June 27, 1862 - The Seven Days: Gaines Mills

June 27, 1862

Gaines Mill

Mechanicsville, Virginia, in Hanover County

McClellan: really General Fitz John Porter’s isolated V Corps; a division from the VI Corps and two brigades from the II Corps arrive too late

vs.

Lee: Generals A. P. Hill and D. H. Hill; additional brigades from divisions under Generals Richard S. Ewell and James Longstreet; then Jackson 

* "The largest battle of the Peninsula Campaign" & "more men in a simultaneous attack than any other episode in Lee's career." Thus sometimes, "the largest Confederate assault of the war"! ABT confirms: "their largest frontal attack of the war."

* Lee’s first victory as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia

* Porter/McClellan withdraw and the rest of the 7 Days are all downhill, except a saucerful defense at Malvern Hill 

* There was an active hot-air-balloon camp at Dr. Gaines' house! I know we talked about the balloons before, but this is "the first instance where observation balloons were being used by both sides at the same time"!

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=15053

Seven Days Battles
Gaines’s Mill

Here Lee and Stonewall Jackson conferred in the morning of June 27, 1862. Jackson’s troops halted here until A. P. Hill arrived from Beaver Dam Creek. Hill then moved southward by Gaines’s Mill and Longstreet turned to the east. All three columns approached the Union position on Boatswain Creek.

 

Erected 1932 by Conservation & Development Commission. 

(Marker Number PA-10.)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14199

Walnut Grove Church

Here, on the morning of June 27, 1862, as he was directing the pursuit of McClellan's right wing, Robert E. Lee met "Stonewall" Jackson whose Army of the Valley arrived to join in the attack on the Federals the same afternoon.

 

Erected by Battlefield Markers Association. (Marker Number 5.)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14998

Seven Days’ Battles
Gaines’s Mill

Half a mile south is Boatswain Creek. The battle that was begun at Gaines’s Mill by A. P. Hill, following Porter’s rear guard, culminated at the Union position on Boatswain Creek. There A. P. Hill and Longstreet, moving eastward, and Jackson coming from the north, converged to attack the Unionists, commanded by Porter.

 

Erected 1941 by Virginia Conservation Commission. 

(Marker Number PA-20.)

*

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=174711

11th Mississippi Monument

11th Mississippi

Infantry Regiment

Law's Brigade

Hood’s Division

Jackson’s Corps

Lee's Army

of

Northern Virginia

C.S.A.

Dedicated 2016

In their honor

The men who carried this position were soldiers indeed

- Stonewall Jackson on this field June 28, 1862

(side)

Nearing 6:00 P.M. on June 27, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee sensed a critical situation in his stalled attack at Gaines’ Mill and ordered a last charge against the Federal line of General Porter’s V Corps above Boatswain’s Creek. Lee sent forward Gen. Whiting’s Division, consisting of Gen. Hood’s Texas Brigade and Col. Law’s Third Brigade. To the left of Gen. Longstreet s position.

The 11th Mississippi, attached to Law’s Brigade, pushed toward the ravine without firing and, with fixed bayonets, toward Gen. Morell’s First Division on the upward slope. A soldier in Co. K. 11th Mississippi, recalled “the famous yell was raised that sent terror to Yankee hearts, and a charge began that broke every line in front of the Confederates.” The Union line collapsed when the Rebels stopped and fired point blank into the exhausted Federals, who retreated up the slope toward the plateau near the river. Whiting’s soldiers on the high ground then captured the better part of two Union regiments and fourteen pieces of artillery near the Watt House.

The following evening, President Jefferson Davis visited the quarters of the 11th Mississippi and congratulated them on their victory, paying high compliments to their conspicuous gallantry.

