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After a night march in the driving rain and high
winds, General
Hancock's II Corps drove through the morning rain and fog at
6:00 a.m. in a narrow column only 50 men wide, out of the woods in
front of you, although probably to the extreme right of this
picture. Directly in front of you, far back along the ridge,
is the Landrum House, Hancock's headquarters at this point of the
battle.
Lee, thinking Grant was about to try and shift to
the right towards Spotsylvania after a fairly quiet May 11, had
withdrawn some batteries of cannon, weakening the salient slightly,
although I'm not convinced their presence would have made a big
difference.
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Hancock's men came out of the woods beyond the cannon
is this picture, and stormed over the earthworks which run along
just in front of the cannon.
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The same cannon, looking just left of where the
assault came out of the woods.
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Looking along the cannon towards Landrum House, just
to the right of where this cannon is aimed.
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Click
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The ridge west of the Mule Shoe, which would have
held Union artillery batteries. The road to the Landrum house
runs from left to right along this ridge.
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The road to the Landrum house, Hancock's
headquarters.
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Click
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The road from the Landrum House, just south of the house
itself. Hancock's assault would have hit the Mule Shoe at the East
Angle, on the extreme left of this picture, while Wright's Corps attacked
from the west in support, across this road in the distance, and hitting
the Bloody Angle.
The Bloody Angle is almost dead center in this picture,
where the tree line dips and is hidden by a small cluster of trees in the
low valley. This picture gives a good view of the ridge the Mule
Shoe was built along, and does show you some of the swales troops could
shelter in while approaching the Confederate line.
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