ABOUT SPOTSYLVANIA

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was the second engagement in the Overland Campaign, which took place in Virginia from May to June 1864. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant directed the Army of the Potomac, under Major General George Meade, against Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Grant’s objective was to pursue Lee, weaken his forces, and ultimately capture Richmond, instructing Meade to follow Lee’s movements diligently.

Despite significant Union casualties, the campaign represented a strategic victory for Grant. The battles resulted in higher proportional losses for Lee’s army, eventually leading to the siege of Petersburg and Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in April 1865.