VA -- Seven Days Campaign -- Malvern Hill:
- Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.
- Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon
underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.
- Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
- Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.17.6.75 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.
- Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]
|
[1]
 MALV_050411_03.JPG
|
[2]
MALV_050411_04.JPG
|
[3]
MALV_050411_06.JPG
|
[4]
MALV_050411_08.JPG
|
[5] MALV_050411_16.JPG
|
[6] MALV_050411_18.JPG
|
[7] MALV_050411_19.JPG
|
[8]
MALV_050411_25.JPG
|
[9] MALV_050411_27.JPG
|
[10] MALV_050411_31.JPG
|
[11] MALV_050411_33.JPG
|
[12]
MALV_050411_39.JPG
|
[13]
MALV_050411_41.JPG
|
[14]
MALV_050411_44.JPG
|
[15] MALV_050411_49.JPG
|
[16]
MALV_050411_52.JPG
|
[17]
MALV_050411_64.JPG
|
[18]
MALV_050411_65.JPG
|
[19] MALV_050411_69.JPG
|
[20]
MALV_050411_79.JPG
|
- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- MALV_050411_03.JPG: Richmond Battlefield:
Malvern Hill:
The Battle of Malvern Hill was the last in the weeklong series of engagements in 1862 known as the Seven Days battles. General George B. McClellan's Union army, having been maneuvered away from its base at White House Landing east of Richmond, sought the shelter of a new position on the James River. Having reached the river, his army turned back north and on July 1 confronted the pursuing Confederates here at Malvern Hill.
Less wooded in 1862, this hill with its steep sides provided its defenders with both protection and extensive fields of fire. From here, a line of Union artillery, supported by infantrymen, repulsed a long series of assaults launched up the hill by the men of General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army. During the night, McClellan's soldiers moved southeast, toward their new base at Harrison's Landing. Although it lasted less than half a day, the Battle of Malvern Hill extracted a deadly toll from its participants. More than 8,000 men fell killed and wounded here.
Touring the Battlefield:
A network of trails and signs is available to help you explore the battlefield. A 1-1/2 mile trail loops through some of the key sites. Several stops to the north highlight the formation of Confederate troops and place you at the beginning of their attacks. The line of Union cannon here and on the opposite side of the road help to emphasize the power of the artillery at Malvern Hill. A short trail to the western side of the hill, past the Crew House, illustrates the steepness of the terrain.
- MALV_050411_04.JPG: Malvern Hill:
"As column after column advanced, only to meet the same disastrous repulse, the sight became one of the most interesting imaginable. The havoc made by the rapidly bursting shells from guns arranged so as to sweep any position far and near, and in any direction, was fearful to behold... The safety of our army -- the life of the Union -- was felt to be at stake."
-- Fitz John Porter, Brigadier General, USA
- MALV_050411_06.JPG: Malvern Hill 1862:
The Last Day:
July 1, 1862:
Porter's positions artillery seemingly hub to hub across this half-mile crest. In front, fields slope down to woods and swamp -- a tough place to form a charge. As Confederates launched disjointed assaults, Federal cannon like giant shotguns saturate the open ground with canister and grapeshot.
"Over five thousand dead and wounded men were on the ground," a Union officer reported next dawn, "but enough were alive and moving to give the field a singular crawling effect."
Malvern Hill was the last battle of the Seven Days. After successfully defending their ground, Federal troops continued their withdrawal to Harrison's Landing.
- MALV_050411_08.JPG: We're on Malvern Hill. In the distance, they're clearing the trees, trying to make it look closer to what it looked like during the battle.
- MALV_050411_25.JPG: The park service is clearing the land across from the Willis Church Parsonage, roughly where Lee would have watched the battle from a blacksmith shop that stood here.
- MALV_050411_39.JPG: Advantages of Terrain:
Today, heavy woods have replaced the vast rolling wheat fields upon which the armies fought. Timber also hides the steep slopes and jagged ravines that shielded the flanks of the Union position.
The rough terrain forced most of the Confederates to advance across the flat open fields astride the Willis Church road. Still, portions of two Confederate divisions attempted to negotiate this drainage that led directly to the Union position. The steep slopes protected the Southern infantrymen from most of the Union artillery fire, but a few well-placed Union cannons were positioned... to sweep this ravine. A vigorous counterattack by a Federal brigade cleared the ravine of Confederates by nightfall and preserved the Union position.
