The Battle of the Wilderness (5-6 May 1864) was the opening engagement of the Overland Campaign, a major Union offensive conducted during the final year of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It saw the Union Army of the Potomac, under Ulysses S. Grant, clash with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under Robert E. Lee, in a dense patch of Virginian woodlands called the Wilderness. Though neither side could claim victory after two days of bloody fighting, Grant opted to continue his offensive rather than retreat, hoping to wear Lee down and bleed the Confederacy dry.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2843/battle-of-the-wilderness/.