BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Seven Days Campaign -- Beaver Dam Creek

VA -- Seven Days Campaign -- Beaver Dam Creek:

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[1] BEAVER_080210_01.JPG	[2] BEAVER_080210_03.JPG	[3] BEAVER_080210_08.JPG
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[10] BEAVER_080210_34.JPG	[11] BEAVER_080210_38.JPG	[12] BEAVER_080210_41.JPG
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. BEAVER_080210_03.JPG: The Creek Runs Red: June 26, 1862: On this ground raged the heaviest fighting of the battle of Beaver Dam Creek. Fourteen Union cannon on the ridge beyond the creek blasted Dorsey Pender's and Roswell Ripley's Confederates as they charged across the fields [on this side of the river]. Federal infantry -- Pennsylvanians shielded by earthworks and a mill race -- ravaged the gray lines with bullets as they waded into the waist-deep stream. "To take the works," wrote a Southern officer, "was impossible." Confederate attacks along a two-mile front failed to dislodge the Federals from behind Beaver Dam Creek; instead, one Confederate said, the bottomland turned into a "valley of death." McClellan rightly claimed Union victory, but still he ordered Fitz John Porter's troops to withdraw. The next morning, the Federals dug in around Gaines Mill, five miles to the east. Lee's Confederates would follow, bring on the bloodiest battle of the campaign. Casualties: Confederate: 1,484 Union: 351
2. BEAVER_080210_08.JPG: Richmond Battlefield: Beaver Dam Creek: General Robert E. Lee's plan on June 26, 1862 did not anticipate a direct assault on the Union position here at Beaver Dam Creek. He hoped to maneuver instead of force to drive Fitz John Porter's troops away from their powerful entrenchments. But Lee's carefully crafted plan fell apart. Poor coordination among his various columns caused delays. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 20,000 men were not able to get into position north of here, above Beaver Dam Creek, before sunset. With most of his Confederate army on this side of the Chickahominy River, Lee worried about the safety of Richmond, where only 25,000 of his soldiers manned the fortifications, facing about 75,000 Union soldiers. Fearful that McClellan might hurl the bulk of his army directly at Richmond, Lee determined to engage Porter at Beaver Dam Creek. The resulting action proved to be a costly diversion. Today the creek at this spot is much wider and swampier than in 1862, and heavy woods obscure the lofty ridge occupied by Porter's men on the eastern side of the stream. Touring the Battlefield: The national park preserves battlefield ground occupied by soldiers from both armies. Take the footbridge over Beaver Dam Creek and learn about the heaviest fighting of the battle. The bridge crosses the creek at the same spot as the 1862 bridge. Along the way, signs help to illustrate the strength of the Union position. The site of Ellerson's Mill (a wartime landmark) also is visible. The entire walk is only one-quarter mile long.
3. BEAVER_080210_12.JPG: The Confederates Attack A. P. Hill initiated the action on June 26, 1862, by sending his division across the Chickahominy River. His troops drove the Union outposts through Mechanicsville and back beyond Beaver Dam Creek. A brigade led by Roswell Ripley supported Hill closely. As Ripley's Georgians and North Carolinians reached this ground they encountered a withering fire. Private Edgar A. Jackson of Ripley's brigade, writing after the battle, described the fighting here in a letter to his mother: As we approached nearer the bullets flew by us in torrents. We exchange shot for shot with the Yankees. I have fired once and am now trying to ram down a ball which fits too tight – men are falling around me continually – I see one of our company rise up and try to get to the rear; he is wounded in the hip. For nearly half an hour our boys load and fire, firing by the light of the enemy's guns. Jackson's regiment, the 1st North Carolina Infantry, suffered 125 casualties near this spot. Fighting beside them, the 44th Georgia fared even worse, losing 65% of its 514 men. For many Southerners Beaver Dam Creek was their first action of the war. Captain Tristram L. Skinner of the 1st North Carolina, seen here in the center of