June 29, 1862 - The Seven Days: Savage Station

June 29, 1862

The Seven Days: Savage Station 

Henrico County, Virginia

McClellan: Edwin V. Sumner's II Corps

vs.

Lee:  John B. Magruder's guys 

* The Union keeps retreating and Magruder pursues along the railroad line, striking the rearguard decisively.  Jackson stalls out again and fails to appear. Nonetheless, despite Magruder bumbling the thing while hopped up on morphine, it's an ugly stalemate but a bad day for the Union as they are forced to abandon lots of wounded soldiers and plenty of supplies.

* "3rd" Battle of the "Seven" Days - but who's counting?!

* The railroad battery is an interesting, though largely forgotten, mini-boss of the Civil War: "the first armored railroad battery to be used in combat." No pics.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=3685

Battle of Savage’s Station
A Fighting Withdrawal
—1862 Peninsula Campaign—

On the night of June 27, 1862, following the Battle of Gaines’ Mill, Gen. George McClellan ordered a withdrawal of his Union army to the James River. In the wake of the retreating army, Savage’s Station, located one half mile in front of you along the Richmond and York River Railroad, was ordered abandoned. Having served as the army’s advance supply base during the previous month, the immense stockpiles of equipment, ordnance, and commissary stores located there were to be destroyed.

Hoping to catch McClellan on the move, Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered an attack at Savage’s Station on June 29, Confederate troops under Gen. John B. Magruder encountered the Federal rear guard near the station in the late afternoon. In a twilight battle, Union forces under Gen. Edwin V. “Bull” Sumner held back the Southern assaults while McClellan proceeded southward. When darkness put an end to the battle, 444 Confederates and 919 Northerners were counted as casualties. That night, Sumner withdrew from the station and followed McClellan south across White Oak Swamp.

“…the burning piles of stores and the explosion of a trainload of ammunition…showed us we were in full retreat.” -  Dr. Daniel Hand, 1st Minnesota Infantry, Sully’s Brigade, USA

Erected by Virginia Civil War Trails.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=196737

Battle For The Rails
Richmond and York River Railroad

On May 10th 1862, McClellan’s Army of the Potomac landed at White House landing, where the Richmond and York River Railroad crossed the Pamunkey River, some 20 miles east of Richmond. Meeting no resistance from the Confederate Army, McClellan set up headquarters and made immediate use of the railroad, shipping 6 engines and 20 railcars down from Baltimore. Using the rail, McClellan’s army could transport troops, supplies, and heavy artillery to the front as they marched towards the Confederate capital.

At the Battle of Savage’s Station, the two armies clashed head on along the Richmond and York River Railroad. Robert E. Lee, the newly appointed General of the Army of Northern Virginia, fearing that McClellan was planning an artillery attack from behind the safety of the Union depot at Savage’s Station, ordered General John Magruder to attack. Lee also took advantage of the rail, ordering a 32-pounder naval gun affixed to a railcar, protected by iron plating, to assist in Magruder’s offensive.

With neither army gaining a tactical advantage after the battle, McClellan abandoned the rail and continued his retreat  towards the James River. In an attempt to destroy the bridge over the Chickahominy during the retreat, Union troops set ablaze a railcar and engine full of munitions and sent it barreling down the tracks. While the bridge did suffer damage, the Confederate Army was able to salvage much of what the Union left behind. These actions marked one of the first uses of railways in warfare in the United States.

(captions)

Union Headquarters at Savage’s Station along the Richmond and York River Railroad.

 - Courtesy Library of Congress

While no images remain of the “Land Merrimac” this Union rail gun outside of Petersburg in 1864 is representative of the railroad battery requested by Lee. 

- Courtesy Library of Congress

Union train burning on the bridge over the Chickahominy River. - Courtesy Library of Congress

 

Erected by County of Henrico.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=196724

Battle of Savage's Station

Defeated at Gaines Mill on 27 June 1862, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac withdrew southward to establish a base on the James River. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder to pursue and attack. On the afternoon of 29 June, Magruder struck McClellan's rear guard just south of here, near Savage's Station on the Richmond and York River Railroad. The Confederates made the first known use of specially designed railway artillery for offensive purposes, but Union forces under Brig. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner held their ground. The battle ended in a stalemate, and the Federals left 2,500 men behind as they continued their withdrawal toward the James.

 

Erected 2017 by Department of Historic Resources. 

(Marker Number PA-143.)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=8134

Route to White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill

After crossing the Chickahominy River to the north at Grapevine Bridge, portions of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s retreating Union army destroyed the bridge and moved southeast along this road on 28 June 1862. After rebuilding the bridge the next day, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson’s command (which included his own division and those of Generals Richard S. Ewell, William H.C. Whiting, and Daniel H. Hill) began crossing early in the morning of 30 June. Under orders to clear the enemy from the woods south of the Chickahominy and to follow McClellan’s retreating army, Jackson’s men captured numerous prisoners as they advanced along this road.

 

Erected 1994 by Department of Historic Resources. 

(Marker Number W-13.)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14209

Savage Station

In the field beyond this marker was fought June 29, 1862, the battle of Savage Station in which Confederate forces under command of Major-General John B. Magruder attacked indecisively the rearguard of the Federal Army moving toward James River. This was the Third Battle of the Seven Days’ Campaign.

 

Erected by Battlefield Markers Association. (Marker Number 13.)

See Also:

you know it's rough/obscure when the only link is to Wikipedia, and even there the external links are dead; but some cool pics!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Savage%27s_Station

or how about this?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV_mg7XMGvI