Virginia Department of Historic Resources DHR ID: 088-5183 Architectural Survey Form Other DHR ID: 111-0147-0101

Property Information

Property Names Property Evaluation Status Name Explanation Name Current Name Wilderness Battlefield Historic Wilderness Battlefield DHR Staff: Potentially Eligible This Property is associated with the Fredericksburg and Property Addresses Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park. Current - Constitution Highway Route 20 Alternate - Brock Road Route 613 Alternate - Orange Plank Road Route 621 Alternate - Germanna Highway Route 3 Alternate - Plank Road Route 3 County/Independent City(s): Culpeper (County), Orange (County), Spotsylvania (County) Incorporated Town(s): No Data Zip Code(s): 22407, 22508, 22551, 22553, 22726 Magisterial District(s): No Data Tax Parcel(s): No Data USGS Quad(s): CHANCELLORSVILLE, GERMANNA BRIDGE, MINE RUN, SALEM CHURCH

Additional Property Information

Architecture Setting: Rural Acreage: No Data Site Description: January 1992: The battlefield straddles Routes 20 and 621, and lies west of Route 613. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County National Military Park owns and administers 2699 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield, including such important sites as the Wilderness Tavern, Ellwood, Saunders Field, the Chewning Farm, the Tapp Field, the Brock-Plank Road intersection, and most of the Union and Confederate trenchlines.

Those lands not protected by the Federal Government have been developed into residential communities. Lake of the Woods subdivision owns much of the land north of the Orange Turnpike (Route 20), including the staging area of John Gordon's May 6th attack. The Fawn Lake community controls nearly all the land south of the Plank Road (Route 621), including the unfinished railroad bed used by the Confederates to assail Winfield Hancock's flank. And the Lake Wilderness subdivision occupies a position in the very heart of the battlefield, between Union and Confederate lines.

November 2014: The Wilderness Battlefield site corresponds to the Wilderness Battlefield unit of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Historic District, located approximately 17 miles west of Fredericksburg in an unincorporated area that lies in Orange and Spotsylvania counties. The furthest west of the park units, it lies on the north and south sides of Constitution Highway (VA Route 20) and Orange Plank Road (VA Route 621) and encompasses approximately 2,855 acres of the Battle of the Wilderness battlefield, including Ellwood (DHR ID# 088-0139). The unit extends roughly from the edge of the Lake of the Woods subdivision on the north to Orange Plank Road and Jackson Trail on the south and from the west end of Hill-Ewell Drive on the west to Brock Road (VA Route 613) on the east. The large Lake Wilderness residential subdivision at the center of the unit is excluded from the District boundary. Jackson Trail runs southeast through the Wilderness Battlefield site to the intersection with Brock Road, where it continues northeast to the Chancellorsville park unit. Surveyor Assessment: January 1992: The opening battle of Grant's sustained offensive against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, known as the Overland Campaign, was fought at the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864. On the morning of May 5, 1864, the Union V Corps attacked Ewell's Corps on the Orange Turnpike, while A.P. Hill's corps during the afternoon encountered Getty's Division (VI Corps) and Hancock's II Corps on the Plank Road. Fighting was fierce but inconclusive as both sides attempted to maneuver in the dense woods. Darkness haulted the fighting and both sides rushed forward reinforcements. At dawn on May 6, Hancock attacked along the Plank Road, driving Hill's Corps back in confusion. Longstreet's Corps arrived in time to prevent the collapse of the Confederate right flank. At noon, a devastating Confederate flank attack at Hamilton's Thicket sputtered out when Lt. General Longstreet was wounded by his own men. The IX Corps (Burnside) moved against the Confederate center, but was repulsed. Union generals James S. Wadsworth and Alexander Hays were killed. Confederate generals John M. Jones, Micah Jenkins, and Leroy A. Stafford were killed. The battle was a tactical draw. Grant, however, did not retreat as had the other Union generals before him. On May 7, the Federals advanced by the left flank towards the crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House.

