Should battlefields be preserved? Should battlefields be preserved? There's one thing people are now trying to decide. The Battle of the Desert is a battle to watch. Right now in Virginia, where the battle took place, people are trying to decide whether to save the battlefield where The Wilderness occurred or turn it into a Walmart. The Civil War was a tragic war that occurred in the United States. The Civil War occurred because the North's beliefs from the South were that the South wanted slavery and the North did not. One of the worst and most horrific battles was the Battle of the Desert. This battle took place May 5-7, 1864. The Battle of the Wilderness lasted two days. The battle took place in the wilds of Spotsylvania and Orange Turnpike, Virginia, near the Chancellorsville battlefields. 15 miles west of Fredericksburg. The battle was against Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant of 1864 and Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. The American public was so shocked because their fellow citizens were so willing to kill each other. At the beginning of the battle Gen.