Club members tour Battle of the Wilderness site

Civil War historian Don Pfanz addressed 48 Club members and guests participating in the 10th annual Civil War battlefield trip on June 7 to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Park. It was the fourth in the Club’s series of Civil War sesquicentennial visits to nearby Civil War battlefields.

Pfanz, a retired National Park Service ranger, expertly guided the group through the May 5-6, 1864, Battle of the Wilderness, and the subsequent May 8-21 Spotsylvania engagement. Last month, the National Park Service held a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of both battles, which marked the start of what is known as the Overland Campaign of the Union Army and its newly appointed commander, Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant.

Pfanz described in stark detail what was some of the most horrific fighting in the Civil War, with the opposing forces fighting at close range in the densely wooded thickets in the Wilderness and locked in bloody, hand-to-hand combat through heavy rain and thick mud at Spotsylvania for hours on end.

Blessed by sunshine, blue skies and low humidity, the travelers enjoyed an pleasant outdoor lunch on grounds of the historic and well-preserved Elwood house, which served as headquarters for Union generals during the Battle of the Wilderness. As with prior trips, the visit was hosted by the Civil War Trust as part of a reciprocal arrangement with the Club.