On this day 150 years ago: Grant's Overland Campaign begins

Tampico, IL

Although 11 months more of bitter fighting--and many casualties--were still to come, the Union's major push to victory began on this day 150 years ago when the Battle of the Wilderness began Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign. The battle itself was a draw, but Grant's forces kept driving south after it ended.

Grant's actions were part of a coordinated action by the North on all fronts to defeat the Rebels, which included the Shenandoah Valley, Georgia, and in southwestern Virginia. In the latter front, the small Battle of Cloyd's Mountain was fought on May 9. The small battle suffered proportionately very high casualties. Among the combatants for the Union om in that battle were two future presidents, Ohioans Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley.

The defeat of the South meant the end of slavery in America.

Related posts:

• Midwestern Presidential Pathway: Where Grant worked as a clerk
• Midwestern Presidential Pathway: Ulysses S. Grant Home
• Christmas and President Ulysses S. Grant
• On this day in 1870: First Thanksgiving as a federal holiday; Grant's proclamation

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