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About the "Battle of the Wilderness"
This was the first
battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's "1864 overland
campaign" against General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern
Virginia. Major General was still in command of the Army
of the Potomac, but Grant was now with them and in all
actuality, he was the commander. The "Wilderness" battle
took place in an area of nearly impenetrable scrub growth and
rough terrain that encompassed more than 70 square miles located
in Spotsylvania and Orange Counties of central Virginia.
Lee's army was outnumbered, 61,000 men compared to Grant's 101,000. Although Lee had fewer artillery pieces (and worse condition) than Grant's, fighting in the tangled woods (see photo, right) would eliminate Grant's advantage in artillery. The close quarters and ensuing confusion there could give Lee's outnumbered force better odds in infantry as well.
The outcome of the battle is to be considered a draw. Grant did not want to fight in such terrain. Grant knew that Lee could not replace men that he lost, so Grant basically fought a war of attrition. According to the National Parks Service, Union losses were 18,400 and Confederate losses were 11,400.
Researching the movement of Goman's regiment in the battle
For private Thomas E. Goman, this was his last battle. On May 5, 1864, he was hit by a bullet to his right leg just above the knee. Here I will try to follow the course of events that changed Goman's life forever. To follow Goman's movement, we need to know what unit he was in.
Goman was in Co. K
of of the 57th N.Y. regiment (Lt. Col. Chapman)
...in the 3rd brigade (Col. Frank)
...in the 1st division (Gen. Barlow)
...in the II Corps (Gen. Hancock)
...in the army of the Potomac (Gen. Hancock - Gen. Grant).
I have highlighted in yellow those units below to follow Goman's location.
Movement
of the Union troops
On May 3, 1864, the Army of the Potomac left their winter quarters and entered the Wilderness area of Virginia on May 4 in two columns, the V and VI Corps in one column, the II Corps (included Goman's regiment), most of the cavalry, and the supply wagons in the other column. They arrived at "Ely's Ford" on the Rapidan River at about midnight and the men finished building a pontoon bridge that the cavalry started and crossed the river. By nightfall, the II Corps was at Chancellorsville.
The bloody
and confusing battle was to begin with Ewell's Confederate 2nd Corps
against the Union's V and VI Corps. At 5 a.m. the Union's
II Corps was brought up from
Chancellorsville to support the fighting that had begun with the
other column.
Lee ordered General Heth's
Division (6,700 men) to the Orange Plank Road to face
Hancock's II Corps and Getty's
division (totaling 30,000 men).
Most of Hancock's artillery was posted with Barlow's division. Frank's brigade of Barlow's division was stationed partly across the Brock road, near the junction of the Brock road and a cross-road leading to the Catharpin road. All of Hancock's corps were directed to throw up breastworks of logs and earth, the entrenched line beginning at Getty's left and extending to Barlow's left where it was refused to cover the flank. Another line of the corps threw up earth-works to their rear.
The attack begins and Goman is shot
Between 3 and 4 p.m Hancock was given the order to attack. At 4:30 P.
M. on May 5, Getty started to the attack, and marched but four hundred
yards when he ran into Heth's division of Hill's corps, and
found the enemy in force. Hancock
moved forward more
brigades and an artillery battery on the Orange Plank road.
General Hancock says in his report: ''The fight here became very
fierce at once the lines of battle were exceedingly close, the
musketry continuous and deadly along the entire line."
More brigades were sent in for support upon the Orange Plank road.
More to the left, Brooke and Smyth, of Barlow's division,
attacked the right of Hill, and forced it back.
According to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, "At 4.30 p.m. the Fifty-seventy and One hundred and eleventh New York Volunteers (temporarily detached) became severely engaged at the Wilderness Tavern. At 10 p.m. they were joined by the rest of the brigade."
It is very likely that Thomas E. Goman was shot that afternoon during this particular engagement. That same afternoon the 57th N.Y. regiment's commander Lt. Col. Alford Chapman was fatally shot. (Chapman had enlisted in the 57th N.Y. about one month before Goman.)
Aftermath
"The battle Raged with great severity and obstinacy until about 8 p.m." - Gen. Hancock's report. The thickness of the Wilderness, confusion of battle, and darkness kept Hill's men from being overrun. By nightfall the Confederates were entrenched as the battle quelled and the men waited for daylight for the battle to continue.
Exactly what
happened to Goman next is unknown. The 57th did have their
own ambulance corps, and following procedures in place, his
wound was most likely bandaged he was probably evacuated to the
rear when the fighting stopped at dark, or when the medics were
able to do so. The bullet entered and exited his leg
without breaking any bones.
Eventually he was taken to Emery Hospital in Washington and admitted on May 13, 1864. He was treated at that hospital until September when he was "mustered out" as the regiment disbanded.
After the Civil War
Goman's pension on September 3, 1864 (after he was honorably discharged) was $2.00 per month. It was increased to $6.00 per month on March 2, 1895 and to $8 before he died. He had been asking for an increase for many years, and there are plenty of legal papers indicating this. For instance, one of the papers, dated December 8, 1888, he declare that the "gunshot wound which is very painful and troublesome and deprives me from performing and discharging my duties in the position of moving ... [unreadable] ...in which I make my living." The notice of his pension being dropped upon his death appears at the right.
In His Own Words The following is from a handwritten legal document sent to the Pensions Office and stamped "MAR-2,1885:"
In the matter of the application for pension of Thomas E. Goman.
City and County of New York.
Thomas E. Goman being duly sworn says that he is the person who has [unreadable] applied for Pension. That during the last war in the year 1863, he was a private in Company "K" if the 57th Regiment N.Y., commanded at that time by Captain LaValle. That while in said service, and on the 5th day of May 1863, [should be 1864] during the battle known as the Battle of the Wilderness, he received a gunshot wound in the knee of his right leg, which fractured and severly cut and lacerated the cords back of the knee. There upon he was taken to the Emory Hospital at Washington where he was treated from that time to the following September.
Deponment was a house painter by occupation; but owing to said gun shot wound in said right leg, deponent has been and now is unable to pursue sad occupation for the reason that he is unable to ascend or climb a ladder, and with great difficulty can he ascend a flight of stairs; after walking a short while he is tired out. Occasionally red blotches breaks out on said right leg, and when the cords draws up and becomes knotty, causing great pain.
Deponent has not been in the military service since receiving the wound
Deponent has been unable to find of ascertain the whereabouts of any of the officers of said Regiment or Company, and therefore is unable to accompany this affidavit with an affidavit by such officer of the circumstances of said gun shot wound.
Deponent does not know the name or names of the surgeons who treated him while confined in said Emory Hospital.
Thomas E. Goman [signature]
Sworn to before me on this 19th day of February 1883. Alfred Frost, Notary Public
