BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Seven Days Campaign -- Gaines Mill

VA -- Seven Days Campaign -- Gaines Mill:

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[1] GAINES_180602_002.JPG	[2] GAINES_180602_009.JPG	[3] GAINES_180602_010.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. GAINES_180602_020.JPG: Texas Remembers the valor and devotion of its soldiers who participated in the battle of Gaines' Mill, Virginia - June 27, 1862. Here, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee continued his attacks against Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac which was attempting to capture Richmond. From June 25 - July 1, Lee and McClellan fought a series of engagements known as the Seven Days Battles, this being the 3rd in that series. On June 27, McClellan's V Corps under Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter held a strong defensive position behind Boatswain's Creek on Turkey Hill. Lee ordered an all-out assault, perhaps the largest he ever Achieved. Hoping to send nearly 60,000 men across a two-mile front. For over five hours, Porter's men repulsed Lee's attacks. Near sundown, Lee sent forward Brig Gen. W.H.C. Whiting's Division, composed of Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade and Col. Evander Law's Brigade. On this ground, Hood personally led the 4th Texas and spearheaded the attack. They were closely supported by the 18th Georgia. Hood's bayonet assault broke the Union line driving Porter's men from their breastworks on the high ground. The other regiments of Hood's Brigade emerged from the woods, and Union resistance collapsed. Porter's Corps retreated across the Chickahominy River, giving Lee the first victory of his career as a general. Unnerved by the defeat, McClellan now focused on saving his army as Lee continued his attacks through July 1. The Texas units, together with the Georgians and South Carolinians in the brigade, had played decisive roles in achieving McClellan's defeat and saving the Confederate capital from capture. Erected by the State of Texas 2012
2. GAINES_180602_022.JPG: Texas (back) "The men who carried this position were soldiers indeed!" -- Maj. Gen. T.J. (Stonewall) Jackson, In tribute to the Texas Brigade at Gaines' Mill – June 27, 1862 Texas Brigade units engaged in the Battle of Gaines' Mill, Va. Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood's Brigade 1st Texas -- Volunteer Infantry Regiment 4th Texas -- Volunteer Infantry Regiment 5th Texas -- Volunteer Infantry Regiment 18th Georgia -- Volunteer Infantry Regiment Hampton's Legion, South Carolina -- 8 Infantry Companies Texas units formed the major portion of Hood's Brigade, thus it was commonly known as the Texas Brigade, but the 18th Georgia, Hampton's Legion, and later the 3rd Arkansas were integral parts of the brigade. Texas remembers and honors her sons and those of her sister states who fought with them. They sleep the sleep of the brave.
3. GAINES_180602_032.JPG: Intensity of Battle "By the time we had gotten across, the front line, broken by our fire, frightened … which sounded like forty thousand wild cats, had reached their second line, … confusion, and they, panicstricken, left their works and croded to the top of the hill, thus preventing their artillery from firing into us…." -- Edmund D. Patterson, 9th Alabama Infantry New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield defended this sector of Porter's line. During the early afternoon the greatest threat to these men was the falling limbs severed by the hundreds of artillery shells that screeched overhead. Late in the evening Confederate infantry appeared at the opposite crest of the hill. Butterfield's men met them with a blaze of musketry fire that staggered the front ranks and wounded Brig. Gen. George E. Pickett. The Southern pause was only momentary. Soon the advancing Confederates nearly wrapped around Butterfield's position. His thinking now changed from defense to survival. For his determined efforts to rally the retreating Union soldiers, General Butterfield was awarded the Medal of Honor. In a few days he would arrange the haunting music of "Taps." Private Banbury Jones of the 11th Alabama seized this flag after the original color bearer was struck by 13 bullets. Soon Jones was hit in the right arm, shot through both legs, and then a bullet tore into his left arm. The flag dropped and was given to a third man despite Jones' plea to tie the flagstaff to his body, as he was still able to walk.
4. GAINES_180602_145.JPG: Seven Days Battles Gaines's Mill Along the slopes of Boatswain Creek, facing north and west, extended Porter's position in the afternoon of June 27, 1862. The line was held by Sykes's division facing north, and Morell's facing west. Later McCall was thrown in to assist Morell. At dark Lee broke the Union line, and Porter retreated across the Chickahominy.
Wikipedia Description: Battle of Gaines' Mill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Gaines' Mill, also known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee renewed his attacks against Union Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, which had established a strong defensive line behind Boatswain's Swamp north of the Chickahominy River. Porter's reinforced V Corps held fast for the afternoon against disjointed Confederate attacks, inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers.

At dusk, the Confederates finally mounted a coordinated assault that broke Porter's line and drove his soldiers back toward the river. The Federals retreated across the river during the night. Defeat at Gaines' Mill convinced Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan to abandon his advance on Richmond and begin the retreat to the James River. Gaines' Mill saved Richmond for the Confederacy in 1862. The battle occurred in almost the same location as the 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor and had similar numbers of total casualties.

