Editing Battle of the Wilderness (section)

===Attacks begin===
[[File:Wilderness May6 0500.png|thumb|Hancock attacks Hill|alt=map showing troop movements]]
During the night, Ewell placed his artillery on his extreme left and on both sides of the Orange Turnpike. He also had an [[abatis]] in front of his trenchline. He attacked Sedgwick on the north side of the turnpike at 4:45{{nbsp}}am.<ref name="Rhea318">{{harvnb|Rhea|2004|p=318}}</ref> His line moved forward and then back on multiple occasions, and some ground was fought over as many as five times.<ref name="Rhea319">{{harvnb|Rhea|2004|p=319}}</ref>

To the south on the Orange Plank Road, Hancock's II Corps with Getty's division attacked Hill at 5:00{{nbsp}}am, overwhelming the ill-prepared Third Corps in concert with Wadsworth.<ref name="Rhea283-285">{{harvnb|Rhea|2004|pp=283–285}}</ref> Following Hill's orders, Lieutenant Colonel [[William T. Poague]]'s 12 guns at the Widow Tapp farm fired tirelessly at the road—despite the Confederate soldiers retreating in front of the guns. This slowed the Union advance, but could not stop it. Brig. Gen [[Alexander S. Webb]]'s brigade of Gibbon's division was sent to support Getty but ended up being isolated from the latter and blundered into some of Hill's troops. The brigade was forced to retreat with 300 casualties and Webb wrote afterward that he never did figure out exactly where or what he was supposed to be doing.<ref name="Rhea294">{{harvnb|Rhea|2004|p=294}}</ref><!--Confederate Brigadier General William N. Pendleton's report lists 12 guns for Poague's Battalion, with two of his four batteries having only two guns instead of four.<ref name="Scott1891b-1038">{{harvnb|Scott|1891b|p=1038}}</ref>-->

While Hill's corps retreated, reinforcements arrived. Longstreet rode ahead of his men and arrived at the battlefield around 6:00{{nbsp}}am.<ref name="Gallagher166">{{harvnb|Krick|1997|p=166}}</ref> His men marched east and then turned north, arriving on the Orange Plank Road near Parker's Store where they found men from Hill's corps retreating.<ref name="Rhea297">{{harvnb|Rhea|2004|p=297}}</ref> Brigadier General [[John Gregg (American politician)|John Gregg]]'s [[Texas Brigade]] was the vanguard of Longstreet's column.{{#tag:ref|The brigade commanded by Brigadier General [[George T. Anderson]] had been Longstreet's vanguard, but it went into a blocking position on the side of the road. This made the Texas Brigade, which included the [[3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Confederate States)|3rd Arkansas Infantry]], the vanguard in the final approach to the battle.<ref name="Gallagher173-174">{{harvnb|Krick|1997|pp=173–174}}</ref>|group=Note}} General Lee did not recognize the brigade's commander Brig. Gen [[John M. Gregg]], a former officer from the [[Army of Tennessee]] who got command of the outfit the previous fall when it was serving out west and he asked what unit this was. Gregg replied that it was the Texas Brigade whereupon Lee waved his hat over his head and shouted, "Texans always move them!"<ref name="Gallagher179-180">{{harvnb|Krick|1997|pp=179–180}}</ref> Caught up in the excitement, Lee began to move forward behind the advancing brigade. As the Texans realized this, they halted and grabbed the reins of Lee's horse, [[Traveller (horse)|Traveller]], telling the general that they were concerned for his safety and would only go forward if he moved to a less exposed location. Longstreet was able to convince Lee that he had matters well in hand and the commanding general relented.<ref name="Gallagher181-184">{{harvnb|Krick|1997|pp=181–184}}</ref>