Battle of Gaines' Mill
Battle of Gaines' Mill (First Battle of Cold Harbor) | |||||||
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Part of the Alfred R. Waud, artist, June 27, 1862. Newspaper illustration after the original sketch. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
George B. McClellan Fitz John Porter | Robert E. Lee | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Army of the Potomac | Army of Northern Virginia | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
34,214[2] | 57,018[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
7,337 (1,005 killed, 3,107 wounded, 3,236 missing or captured)[3] |
7,993 (1,483 killed, 6,402 wounded, 108 missing or captured) Peninsula Campaign | ||||||
The Battle of Gaines' Mill, sometimes known as the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles which together decided the outcome of the Union's
At dusk, the Confederates finally mounted a coordinated assault that broke Porter's line and drove his men back toward the Chickahominy River. The Federals retreated across the river during the night. The Confederates were too disorganized to pursue the main Union force. Gaines' Mill saved Richmond for the Confederacy in 1862; the tactical defeat there convinced
Background
Military situation
McClellan's Army of the Potomac had pushed to within a few miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond and had stalled following the
The Seven Days Battles began with a Union attack in the minor
Several of McClellan's subordinates urged him to attack the Confederate division of Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder south of the Chickahominy, but he feared the vast numbers of Confederates he believed to be before him and failed to capitalize on the overwhelming superiority he actually held on that front. Magruder assisted in this misapprehension by ordering frequent, noisy movements of small units back and forth and by using groups of slaves with drums to simulate large marching columns. Furthermore, the Union Army Balloon Corps, which had performed the only aerial observation during the Peninsula Campaign, was now joined by a Confederate competitor. Capt. Langdon Cheves of South Carolina had constructed a multicolored balloon of dress silk obtained from Charleston and Savannah, which sailed aloft tethered to a boxcar on the York River Railroad, manned by Maj. Edward Porter Alexander. The appearance of this balloon reinforced McClellan's fear that the Confederates were planning for an offensive against his left flank. For the second day, the Confederates were able to continue fooling McClellan south of the river by employing minor diversionary attacks to command the attention of 60,000 Federal troops while the heavier action occurred north of the river.[6]
The order to Porter's corps came just before dawn and they did not have adequate time to prepare a strong rear guard for the withdrawal, resulting in numerous men from Brig. Gen.
Lee's offensive plan for June 27 was similar to that of the preceding day. He would use A.P. Hill's and Longstreet's divisions to pressure Porter's corps as it withdrew, while Stonewall Jackson, augmented by D.H. Hill (Jackson's brother-in-law), hit Porter's right and rear. The combined effort of all of Lee's force was destined to be the largest Confederate attack of the war, about 57,000 men in six divisions. Lee traveled to Walnut Grove Church to meet with Jackson and describe the plan, which called for Jackson to march toward Old Cold Harbor, and then south beyond Porter's flank. Unfortunately, Lee made incorrect assumptions about Porter's disposition. He assumed that the V Corps would defend the line of Powhite Creek, somewhat to the west of Porter's actual location.[8]
Opposing forces
Union
Confederate
Battle
The first actions of the battle occurred between noon and 1 p.m. on June 27 after D.H. Hill's division reached Old Cold Harbor, where it was scheduled to link up with Stonewall Jackson's command. Hill pushed through the crossroads with two brigades, which encountered unexpected infantry fire. Seeking to suppress the fire, he brought forward the Jeff Davis Battery from Alabama, but it was soon outgunned by two six-gun batteries manned by U.S. regulars from Brig. Gen. George Sykes's division. Hill was surprised at the level of resistance and also that he seemed to be meeting the front of the Union force, not the expected flank, so he determined to wait for Jackson's arrival before moving further. The noise from this engagement failed to reach General Lee at his headquarters, the house owned by William Hogan, named "Selwyn".[9]
A.P. Hill's division had moved across Beaver Dam Creek early in the morning, finding the former Union line lightly defended. As they proceeded eastward and approached Gaines' Mill at about the time that D.H. Hill's men were engaged, Porter formally asked McClellan to send Slocum's division across the Chickahominy over Alexander's Bridge to support him. Hill directed the brigades of
Instead of pursuing a fleeing enemy, as his orders had directed, A.P. Hill attacked an entrenched Union position, losing about 2,000 of his 13,200 men in the failed attempt. Combined with his attacks at Mechanicsville the previous day, the Light Division had lost over a quarter of its men. General McClellan was encouraged by the telegrams Porter had sent back to his headquarters a few miles to the rear. He replied, "If the enemy are retiring and you are a
For the second time in the Seven Days, however, Jackson was late. A guide from the 4th Virginia Cavalry, Pvt. John Henry Timberlake, had misunderstood Jackson's intent and led him down the wrong road. After they counter-marched, losing about an hour, Jackson's troops found the road to Old Cold Harbor obstructed by trees felled by the retreating Union army and were harassed by sharpshooters, delaying their arrival. The first of Jackson's command to reach the battlefield was the division of Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, who was met by Lee's aide, Walter Taylor, and instructed to move into action immediately. Lee was concerned that Porter would counterattack the weakened troops of A.P. Hill, so he ordered Longstreet to conduct a diversionary attack to stabilize the lines until Jackson's full command could arrive and attack from the north. In Longstreet's attack, Brig. Gen. George E. Pickett's brigade attempted a frontal assault and was beaten back under severe fire with heavy losses. Pickett himself took a bullet to the shoulder, putting him out of action for the rest of the summer; Col. Eppa Hunton of the 8th Virginia assumed command of the brigade. Confederate President Jefferson Davis was among the party witnessing Pickett's failed attempt.[12]
Ewell began his attack immediately, around 3:30 p.m., without waiting for his entire division to come on line. General Lee's instructions were to advance along the same axis used by the brigades of Gregg and Branch, to maintain the momentum of the attack. He sent in his lead brigade, Louisianans under Col. Isaac Seymour, commanding in Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor's absence for medical reasons. Seymour was relatively inexperienced and his troops became confused in the woods and bogs of Boatswain's Swamp. Their confusion increased when Col. Seymour was killed by a Union rifle volley. Maj. Roberdeau Wheat, the colorful leader of the Louisiana Tigers Battalion, moved to the front to lead the brigade, but he was also killed with a bullet through his head. The Louisiana Brigade withdrew from the battle. Ewell's attack continued with two regiments from the brigade of Brig. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble, but they could not advance beyond the swamp, falling with about 20% casualties. Porter was starting to receive reinforcements from Slocum's division and he brought forward troops to feed into gaps in his line. However, despite telegrams from Porter for more assistance, General McClellan gave no thought to the advantages of a counterattack. He asked his corps commanders south of the river whether they had any troops they could spare. When no one volunteered, he directed Sumner of the II Corps to send two brigades—about one tenth of the army—across the river, but because of the distances involved they would not reach the scene for another three hours.[13]
When Stonewall Jackson finally reached Old Cold Harbor, weary from the marching and counter-marching, he began to arrange his troops and those of D.H. Hill to trap the Federals he expected to be driven east by Longstreet and A.P. Hill. He soon received instructions from General Lee that informed him of the current situation and he began to prepare his command to assault the main Federal line. Faulty staff work prevented his men from moving forward for over an hour. While Jackson rode back and forth distractedly, his
Lee's assault at 7 p.m. was conducted by 16 brigades, about 32,100 men. Porter had about 34,000 men to defend the line, but many of these were worn out from the previous attacks and command cohesion was hampered by feeding isolated reinforcements into the line to fill gaps. Nevertheless, they had the advantages of good defensible terrain and superiority in artillery. The Confederates were not able to advance simultaneously in a neat battle line over the 2.25-mile front, but rushed forward and were repulsed intermittently in smaller unit actions. On the Confederate left, D.H. Hill sent in his entire division except for Ripley's brigade, which had been badly mauled in the fighting at Beaver Dam Creek the previous day, but they encountered stiff resistance from George Sykes's regulars. The 20th North Carolina succeeded in overrunning a Union battery, its commander, Col.
