Battle of Malvern Hill Va., July 1, 1862.
General McClellan hatched
the Peninsula campaign to take Richmond, after the Union
failure at Manassas, in the summer of 1861. The Peninsula campaign plan had the Federals landing at Fortress Monroe and then moving north to Richmond in the spring of 1862. By the time he was in the vicinity of Richmond he was met at the battle of Seven Pines by a strong confederate force led by General Joe Johnston on May 31, 1862. It was a bloody battle and by the end of the day both shot and shell had entered the Confederate leader’s body.
President Davis turned to
General Lee to lead the army of Northern Virginia.
By June 24 th , Lee had developed a strategy to defend Richmond and the outcome became known as the 7 days battle. There were a series of battles at places such as Gaines Mill,Golding farm, Savage Station, Glendale and ultimately Malvern Hill. Eventually, as the overall location of the battlefields moved mostly away from Richmond, it became
obvious that the Union General was directing his troops to Harrison Landing on the James River. Thus, while the Army of the Potomac won the battle of Malvern Hill, it only allowed for their speedy exit entirely from Virginia.
The West house
was located exactly near to the long union line of artillery that was so effectively used against Lee’s on coming troops. The original house was eventually destroyed but a restored house placed on to the original foundation. A massive sycamore
tree with a unique spreading limbs grows near the homestead. A dead limb from the tree
was used to make the pen shown here.
Battle of Gaines Mill June 27, 1862. The Watt House
Union General McClellan's Peninsular Campaign
of mid-1862 resulted in many named conflicts in his approach to Richmond. When General Lee replaced wounded General Johnston at the battle of 7 Pines, eventually his strategy was to hit the federals in a concerted effort from a number of directions. For instance, after the encounter at Mechanicsville, Lee’s forces united in an all- out assault against the federals at Gaines Mill. At least 62,000 men were involved making it the largest Confederate unified movement in the entire war. Also, it was one of only a few cases in which the Confederate forces outnumbered the Union by at least 2:1.
It resulted in the first victory for General Lee
It was also the case, quite unlike any other during the entire war, there was balloon recognizance being conducted on both sides. The battle at Gaines' Mill began a series of rearguard actions as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan moved his army to the James River and the encounters have become known as the “7 days battles” lasting from June 25 until July 1, 1862.
The Watt House Shown Above
was built is 1820 and served as Union General Fitz John Porter's headquarters during the Gaines Mill battle. There is short trail beginning near the house and parking area leads to the site where Confederate troops broke through the line and precipitated the Union withdrawal. The house is surrounded by a number of trees and two of which are Eastern red cedar. These trees, based on an evaluation of their growth rings have grown very slowly. Their age is estimated to be around 175 years. A dead limb was found that had fallen from the tree on the left and it was made into a delightfully beautiful dark red pen in the photo.