A Witness to War
Spotsylvania tree stump, 1864–65, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Until May 12, 1864, this shattered stump was a large oak tree in a rolling meadow just outside Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. That morning, entrenched Confederates, the front line of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, awaited the assault of United States troops from the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac. More than 20 hours later, the once-peaceful meadow had acquired a new name, the Bloody Angle.
The fury of rifle bullets that cut down the combatants also tore through the oak tree. Several of the conical Minié balls (bullets) are still deeply embedded in the wood. Unusual objects of war, such as this tree stump, symbolize the violence, horror, and heroism of fierce battles.
The fight at the Bloody Angle was one day in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House May 8–21, which claimed an estimated 31,000 casualties (killed, wounded, missing, and captured) out of 152,000 forces engaged.
Originally presented to the U.S. Army's Ordnance Museum by Brevet Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, the stump was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1888. It is in the “Price of Freedom” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.