First Blood in Saunders Field
The Battle of the Wilderness
"The regiment melted away like snow. Men disappeared as if the earth had swallowed them."
-Captain Porter Parley
140th New York Infantry
Shortly after noon on May 5, the battleline of the 140th New York burst from the woods to your right-rear - the first regiment to advance against the Confederates here in Saunders Field.
Undaunted by a devastating Confederate fire, the 529 New Yorkers sprinted across the field and assailed the Confederates along the woodline before you. But supporting units, Caught in the tangled woods north of the field, could not keep pace. Confederate fire raked the 140th exposed right flank. For perhaps 30 minutes the 140th New York clung to its foothold in the woods. Then, with nearly half its men shot or captured, the regiment retreated.
The advance of the 140th New York was but the first bloodletting in what would be two days of savage fighting in and around Saunders Field.
Marker is on Constitution Highway (State Highway 20), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
