Battle of the Wilderness, The

DESCRIPTION: "Now boys just listen while I sing you a song sirs, About our veteran troops...." The rebel troops try to trap generals Grant and Meade, but the Union army continues on to Spotsylvania. The singer expects victory despite the death of General Sedgwick
AUTHOR: James D. Gay
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (broadside published by James D. Gay)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 5-6 (7), 1864 - Battle of the Wilderness. Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee inflict heavy casualties on Meade's Army of the Potomac, but General Grant refuses to accept defeat and orders Meade's army on to Spotsylvania
May 7-20, 1864 - Spotsylvania Campaign. Lee's entrenched army blocks Grant's move toward Richmond. After several failed assaults, Grant again pulls away from the Confederates and tries to go around them
May 9, 1864 - "Uncle" John Sedgwick, commander of the Union Sixth Corps and perhaps the most beloved officer in the Army of the Potomac (as well as its senior officer) is killed by a sharpshooter
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, pp. 160-161, "The Battle of the Wilderness" (1 text)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #106, p. 9, "The Battle of the Wilderness" (2 references)
Roud #V30296
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, cw100540, "The battle of the Wilderness," James D. Gay (Philadelphia), 1864
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "VIrginia's Bloody Soil" (subject)
NOTES [28 words]: For background on the Battle of the Wilderness, see the notes to "Virginia's Bloody Soil." Note that John Segwick was killed at Spotsylvania, not in the Wilderness. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: CAFS1160

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography