What can be said of the Union army during the brutal Wilderness Campaign?
1 Answer
They kept going despite adversity and defeats.
Explanation:
Tactically the Union Army was defeated in every major battle and engagement in the brutal Wilderness campaign. But instead of retreating back to Washington after a defeat General Grant and the Union Army kept pressing on south and eastward. This force Lee and the Army of North Virginia to retreat to the south and west to block the Union Army from reaching Richmond.
Though the Union Army lost more men in every battle the Union Army could afford the loses, while the Army of North Virginia could not survive the loses of men and material. Strategically the South was losing the war, while the Union was losing the battles.
It took courage and resolve to keep pressing on in the face of adversity but the Union Army keep going. Not only was the Union Army facing constant loses and defeat at the hands of the Army of Northern Virginia the Wilderness was difficult terrain to move through. Food and supplies were difficult to move through the wilderness and the troops often went hungry but they did not turn back.
At the end of the Wilderness Campaign, the depleted southern forces were pinned down in a defensive line at Petersburg. The resulting war of attrition could have only one result a Union Victory.