- MALV_050411_41.JPG: The Crew House:
The Crew House -- also known during the war as Dr. Mellert's -- is a key landmark of the battlefield. In 1862, numerous outbuildings were located close to the house, and a small orchard stood nearby. The original house burned in the 1870s, and this structure stands on the foundations of the wartime building.
Federal artillery located in the yard anchored the left of the Union line and other guns unlimbered in the lane to your left.
- MALV_050411_44.JPG: Malvern Hill
Confederate Assault
Up the face of this ridge and through the meadow to the left J.B. Magruder's troops charged the Federal positions on the crest, around the Crew House, July 1, 1862. D.H. Hill's charge was to the right, on both sides of the Willis Church Road.
- MALV_050411_52.JPG: The Crew House: The Crew House, also known during the war as Dr. Mellort's, is a key landmark of the battlefield. In 1862, numerous outbuildings were located close to the house, and a small orchard stood nearby. The original house burned in the 1870's, and this structure stands on the foundations of the wartime building.
Federal artillery located in the yard anchored the left of the Union line, and other guns unlimbered in the lane to your left.
- MALV_050411_64.JPG: Willis Church Parsonage:
The Confederates Move Toward Malvern Hill:
Frustrated by his failure at Glendale, Robert E. Lee gathered his army on July 1, 1862, for a final effort to destroy the Union army. But on this day, unlike his previous efforts during the Seven Days, Lee did not have a Union flank or a strung-out marching column to attack. Before him stood the powerful Union rear guard, arrayed on the plateau of Malvern Hill, about a half mile in front of you.
The Willis Church parsonage (the ruins behind you) became an important landmark on July 1. Before the attacks, division commander D.H. Hill met with his officers near the house. Colonel W. Gaston Meares of North Carolina was killed by a shell in the yard. Confederate artillery attempted to take position in nearby fields. Lee watched from a blacksmith shop that stood across the Willis Church Road in front of you.
- MALV_050411_65.JPG: WIllis Church Parsonage: The Confederates Move Toward Malvern Hill
Frustrated by his failure at Glendale, Robert E. Lee gathered his army on July 1, 1862, for a final effort to destroy the Union army. But on this day, unlike his previous efforts during the Seven Days, Lee did not have a Union flank or a strung-out marching column to attack. Before him stood the powerful Union rear guard, arrayed on the plateau of Malvern Hill, about a half mile in front of you.
The Willis Church parsonage (the ruins) became an important landmark on July 1. Before the attacks, division command D.H. Hill met with is officers near the house. Colonel W. Gaston Meares of North Carolina was killed by a shell in the yard. Confederate artillery attempted to take position in nearby fields. Lee watched from a blacksmith shop that stood across the Willis Church Road.
- MALV_050411_79.JPG: Methodist Parsonage
The residence of the Methodist minister, situated near this spot, was a landmark of the Battle of Malvern Hill and was directly in the line of advance of D.H. Hill's division southward against the Federal positions around the Crew house. July 1, 1862.
- Wikipedia Description: Battle of Malvern Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, took place on July 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, was the sixth and last of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly impregnable Union position on Malvern Hill. The Confederates suffered more than 5,300 casualties without gaining an inch of ground. Despite his victory, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan withdrew to entrench at Harrison's Landing on the James River, where his army was protected by gunboats, ending the Peninsula Campaign.
Background:
The final battle of the Seven Days was the first in which the Union Army occupied favorable ground. For the preceding six days, McClellan's Army of the Potomac had been retreating to the safety of the James River, pursued by Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Up to this point, the major battles of the Seven Days had been mostly inconclusive, but McClellan was unnerved by Lee's aggressive assaults and remained convinced that he was seriously outnumbered, although in fact the two armies were roughly equal.
Malvern Hill offered good observation and artillery positions, having been prepared the previous day by the V Corps, under Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter. McClellan himself was not present on the battlefield, having preceded his army to Harrison's Landing on the James, and Porter was the most senior of the corps commanders. The slopes were cleared of timber, providing great visibility, and the open fields to the north could be swept by deadly fire from the 250 guns placed by Col. Henry J. Hunt, McClellan's chief of artillery. Beyond this space, the terrain was swampy and thickly wooded.