this photograph taken shortly before the battle, wrote his wife: "I am confident of the success of our troops – but I cannot feel either confident or very hopeful of my being spared … I will go into the action however with as brave a heart as I can command, determined cheerfully to come up to the mark." Captain Skinner was hit by enemy fire while leading his command against the entrenched Federal troops on the other side of the creek. He died exhorting his men to "Rally around the flag!" Lieutenant John A. Benbury is on the left of the photograph and Lieutenant Lemuel C. Benbury is on the far right. All were officers in Company A, 1st North Carolina Infantry. Lemuel died from wounds received at Malvern Hill five days after the fighting here.
4. BEAVER_080210_28.JPG: Historic Old Cold Harbor road, heading off into the Union side of the battlefield.
5. BEAVER_080210_34.JPG: Historic Cold Harbor Road: In this location ran the original road from Mechanicsville to Cold Harbor. The bridge that crossed Beaver Dam Creek was destroyed by Union troops prior to the June 26, 1862, battle.
6. BEAVER_080210_41.JPG: The Pennsylvanians Stand Firm: Five regiments of Pennsylvania troops, supported by artillery, held the high ground on their side of the creek. In 1862, the slopes were open with no trees to block the view. Lieutenant Colonel A. J. Warner of the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves was entrenched with his unit on the hill just upstream from Ellerson's Mill. After the war, Warner reminisced about the Confederate attacks: "As soon as they reached rifle range, our men opened upon them such a destructive fire from the rifle pits and the old mill dam that they were forced back with terrible slaughter, the artillery keeping up the fire with shell when they were beyond musket range. Notwithstanding the fearful slaughter in the ranks, the enemy renewed several times the attempt to reach the creek and force a passage." Despite the odds, Confederate infantry made several desperate attempts to break through. No attack ever reached beyond the mill race. One Union observer credited success to, "a good position, plenty of artillery, rifle pits, and last but not least the men were fresh, anxious, and determined." ... [On the morning of June 26], Porter's Union forces abandoned this position and moved eastward, eventually taking an even stronger position behind Boatswain's Creek four miles east of here. Lee's army pursue on four parallel roads and reached New Cold Harbor in time to fight the Battle of Gaines' Mill. The driving tour route follows Porter's line of retreat past historic Walnut Grove Church and Gaines' Millpond to the Watt House.
7. BEAVER_080210_47.JPG: Site of Ellerson's Mill The foundation of the mill was located in the depression below the road bed. The millrace that supplied water to power the mill was built along the base of the hill and remnants can be seen today. The mill pond was located just beyond the modern Route 156 bridge. Grist mills were essential elements of the 19th-century farming community, and their remains can be found throughout the Seven Days Battlefields.
8. BEAVER_080210_48.JPG: Ellerson's Mill would have been down there somewhere
9. BEAVER_080210_73.JPG: Freeman marker
10. BEAVER_080210_77.JPG: Beaver Dam Creek: (Freeman Marker) Confederate troops, pursuing Federals retreating eastward from Mechanicsville, here came under heavy fire from across Beaver Dam Creek and were halted with loss in the late afternoon of June 26, 1862.
Wikipedia Description: Battle of Beaver Dam Creek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia as the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee initiated his offensive against Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's right flank north of the Chickahominy River. Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill threw his division, reinforced by one of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's brigades, into a series of futile assaults against Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, which was drawn up behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley divisions, however, were approaching from the northwest, forcing Porter to withdraw the next morning to a position behind Boatswain Creek just beyond Gaines' Mill.