As the sun was starting to go down, William Whiting's division achieved the breakthrough on Longstreet's front. Brig. Gen.
Aftermath
Gaines' Mill was an intense battle, the largest of the Seven Days and the only clear-cut Confederate tactical victory of the Peninsula Campaign. Union casualties from the 34,214 engaged were 6,837 (894 killed, 3,107 wounded, and 2,836 captured or missing). Of the 57,018 Confederates engaged, losses totaled 7,993 (1,483 killed, 6,402 wounded, 108 missing or captured) including the loss of three brigade commanders and one general officer. For comparison, no Union general officers were killed or wounded and only one brigade commander, Col. Warren, who remained on the field (the chief of McCall's artillery, Maj. Henry DeHart, was also mortally wounded).[3] Since the Confederate assault was conducted against only a small portion of the Union Army (the V Corps (+), one third of the army), the army emerged from the battle in relatively good shape overall. Lee's victory, his first of the war, could have been more complete if it were not for the mishaps of Stonewall Jackson. Historian Stephen W. Sears speculates that were it not for Jackson's misdirected march and his poor staff work, the major assault that Lee unleashed at 7 p.m. could have occurred three or four hours earlier. This would have put Porter in grave jeopardy, without any last-minute reinforcements and the cover of darkness. He quotes Edward Porter Alexander, prominent Confederate artillery officer and postwar historian: "Had Jackson attacked when he first arrived, or during A.P. Hill's attack, we would have had an easy victory—comparatively, & would have captured most of Porter's command."[17]
Although McClellan had already planned to shift his supply base to the James River, his defeat unnerved him and he precipitously decided to abandon his advance on Richmond and begin the retreat of his entire army to the James. Gaines' Mill and the Union retreat across the Chickahominy was a psychological victory for the Confederacy, signaling that Richmond was out of danger.[18]
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"Unburied Dead on Battlefield" byJohn Reekie; issued as Stero #914 being taken on the Battlefield of Gaines Mills aka First Cold Harbor April 1865; taken near the Adams Farm where 7th New York artillery was stationed June 1864 see Civil war Talk.
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"Unburied Dead on Battlefield of Gaines Mills" byJohn Reekie; issued as Stero #916 see Library of Congress.
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Right handed version of preceding photograph Stero #917 [19]
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"Virginia, Cold harbor extreme Line of Confederate Works" An April 1865John Reekiephotograph
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An April 1865John Reekiephotograph of the Ruins of Gaines' Mill showing remains of a soldier's grave in the foreground
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Ruins of Gaines' Mill
Battlefield preservation
The only preserved portion of the Gaines' Mill battlefield for nearly 150 years was a 60-acre section of the battlefield under National Park Service control around the Watt House. This tract is only a small fraction of the more than 2,000 acres that comprises the battlefield.[22]
In 2011, two preservation efforts were completed by the Richmond Battlefields Association and the American Battlefield Trust, the first preservation successes at Gaines' Mill since before World War II. This new 285-acre "Longstreet Attack" tract greatly expanded the amount of preserved land at Gaines' Mill. The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have preserved a total of 932 acres (3.77 km2) of the battlefield through land acquisitions or easements.[23][24]
See also
- Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1862
- List of costliest American Civil War land battles
- Richmond in the Civil War
- Virginia in the American Civil War
- List of American Civil War battles
- List of Virginia Civil War units
Notes
- ^ Salmon, p. 107.
- ^ a b Eicher, p. 288. Salmon, p. 106, cites 40,000 Union, 57,000 Confederate. Burton, p. 136, cites "36,000 [Union] effectives, of which only 31,000 were really in the fight," 57,000 Confederate. Sears, p. 249, cites 96,100 men on both sides.