November 2014: The Wilderness Battlefield site contributes to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Historic District under Criterion A in the area of Military for its association with the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5–6, 1864). Surveyor Recommendation: Recommended Not Eligible Ownership Ownership Category Ownership Entity May 14, 2016 Page: 1 of 4 Virginia Department of Historic Resources DHR ID: 088-5183 Architectural Survey Form Other DHR ID: 111-0147-0101

Federal Govt National Park Service Private No Data

Primary Resource Information

Resource Category: Defense Resource Type: Battle Site Date of Construction: 1864 Historic Time Period: Civil War (1861 - 1865) Historic Context(s): Landscape, Military/Defense Architectural Style: No Discernable Style Form: No Data Number of Stories: No Data Condition: Good Interior Plan: No Data Threats to Resource: Development Architectural Description: January 1992: The battlefield straddles Routes 20 and 621, and lies west of Route 613. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County National Military Park owns and administers 2699 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield, including such important sites as the Wilderness Tavern, Ellwood, Saunders Field, the Chewning Farm, the Tapp Field, the Brock-Plank Road intersection, and most of the Union and Confederate trenchlines.

Those lands not protected by the Federal Government have been developed into residential communities. Lake of the Woods subdivision owns much of the land north of the Orange Turnpike (Route 20), including the staging area of John Gordon's May 6th attack. The Fawn Lake community controls nearly all the land south of the Plank Road (Route 621), including the unfinished railroad bed used by the Confederates to assail Winfield Hancock's flank. And the Lake Wilderness subdivision occupies a position in the very heart of the battlefield, between Union and Confederate lines.

The current site is composed of monuments/plaques, road beds, rifle pits, structures, interpretive materials, ruins (Wilderness Tavern), archaeological sites, a cemetery, earthworks, burials, trenches, buildings and a railroad bed. The current land usage is agricultural and residential in nature.

November 2014: The Wilderness Battlefield is an irregularly shaped site divided horizontally by two east-west roads—Constitution Highway and Orange Plank Road—and hemmed in by suburban housing developments. Both roads are maintained by the state and lie outside the District boundary. Several small streams cross the site, including North and South Wilderness Run near Hill-Ewell Drive and Keatons Run north of Constitution Highway. The northern portion of the site is heavily forested and contains earthworks and the remnants of a CCC camp. The middle portion of the site consists predominantly of open fields, such as Saunders Field, the 177-acre Ellwood plantation (DHR ID# 088-0139) and historic farmstead sites including the Widow Tapp, Chewning, and Higgerson sites, interspersed with successional forest growth. Multiple sets of linear earthworks run north to south along the middle and edges of the site, both Confederate (DHR ID# 111-0147-0103) and Federal (DHR 111-0147-0104). The majority of the earthworks are accessible by footpaths and largely covered with a thick layer of leaf litter. The southern extent of the site is predominantly forested, with earthworks running north to south along the east and west edges. The site also contains several monuments along Brock Road and Orange Plank Road (DHR ID#s 111-0147-0113 to 111-0147-0120).

Secondary Resource Information

Secondary Resource #1

Resource Category: No Data Resource Type: No Data Architectural Style: No Data Form: No Data Date of Construction: No Data Condition: No Data Threats to Resource: No Data Architectural Description: No Data

May 14, 2016 Page: 2 of 4 Virginia Department of Historic Resources DHR ID: 088-5183 Architectural Survey Form Other DHR ID: 111-0147-0101