Background:

McClellan's Army of the Potomac had pushed to within a few miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond and had stalled following the Battle of Seven Pines in late May 1862. The Seven Days Battles began with a Union attack in the minor Battle of Oak Grove on June 25, but the first major battle started the next day when Lee launched a large-scale assault against McClellan at the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (or Mechanicsville). Lee attacked Porter's V Corps north of the Chickahominy, while the bulk of the Union Army was relatively unoccupied south of the river. By the next morning, the Union forces were concentrated into a semicircle with Porter collapsing his line into an east-west salient north of the river and the four corps south of the river remaining in their original positions. Porter was ordered by McClellan to hold Gaines' Mill at all costs so that the army could change its base of supply to the James River. Several of McClellan's subordinates urged him to attack the Confederate division of Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder south of the river, but he feared the vast numbers of Confederates he believed to be before him and refused to capitalize on the overwhelming superiority he actually held on that front.

Battle:

On June 27, Lee continued his offensive, launching the largest Confederate attack of the war, about 57,000 men in six divisions. Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill resumed his attack across Beaver Dam Creek early in the morning, but found the line lightly defended. Moving eastward and approaching Gaines' Mill, his lead brigade, under Brig. Gen. Maxcy Gregg, was held up by fierce resistance from the 9th Massachusetts Infantry. By early afternoon, he ran into strong opposition by Porter, deployed along Boatswain's Creek and the swampy terrain was a major obstacle against the attack. Attacks by the brigades of Brig. Gens. Gregg, Dorsey Pender, Joseph R. Anderson, and Lawrence O'Bryan Branch made little headway. As Maj. Gen. James Longstreet arrived to the south of A.P. Hill, he saw the difficulty of attacking over such terrain and delayed until Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson could attack on Hill's left.

For the second time in the Seven Days, however, Jackson was late. Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill attacked the Federal right and was held off by the division of Brig. Gen. George Sykes; he backed off to await Jackson's arrival. Longstreet was ordered to conduct a diversionary attack to stabilize the lines until Jackson could arrive and attack from the north. In Longstreet's attack, Brig. Gen. George E. Pickett's brigade attempted a frontal assault and was beaten back under severe fire with heavy losses. Jackson finally reached D.H. Hill's position at 3 p.m. and was completely disoriented following a day of pointless marching and countermarching. Believing that Longstreet's attack was underway, he kept his men and those of Hill's out of the fight to avoid friendly fire. Receiving messages from Lee, Jackson began his assault at 4:30 p.m.

Porter's line was saved by Brig. Gen. Henry W. Slocum's division moving into position to bolster his defense. Shortly after dark, the Confederates mounted another attack, poorly coordinated, but this time collapsing the Federal line. Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade opened a gap in the line, as did Pickett's Brigade on its second attempt of the day. The brigades of Brig. Gens. Thomas F. Meagher and William H. French arrived, too late to help other than as a rear guard for Porter's retreat. A battalion of the 5th U.S. Cavalry under Captain Charles J. Whiting suffered heavy losses and was forced to surrender. By 4 a.m. on June 28, Porter withdrew across the Chickahominy, burning the bridges behind him.

For the second day, Magruder was able to continue fooling McClellan south of the river by employing minor diversionary attacks. He was able to occupy 60,000 Federal troops while the heavier action occurred north of the river.

Aftermath:

Gaines' Mill was an intense battle, the largest of the Seven Days and the only clear-cut Confederate tactical victory of the Peninsula Campaign. Union casualties from the 34,214 engaged were 6,837 (894 killed, 3,107 wounded, and 2,836 captured or missing). Of the 57,018 Confederates engaged, losses totaled 7,993 (1,483 killed, 6,402 wounded, 108 missing or captured). Since the Confederate assault was conducted against only a small portion of the Union Army (the V Corps, one fifth of the army), the army emerged from the battle in relatively good shape overall. Lee's victory, his first of the war, could have been more complete if it were not for the mishaps of Stonewall Jackson. Historian Stephen W. Sears speculates that it were not for Jackson's misdirected march and his poor staff work, the major assault that Lee unleashed at 7 p.m. could have occurred three or four hours earlier. This would have put Porter in grave jeopardy, without any last-minute reinforcements and the cover of darkness. He quotes Edward Porter Alexander, prominent Confederate artillery officer and postwar historian: "Had Jackson attacked when he first arrived, or during A.P. Hill's attack, we would have had an easy victory—comparatively, & would have captured most of Porter's command."

However, although McClellan had already planned to shift his supply base to the James River, his defeat unnerved him and he precipitously decided to abandon his advance on Richmond and begin the retreat of his entire army to the James. Gaines' Mill and the Union retreat across the Chickahominy was a psychological victory for the Confederacy, signaling that Richmond was out of danger.
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