 On May 8, Union Maj. Gens.Gouverneur K. Warren and John Sedgwick unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge the Confederates under Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson from Laurel Hill, a position that was blocking them from Spotsylvania Court House.On May 10, Grant ordered attacks across the Confederate line of earthworks, which by now extended over , including a prominent salient known as the Mule Shoe.