Existing comment:
Day 6: June 30, 1862
Despite the great success of Lee's attack in forcing McClellan to retreat, the Army of Northern Virginia was never able to defeat the Army of the Potomac. A series of miscommunications and difficult road conditions resulted in attacks which were never as well executed as they were planned.
Battle of White Oak Swamp:
Charged with the largest amount of territory to cross, Jackson became entangled and drastically slowed in the White Oak Swamp. By the time he had extricated his troops, it was too late to continue the attack. Another opportunity was missed.
Battle of Glendale (aka Frayser's Farm):
Lee ordered his army to converge on the bottlenecked Union forces between the White Oak Swamp and the crossroads at Frayser's Farm. Once again, Lee's plan was poorly executed. Brigadier General Benjamin Huger was slowed by obstructions along the Charles City Road and failed to participate in the battle. Brigadier General Theophilus Holmes engaged in an unsuccessful maneuver against Porter at Malvern Hill. Jackson spent the entire day north of the creek, making only feeble efforts to cross and attack Union forces. Lee, Longstreet, and visiting Confederate President Jefferson Davis were observing the action on horseback when they came under heavy artillery fire. The party withdrew, with two men wounded and three horses killed.
Because of the setbacks, only AP Hill and Longstreet attacked during the battle. Longstreet performed poorly, sending in brigades in a piecemeal fashion, rather than striking with concentrated force. They struck Brigadier General George McCall's division forcing it back, but the penetration was soon sealed off by Union reinforcements. McCall was captured during the battle. Lee would have only one more opportunity to intercept McClellan's army before it reached the safety of the James River.
Marching south on the White Oak Road, Jackson and his men found the swamp's single bridge burned and engineers were ordered to rebuild it. As Jackson and DH Hill crossed the river to perform reconnaissance, a Union artillery shell exploded only a few feet away. Realizing the Union artillery was reinforcing the position and sharpshooters could play havoc with the engineers, Jackson decided this was not a place to make a crossing. Brigadier General Wade Hampton found a point where a bridge could be built for infantry. Jackson ordered him to built the bridge, but took no action to cross the swamp.
Around noon, seven Confederate batteries of 31 guns opened fire, catching the Union troops by surprise. With the artillery duel across the swamp escalating to over 40 guns, and the battle raging less than 3 miles away, Jackson sat beneath a large oak tree and fell asleep for over an hour.
Day 7: July 1, 1862:
Battle of Malvern Hill:
The Federal Army had its strongest position on Malvern Hill, and the toughest fighting yet for the Confederate troops lay ahead. McClellan concentrated his artillery pieces on the hill supported by masses of infantry. In front of the Federal line, the ground was open and gradually sloped down from the crest of the hill.
"To reach this open ground our troops had to advance through a broken and thickly wooded country, traversed nearly throughout its whole extent by a swamp passable but few places, difficult at those. The whole was in range of the batteries on the heights and the gunboats on the river, under whose incessant fire our movements had to be executed."
-- General Lee's observation
The approaching Confederate soldiers were delayed by severely muddy roads and poor maps. Jackson arrived at a swampy creek called Western Run and stopped abruptly. Magruder's guides mistakenly sent him northwest on Long Bridge Road, away from the battlefield. Eventually the battle line was assembled with Huger's division on the right and DH Hill's division to the left. They awaited the Confederate bombardment before attacking.
Unfortunately for Lee, Union artillery struck first around mid-day, launching one of the greatest barrages of the war. The Union gunners had superior equipment and expertise, and disabled most of the Confederate batteries.
Making one of the few mistakes of his campaign, Lee ordered Jackson's, Hill's, Magruder's and Huger's divisions to attack the Federal line. The attacks were uncoordinated and by nightfall the Confederates withdrew, suffering more than 5,300 casualties without gaining an inch of ground.
"It wasn't war; it was murder."
-- DH Hill wrote afterwards
The next day, the Federal Army continued its retreat to Harrison's Landing within range of the heavy guns of the US Navy. Realizing that there was nothing else he could do, and McClellan no longer posing a threat to Richmond, Lee directed the Army to return to its former positions around Richmond.
The Seven Days Battles established the reputation of Robert E. Lee as a field commander; it did quite the opposite for George McClellan. The "Young Napoleon" was left dangling at Harrison's Landing no the James River. The Peninsula Campaign was over. |