_The Effect_ of this march can hardly be over-estimated. A fertile region, sixty miles wide and three hundred long, was desolated; three hundred miles of railroad were destroyed; the eastern portion of the already-sundered Confederacy was cut in twain; immense supplies of provisions were captured, and the hardships of war brought home to those who had hitherto been exempt from its actual contact. THE WAR IN VIRGINIA. BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS (May 5, 6).--After crossing the Rapidan, the Union army plunged into the Wilderness. While the columns were toiling along the narrow roads, they were suddenly attacked by the Confederate army. [Footnote: This was near the old battle-ground of Chancellorsville, and just a year and two days after that fierce fight.] The dense forest forbade all strategy. There was none of the pomp or glory of war, only its horrible butchery. The ranks simply dashed into the woods. Soon came the patter of shots, the heavy rattle of musketry, and then there streamed back the wreck of the battle--bleeding, mangled forms, borne on stretchers. In those gloomy shades, dense with smoke, this strangest of battles, which no eye could follow, marked only by the shouts and volleys, now advancing, now receding, as either side gained or lost, surged to and fro. The third day, both armies, worn out by this desperate struggle, remained in their intrenchments. Neither side had been conquered. Grant had lost twenty thousand men, and Lee ten thousand. It was generally supposed that the Federals would retire back of the Rapidan. Grant thought differently. He quietly gathered up his army and pushed it by the Confederate right flank toward Spottsylvania Court House. BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA (May 8-12).--Lee detected the movement, and hurried a division to head off the Union advance. When Grant reached the spot, he found the Confederate army planted right across the road, barring his progress. Five days of continuous manoeuvring and fighting, having given little advantage, Grant concluded to try the favorite movement of the year, and turn Lee's right flank again. [Footnote: During this time the sharpshooters on both sides, hidden in the trees, were busy picking off officers. On the 9th, General Sedgwick was superintending the placing of a battery in the front. Seeing a man dodging a ball, he rebuked him, saying, "Pooh! they can't hit an elephant at this distance." At that moment he was himself struck, and fell dead.]