WILDERNESS: Saunders Field, where 140th N.Y. suffered terrible losses

BATTLEFIELD BACKSTORY: To thousands of motorists who zoom past every day on busy Virginia Rt. 20, this scene, a mile or so from McDonald's, a Sheetz gas station, E&M Auto Sales and Divine Nails, may just be another rolling field and patch of woods. Perhaps some don't have time to notice as they drive to their homes nearby in the upscale Fawn Lake subdivision, where streets are named after Civil War generals and signs mark "preserved" trenches and earthworks.But momentous, and tragic, events occurred here in Saunders Field along the historic Orange Turnpike and in the woods nearby on May 5, 1864 -- the first day of the Battle of the Wilderness.

This is where 529 soldiers in the 140th New York, its ranks filled with immigrants from Germany and Ireland, burst from the woods on a wet, foggy morning that soon turned hot, charging an enemy entrenched near a distant woodline. But after about 30 minutes, they were forced to retreat, suffering nearly 50 percent casualties.(Click at upper right to enlarge and click here for all posts on this blog.)