Historic District Information

Historic District Name: Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Local Historic District Name: No Data Historic District Significance: November 2014: The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Historic District derives its primary significance under Criterion A in the area of Military as the site of the American Civil War Battles of Fredericksburg (December 11–15, 1862), Chancellorsville (April 27–May 6, 1863), the Wilderness (May 4–7, 1864), and Spotsylvania Court House (May 8–21, 1864). Each of the battles was part of a major campaign initiated by the Union Army of the Potomac against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Together, the battles resulted in more than 100,000 casualties, making the roughly 20- square-mile area over which they were fought the most contested ground of the Civil War. Under Criterion B, the battlefields are associated with defining moments in the careers of the generals responsible for planning and executing the battles, including Union Generals Ambrose E. Burnside, Joseph D. Hooker, Ulysses S. Grant, and George G. Meade and Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Several contributing buildings in the District also possess significance under Criterion A in the area of Health and Medicine for their association with the care of wounded soldiers during and after the battles. The District has additional significance under Criterion A for its association with national trends in battlefield commemoration and preservation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Finally, a number of resources in the District also possess significance under Criterion C in the areas of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Criteria Consideration D applies to Fredericksburg National Cemetery, which derives its significance from its association with important historic events and distinctive design features, and Criteria Consideration F applies to the contributing commemorative monuments within the District that possess significance engendered from their age, design, and symbolic values.

The period of significance for the District extends from 1768, the date that Chatham Manor was constructed, to the present in recognition of the continuing exceptional importance of Fredericksburg National Cemetery. The District achieved its primary significance during the period between November 1862 and May 1864, when the Battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House were fought.

CRM Events

Event Type: Survey:Phase I/Reconnaissance Project Review File Number: No Data Investigator: Laura Kline Organization/Company: PAL Sponsoring Organization: No Data Survey Date: 11/3/2014 Dhr Library Report Number: No Data Project Staff/Notes: Survey conducted in support of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Historic District NRHP nomination (111-0147).

Event Type: DHR Staff: Potentially Eligible DHR ID: 088-5183 Staff Name: ABPP Event Date: 1/24/2007 Staff Comment Preliminary survey data from the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) indicates that this historic Civil War battlefield is likely eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and likely deserving of future preservation efforts. This survey information should be reassessed during future Section 106/NEPA compliance reviews.

Event Type: Survey:Phase I/Reconnaissance Project Review File Number: No Data Investigator: CWSAC Organization/Company: National Park Service Sponsoring Organization: No Data Survey Date: 1/1/1992 Dhr Library Report Number: No Data

May 14, 2016 Page: 3 of 4 Virginia Department of Historic Resources DHR ID: 088-5183 Architectural Survey Form Other DHR ID: 111-0147-0101

Project Staff/Notes: Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Survey Form - no photos submitted - not dated or signed, but surveys occurred during the period between 1991 and 1993. CWSAC - VA046

Bibliographic Information

Bibliography: November 2014: See 2015 NRHP Form for Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Historic District. ------DHR CRM Report Number: OR-041 Record Type: Report Bibliographic Notes: Wilderness Battlefield Gateway Study: Concepts for Preservation and Economic Development, Orange County, Virginia. April 2012. Hill Studio, with the CLUE Group, Jennings Gap Partnership, VHB. ------Name: Shea, Christopher DHR CRM Report Number: Preservation Magazine Record Type: Article Bibliographic Notes: Fighting Back: Galvanized by a proposed Walmart supercenter, historians, residents, and Civil War buffs are struggling to protect a threatened battlefield in northeastern Virginia -- May/June 2010 ------Name: Dutton & Associates, LLC DHR CRM Report Number: SP-156 Record Type: Report Bibliographic Notes: SP-156: Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of the Pagan Tract, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, September 18, 2009. #2009-1073 ------Name: Kalbian, Maral DHR CRM Report Number: SP-72 Bibliographic Notes: SP-072: Evaluation of Selected Civil War and Architectural Resources, Proposed Spotsylvania Parkway, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 2001. #2001-0625 ------Name: Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Record Type: Book Bibliographic Notes: Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields. Includes 3 books - Report, Volume I: Appendices, and Volume II: Battle Summaries Property Notes: No Data Project Bibliographic Information: See 2015 Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park Historic District National Register of Historic Places form.

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