Face Off

For four days, armies totaling more than 150,000 men faced each other across Mine Run as skirmishers traded occasional shots and batteries dueled, while the men dug trenches, struggled to keep warm in bitter cold, and saw dozens on the picket lines freeze to death without fires. For most of the soldiers, the contest became less a fight against the enemy than against the elements. The planned climax was to come on November 30, when Meade intended to attack Lee's right along the Orange Plank Road, three miles south of here, but at the last moment one of Meade's corps commanders canceled the assault. Union soldiers rejoiced because attacking Confederate works across a mile of open ground appealed to none of them. On December 2, Lee attempted a move against the Union left flank, but by then Meade had begun withdrawing his army back across the Rapidan River.

Virginia · United States