May 4–5, 1864 — Morning
Grant enters a battlefield he meant to cross
The Army of the Potomac crosses the Rapidan and moves through the Wilderness toward open country. Lee sends Ewell east on the Orange Turnpike and A. P. Hill east on the Orange Plank Road, forcing battle where dense second-growth scrub limits Union coordination and artillery.
WHAT TO NOTICERoads, not a continuous front, organize the opening: two Confederate columns approach separate Union routes through the woods.