(rear)

Companies of the 11th Mississippi

A. University Greys

University of Mississippi

B. Coahoma Invincibles

Friars Point

C. Prairie Rifles

Okolona

D. Neshoba Rifles

Philadelphia

E. Prairie Guards

Crawfordsville

F. Noxubee Rifles

Macon

G. Lamar Rifles

Oxford

H. Chickasaw Guards

Houston 

I .Van Dorn Reserves

Aberdeen

K. Carroll County Rifles

Carrollton

(side)

Men of the 11th Mississippi who were killed or died of wounds in this action

Pvt. Henry Anthony, Co. A

Pvt. Daniel O’Leary, Co. A

3rd Cpl. Robert Irvin, Co. B

2nd Lt. Thomas F. Nealy, Co. B

Pvt. Lucius B. Smith, Co. B

Pvt. George Matthews, Co. C

Pvt. Henry L. Shannon, Co. C

Pvt. James P. Wright, Co. C

Pvt. Leonidas W. Burnside, Co. D

Pvt. Bright R. Ham, Co. D

Pvt. George W. Johnson, Jr., Co. D

Pvt. Allen J. Lowry, Co. D

Pvt. Wiley M. Warren, Co. D

Pvt. James E. Halbert, Co. E

Pvt. William J. Norwood, Co. E

Pvt. John C. Brown, Co. F

5th Sgt. Andrew V. Connor, Co. F

Pvt. Levi B. Windham, Co. F

5th Sgt. William E. Duncan, Co. G

1st Sgt. James R. Goodwin, Co. G

Pvt. Jesse E. Hardgrove, Co. G

Pvt. David B. Paine, Co. G

Pvt. John F. Cockrell, Co. H

Pvt. William K. Cook, Co. H

Pvt. Jack J. Dulaney, Co. H

Pvt. John Hellenthal, Co. H

Pvt. Samuel H. Irby, Co. H

Pvt. Robert T. Johnson, Co. H

Pvt. Walter M. McBee, Co. H

Pvt. George L. Reid, Co. H

Pvt. Patrick H. Sims, Co. H

Pvt. Charles J. Wilson, Co. H

Pvt. Alexander D. Pope, Co. I

Pvt. Joseph L. Davis, Co. K

Pvt. James H. Gillespie, Co. K

Pvt. Joseph S. Hoover, Co. K

Pvt. William F. Julien, Co. K

Pvt. Donald McDonald, Co. K

Pvt. Newton A. McMath, Co. K

Pvt. Ambrose M. Moore, Co. K

Pvt. Thomas T. Moore, Co. K

Capt. Pleasant A. Peebles, Co. K

1st Sgt. William W. Pennypacker, Co. K

Pvt. Isham Pittman, Co. K

Pvt. James H. Young, Co. K

 

Erected 2016.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=121022

Whiting's Division
Richmond National Battlefield Park

The men of Confederate Gen. William H. C. Whiting’s division began their portion of the decisive charge in these fields. The 11th Mississippi is seen in the foreground around Whiting. Gen. John B. Hood is exhorting the 4th Texas in the middle distance, in the Parsons farm field. Five more Confederate brigades under Gen. James Longstreet extended the line beyond Hood.

 

Erected 2018 by Richmond National Battlefield Park,

 U.S. Department of the Interior.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119580

From Stalemate to Breakthrough
Richmond National Battlefield Park

The largest battle of the Peninsula Campaign, Gaines' Mill, began here. On the afternoon of June 27, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee''s Army of Northern Virginia reached the New Cold Harbor crossroads just 300 yards north of here. Lee spread his men across a two-mile arc and attacked. He hoped to drive the Union 5th Corps, commanded by Gen. Fitz John Porter, into the Chickahominy River. This was the second day of what became known as the Seven Days battles.

The first several hours witnessed repeated and unsuccessful Confederate attacks through the woods on your left and across the fields on your right. They aimed at the Union line beyond Boatswain's Creek. Daylight waned. When the soldiers of Whiting's division arrived here they provided fresh manpower that helped the final attack get started. That last all-out effort stretched across the width of the battlefield and incorporated more men in a simultaneous attack than any other episode in Lee's career.

...

The final hour before sunset witnessed heavy action in all directions. The non-profit American Battlefield Trust prepared this map for Richmond National Battlefield Park. The Trust is responsible for preserving much of this battlefield landscape.

Erected 2018  by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

*

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=40249

Gaines' Mill
1862 Seven Days' Battles

...

