Spotsylvania Court House, Battle Of

(May 8 - 19, 1864), Union failure to smash or outflank Confederate forces defending Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Following the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5 - 6), Union General Ulysses S. Grant moved his left flank forward, engaging the Confederate forces of General Robert E. Lee at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. The battle raged for about a week and a half, and