A Fire in the Wilderness

At the outset of the Battle of the Wilderness, General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia remained capable of defeating General Grant's Army of the Potomac. But after two days of relentless fighting in dense Virginia woods, Lee was never again able to launch offensive operations against Grant's army. The impenetrable forest and gunfire smoke made it impossible to view the enemy. Officers couldn't even see their own men during the fighting. The incessant gunfire caused the woods to catch fire, resulting in hundreds of men burning to death. The alarming casualties do not begin to convey the horror of this battle, one of the most gruesome in American history.