Grant’s Knoll

During the winter of 1863–64, the Union Army (Army of the Potomac), and the Confederate Army (Army of Northern Virginia) faced each other across the Rapidan River.  The Union forces were quartered around Culpeper Court House.  The Confederates were camped around Orange Court House.  Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, who was now the commander of all Union armies, decided to headquarter with the Army of the Potomac.  Grant was to concentrate on general strategy while Army of the Potomac Commander George Meade was to manage the Union forces.

The Union force numbered some 120,000 men, where as Lee could muster only about 65,000.  Grant’s grand plan was to attack Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from three directions.

On the morning of May 4th, 1864, the Federal Army advanced over the Rapidan River crossing at Germanna Ford and a few miles east at Ely’s Ford.  Grant and Meade set up camp on a knoll near Wilderness Tavern.  Nearby was Ellwood, which served as the headquarters for Union commanders Warren and Burnside.

Grant’s Knoll, as it is known today, sits just south of the present day Route 20 and Route 3 intersection.  Until recently there was little to hint of its existence.  Friends of Wilderness Battlefield volunteers, and the National Park Service, have created access to the site.  A pathway has been established and lined with wood chips.  A large clearing has also been formed.

With FOWB winning a grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program, three interpretive panels have been erected, one at the head of the path and two in the clearing.  Visitors may now walk back to the area of the knoll and view the landscape while reading the panels describing the scene as it was in 1864 when Generals Grant and Meade camped there.

The initial interpretive panel one will encounter before entering the path reads “Grant Comes to Virginia”.  This colorful panel is easily seen from Route 20 and marks the entrance to the knoll.  Once in the clearing two more interpretive panels will be seen.  One panel is entitled, “An Uneasy Partnership”, and refers to the deteriorating relationship between Generals Grant and Meade.  The other panel reads “Grant’s Headquarters”.

After visiting the Grant’s Knoll site, visitors may now drive a couple of hundred yards further south on route 20 and make a left to enter Ellwood.  Generals Warren and Burnside would make the circa 1790 farm their headquarters.  Generals Grant and Meade would visit Warren at Ellwood.