Background and Lee's plan:

After the Battle of Seven Pines, which concluded on June 1, 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, sat passively at the outskirts of the Confederate capital of Richmond. The newly appointed commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, devoted most of the month to reorganizing his army and preparing an offensive intended to drive the Union invaders away from the capital. He also sent for reinforcements— Stonewall Jackson arrived on June 25 with four divisions (his own, now commanded by Brig. Gen. Charles S. Winder, and those of Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, Brig. Gen. William H. C. Whiting, and Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill) from the Shenandoah Valley following his successful Valley Campaign.

The Union Army straddled the rain-swollen Chickahominy River. The bulk of the army, four corps, was arrayed in a semicircular line south of the river. The remainder, the V Corps under Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter, was north of the river near Mechanicsville in an L-shaped line facing north-south behind Beaver Dam Creek and southeast along the Chickahominy. Lee's plan was to cross the Chickahominy with the bulk of his army to attack the Union north flank, leaving only two divisions (under Maj. Gens. Benjamin Huger and John B. Magruder) to hold a line of entrenchments against McClellan's superior strength. This would concentrate about 65,500 troops to oppose 30,000, leaving only 25,000 to protect Richmond and to contain the other 60,000 men of the Union Army. It was a risky plan that required careful execution, but Lee knew that he could not win in a battle of attrition or siege against the Union Army. The Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart had reconnoitered Porter's right flank (as part of a daring, although militarily pointless, circumnavigation of the entire Union Army from June 12 to June 15) and found it vulnerable. McClellan was aware of Jackson's arrival and presence at Ashland Station, but did nothing to reinforce Porter's vulnerable corps north of the river.

Lee's plan called for Jackson to begin the attack on Porter's north flank early on June 26. Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's Light Division was to advance from Meadow Bridge when he heard Jackson's guns, clear the Union pickets from Mechanicsville, and then move to Beaver Dam Creek. Maj. Gens. D.H. Hill and James Longstreet were to pass through Mechanicsville, D.H. Hill to support Jackson and Longstreet to support A.P. Hill. Lee did not anticipate that the Union entrenchments behind the creek would have to be assaulted, expecting that Jackson's flanking movement would force Porter to abandon his line. South of the river, Magruder and Huger were to demonstrate to deceive the four Union corps on their front.

Battle:

Lee's intricate plan went awry immediately. Jackson's men, fatigued from their recent campaign and lengthy march, ran at least four hours behind schedule. By 3 p.m., A.P. Hill grew impatient and began his attack without orders, a frontal assault with 11,000 men. The Union division of Brig. Gen. George A. McCall was forced back. Porter reinforced McCall with the brigades of Brig. Gens. John H. Martindale and Charles Griffin and extended and strengthened his right flank. He fell back and concentrated along Beaver Dam Creek and Ellerson's Mill. There, 14,000 well entrenched soldiers, aided by 32 guns in six batteries, repulsed repeated Confederate attacks with substantial casualties.

Jackson and his command arrived late in the afternoon, but, unable to find A.P. Hill or D.H. Hill, did nothing. Although a major battle was raging within earshot, he ordered his troops to bivouac for the evening. Although Jackson did not attack, his position near Porter's flank caused McClellan to order Porter to withdraw after dark behind Boatswain's Swamp, 5 miles to the east. McClellan was concerned that the Confederate build-up on his right flank threatened his supply line, the Richmond and York River Railroad north of the Chickahominy, and he decided to shift his base of supply to the James River. He also believed that the diversions by Huger and Magruder south of the river meant that he was seriously outnumbered. This was a strategic decision of grave import because it meant that, without the railroad to supply his army, he would be forced to abandon his siege of Richmond.

A.P. Hill, now with Longstreet and D.H. Hill behind him, continued his attack, despite orders from Lee to hold his ground. His assault was beaten back with heavy casualties.

Aftermath:

Overall, the battle was a Union tactical victory, in which the Confederates suffered heavy casualties and achieved none of their specific objectives due to the seriously flawed execution of Lee's plan. Instead of over 60,000 men crushing the enemy's flank, only five brigades, about 15,000 men, had seen action. Their losses were 1,484 versus Porter's 361. Lee's staff recalled that he was "deeply, bitterly disappointed" by Jackson's performance, but communication breakdowns, poorly written orders from Lee, and bad judgment across most of Lee's subordinates were to blame.

Despite the short-term Union success, however, it was the start of a strategic debacle and the unraveling of the Peninsula Campaign. McClellan began to withdraw his army to the southeast and never regained the initiative. The next day the Seven Days Battles continued as Lee again assaulted Porter in the Battle of Gaines' Mill.
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