Answer: The Battle of the Wilderness started Lt. Gen Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign against the Confederate army of Northern Virginia that ultimately, after many weeks and terrible fatalities, forced Gen. Robert E. Lee's men back to the defenses at Richmond.
Confederate casualties were about 11,400, with estimates of about 1,500 killed, 8,000 wounded and 1,700 caught or missing. Relying on these numbers The Battle of the Wilderness was the fourth bloodiest battle of the Civil War, ranking behind Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Spottsylvania.