The entire Army of the Potomac occupied the hill, with the exception of Brig. Gen. Silas Casey's Division, now commanded by Brig. Gen. John J. Peck, of the IV Corps, which had proceeded to Harrison's Landing and, while not engaged, formed the extreme right of the Federal line. The Federal line extended in a vast semicircle from Harrison's Landing on the extreme right to Brig. Gen. George W. Morell's division of Porter's Corps on the extreme left, which occupied the geographically advantageous ground on the northwestern slopes of the hill. Adjoining the right of Morell's command was Brig. Gen. Darius N. Couch's division, which had been detached from the IV Corps, now at Harrison's Landing, and occupied the effective center of the Federal position. Although Porter commanded the portion of the field on which Couch's troops were positioned, he elected to allow Couch to act in command independently, not bringing his detached division under the command of one of the other corps commanders. Extending the Federal line on Couch's right were the divisions of Brig. Gens. Philip Kearny and Joseph Hooker of Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman's III Corps. To the right was Brig. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner's II Corps, consisting of the divisions of Brig. Gens. Israel B. Richardson and John Sedgwick, which were anchored to Peck's Division of the IV Corps at Harrison's Landing.
Rather than flanking the position, Lee attacked it directly, hoping that his artillery would clear the way for a successful infantry assault (just as he would miscalculate the following year in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg). He also believed that his soldiers were in better fighting shape than their Union counterparts, despite the six preceding days of hard fighting and marching. (A number of the Union Corps had in fact not yet participated in direct combat, which was an indictment of McClellan's generalship, but worked out well for this final battle.) Lee's plan was to attack the hill from the north on the Quaker Road, using the divisions of Maj. Gens. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Richard S. Ewell, D.H. Hill, and Brig. Gen. William H.C. Whiting. Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder was ordered to follow Jackson and deploy to his right when he reached the battlefield. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger's division was to follow as well, but Lee reserved the right to position him based on developments. The divisions of Maj. Gens. James Longstreet and A.P. Hill, which had been the most heavily engaged in the Battle of Glendale the previous day, were held in reserve.
Battle:
As with most of the battles in the Seven Days, Lee's complex plan was poorly executed. The approaching soldiers were delayed by severely muddy roads and poor maps. Jackson arrived at the swampy creek called Western Run and stopped abruptly. Magruder's guides mistakenly sent him on the Long Bridge Road to the southwest, away from the battlefield. Eventually the battle line was assembled with Huger's division (brigades of Brig. Gens. Ambrose R. Wright and Lewis A. Armistead) on the Confederate right and D.H. Hill's division (brigades of Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood and Col. Evander M. Law) on the Quaker Road to the left. They awaited the Confederate bombardment before attacking.
Unfortunately for Lee, Henry Hunt struck first, launching one of the greatest artillery barrages in the war from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Union gunners had superior equipment and expertise and disabled most of the Confederate batteries, which were concentrated on a hill 1,200 yards north of the Crew House and at Poindexter's farm to the northeast. Despite the setback, Lee sent his infantry forward at 3:30 p.m. and Armistead's brigade made some progress through lines of Union sharpshooters. By 4 p.m., Magruder arrived and he was ordered forward to support Armistead. His attack was piecemeal and poorly organized.
Meanwhile, D. H. Hill launched his division forward along the Quaker Road, past Willis Church. Across the entire line of battle, the Confederate troops reached only within 200 yards of the Union Center and were repulsed by nightfall with heavy losses.
Aftermath:
D.H. Hill wrote afterwards, "It wasn't war; it was murder." Lee's army suffered 5,355 casualties (versus 3,214 Union) in this wasted effort and withdrew to Richmond, while the Union Army completed its retreat to Harrison's Landing. Melville wrote a poem.
Malvern Hill ended the Peninsula Campaign. When McClellan's army ceased to threaten Richmond, Lee sent Jackson to operate against Maj. Gen. John Pope's army along the Rapidan River, thus initiating the Northern Virginia Campaign.
Private Edwin Jennison of the Georgia Infantry was killed at the Battle of Malvern Hill, Virginia, on July 1, 1862, at age 16, the youngest casualty of the war .
- Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.)
I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com
and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
- Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
- Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].
