Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia preserves four major Civil War battlefields: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. The Battle of the Wilderness, fought in May 1864, was the first engagement of Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. This battle, characterized by brutal fighting in dense woods, resulted in heavy casualties for both sides and was tactically inconclusive. However, it marked a strategic shift, forcing Lee's Confederate forces onto the defensive and setting the stage for a war of attrition that ultimately led to the South's defeat. The park, established in 1927, encompasses these historic battle sites, a national cemetery, and a museum, preserving the memory of these pivotal events in American history.12