No  military campaign had more influence on the course of the Civil War than these Seven Days’ battles. George B. McClellan’s army of more than 100,000 Union soldiers landed at Fort Monroe in spring of 1862, and fought its way up the peninsula. By mid-May the Army of the Potomac lay on the outskirts of Richmond, hoping to capture the capital of the Confederacy and perhaps end the war. If that strategy succeeded the nation might be reunified, but without abolition of slavery. Confederate General Robert E. Lee chose not to wait for the Federal army’s next move. Instead he seized the initiative, and on June 26 advanced across the Chickahominy River with nearly 45,000 soldiers. That action opened a week-long series of battles that resulted in the Union army retreating to the banks of the James River. With Richmond secure, Lee’s army moved north, defeated Union forces at Cedar Mountain and Second Manassas (Bull Run), and then marched toward Maryland and the first invasion of the North.

...

June 27
Gaines Mill

McClellan decided to move to a new base on the James River, but his rearguard at Gaines’ Mill barely escaped destruction when Lee’s Confederates launched an all-out attack, triggering the second and largest battle of the Seven Days

...

This trail will lead you to where the climactic moment of the battle occurred—where General John B. Hood’s Confederate forces first broke the Union line. From there you can loop back to the parking area, or continue on a longer trail that takes you to the extreme left of the Union position and to the location of the Wilcox’s Brigade monument.

Erected 2011 by Richmond National Battlefield Park.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=181650

Battle of Gaines' Mill

“The most terrific fire I ever witnessed, except at Gettysburg.” - Col. Eppa Hunton, 8th Virginia Infantry

“It was one continued roar of cannons & musketry you could not hear yourself think. Such desperate fighting never graced the pages of history.” -  David Hyde, 9th Pennsylvania Reserves

In these fields and woods unfolded the largest and bloodiest battle of the Seven Days — Gaines’ Mill. On the morning of June 27, 1862, Union General Fitz John Porter deployed his entire Fifth Corps, over 27,000 in total, behind the swampy waters of Boatswain’s Creek. He ordered a hundred guns to unlimber along the length of this plateau, known locally as Turkey Hill.

Around noon Lee’s forces converged on Porter’s mile-and-a-half front. Confederate probes struck first near the Union center before expanding to the left and right. The climax of the fighting occurred around 7:00 p.m. when General Hood’s Confederates broke through the Union position along the creek and swarmed up the hillside in front of you, spearheading the largest charge Lee’s Confederate army would make during the war—almost 55,000 strong.

Erected 2011 by Richmond National Battlefield Park.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14201

The Watt House
Gaines' Mill Battlefield

 Entrenched in three lines on this plateau, the right wing of McClellan's army, withdrawn from Beaver Dam Creek, resisted Confederate attacks on June 27, 1862 until driven back at nightfall by a general assault.

 

Erected by Battlefield Markers Association. (Marker Number 7.)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34618

Springfield Plantation

In 1862 this farmhouse was home to the widow Sarah Watt, her granddaughter, Mary Jane Haw, and a maid. It was a typical Hanover County plantation of several hundred acres with some 28 slaves who produced a modest income from grains, potatoes, and livestock. Around the house stood a kitchen, slave quarters, and other outbuildings. A series of roads, now abandoned, connected the Watt family to their neighbors and Richmond.

Their lives drastically changed on the morning of June 27, 1862. The Union commander selected the house for his temporary headquarters, forcing the family to leave. When Mary Jane returned after the battle, she found “the walls and roof were torn by shot and shell, the weatherboarding honeycombed by minie balls, and every pane of glass shattered.” Inside, evidence of a field hospital was everywhere. “Now, from garret to cellar,” she wrote, “there was scarcely a space of flooring as large as a man’s hand that did not bear the dark purple stain of blood.”

 

Erected 2010 by Richmond National Battlefield Park.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=287329

Seven Days' Battles - Gaines's Mill

Just to the east was Gaines's Mill, a multistory grist mill that burned during the Civil War. Confederates under Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill encountered light Federal resistance there early on the afternoon of 27 June 1862. Heavy fighting took place later that day at Boatswain Creek, just to the southeast. There Union Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps established a defensive line to protect the rest of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac as it moved toward the James River. Confederates under Gen. Robert E. Lee attacked in waves, sustaining heavy casualties. Reinforcements broke through the Union line just before sunset, and the Federals retreated across the Chickahominy River.

 

Erected 2016 by Department of Historic Resources. 

(Marker Number PA-16.)

*

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/gaines-mill