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Battle of Glendale
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862. His first actions were a series of assaults on Union forces that were moving toward Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital.
Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, some 100,000 strong, was within 5 miles of Richmond. A defeat at Gaines Mill in late June forced McClellan to fall back. Hoping to trap McClellan, Lee ordered Maj. Gen. James Longstreet forward. The two forces met near Glendale on June 30. Fighting was fierce. A Union officer wrote, "It was muzzle to muzzle, and powder actually burned the faces of the opposing men."
Hours of bloody fighting ended as night fell. Confederate forces captured six Union guns and a few acres of woods but failed to halt McClellan's retreat. Lee and McClellan each lost approximately 3,500 men in the engagement. The Battle of Glendale was the fifth action Lee undertook in what became known as "The Seven Days Battles." Glendale was a loss for both sides. |