, and many wounded men were burned to death. The smoke from the woods, muskets and cannons made for a choking fog that only intensified the lack of visibility.
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