- ^ a b c Sears, p. 249. Burton, p. 136, cites 6,837 Union casualties, "about 8,700" Confederate. Salmon, p. 106, cites about 6,800 Union casualties, 8,700 Confederate.
- ^ Salmon, pp. 64, 96–97.
- ^ Kennedy, pp. 93–94; Burton, pp. 79–81; Sears, pp. 183–208; Salmon, pp. 99–101.
- ^ Eicher, p. 287; Sears, pp. 215–16. Sears notes that stories about the silk coming from donated ladies' dresses is apocryphal.
- ^ Salmon, pp. 102–103; Sears, pp. 214–15.
- ^ Time-Life, p. 45; Sears, pp. 217–19.
- ^ Sears, pp. 219–21; Burton, p. 103. Salmon, p. 102, states that the artillery engagement occurred at 2 p.m. Welcher, p. 819, states 11 a.m.
- ^ Burton, pp. 91–99; Sears, pp. 223–26; Kennedy, p. 96; Eicher, p. 285; Salmon, pp. 103–104.
- ^ Burton, pp. 94, 99–101; Sears, pp. 227.
- ^ Burton, pp. 102–104; Sears, pp. 227–28, 232–33; Welcher, p. 820.
- ^ Sears, pp, 228–34; Eicher, p. 285; Burton, pp. 102–104, 113, 129; Kennedy, p. 96; Salmon, pp. 104–106.
- ^ Sears, pp, 234–35; Burton, pp. 110–11; Salmon, p. 106.
- ^ Sears, pp, 236–40; Burton, pp. 117–27.
- ^ Burton, pp. 127–36; Kennedy, pp. 96–97; Sears, pp. 240–42; Salmon, p. 106; Welcher, p. 820.
- ^ Sears, pp. 249–50.
- ^ Sears, pp. 250–51.
- ^ Part of a series of unburied dead is at Civil war Richmond website
- ^ Library of Congress
- ^ Part of a series- Stero #919 is of Richmond VA is at Civil war Richmond website
- ^ "Gaines' Mill", Save Richmond Battlefields
- ^ [1] American Battlefield Trust "Saved Land" webpage. Accessed November 24, 2021.
- ^ [2] Gaines' Mill, American Battlefield Trust page
References
- Burton, Brian K. Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-253-33963-4.
- Editors of Time-Life Books. Lee Takes Command: From Seven Days to Second Bull Run. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1984. ISBN 0-8094-4804-1.
- ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
- Kennedy, Frances H., ed. The Civil War Battlefield Guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998. ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
- Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8117-2868-4.
- ISBN 0-89919-790-6.
- Welcher, Frank J. The Union Army, 1861–1865 Organization and Operations. Vol. 1, The Eastern Theater. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-253-36453-1.
- National Park Service battle description
Further reading
- Burton, Brian K. The Peninsula & Seven Days: A Battlefield Guide. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8032-6246-1.
- Esposito, Vincent J. West Point Atlas of American Wars. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959. OCLC 5890637.
- Harsh, Joseph L. Confederate Tide Rising: Robert E. Lee and the Making of Southern Strategy, 1861–1862. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-87338-580-2.
- Miller, William J. The Battles for Richmond, 1862. National Park Service Civil War Series. Fort Washington, PA: U.S. National Park Service and Eastern National, 1996. ISBN 0-915992-93-0.
- Rafuse, Ethan S. McClellan's War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-253-34532-4.
- ISBN 0-02-864685-1.
- Spruill, Matt III, and Matt Spruill IV. Echoes of Thunder: A Guide to the Seven Days Battles. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006. ISBN 1-57233-547-5.
- Tidball, John C. The Artillery Service in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. Westholme Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1594161490.
External links
- The Battle of Gaines' Mill: Battle maps, history articles, photos, and preservation news (Civil War Trust)
- Battle of Gaines's Mill in Encyclopedia Virginia
- Animated history of the Peninsula Campaign