Existing comment:
Dabbs House
Lee's First Headquarters
1862 Peninsula Campaign
Here at the Dabbs House on June 1, 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee established his first field headquarters as the new commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. He replaced Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who had been wounded, as Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac closed in on Richmond. By June 5, Lee had developed his plan for countering McClellan's advance: fortify the approaches east of the city with a small force to man them, and attack the Federals with the rest of his army.
Lee held two important conferences here. On June 11, cavalry commander Gen. J.E.B. Stuart met with Lee, and Stuart's famous first ride around the Union army was the result. That reconnaissance feat, covering 100 miles in 72 hours with only one fatality, boosted sagging Confederate morale. Stuart had learned that the Federal right flank was "in the air" (not anchored on a natural obstacle like a river and therefore exposed to attack).
On June 23, Lee assembled his top subordinates here for the first time. They included Gens. A.P. Hill, D.H. Hill, James Longstreet, and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Lee used Stuart's report to finalize his plans. This "Dabbs House Meeting" led to the series of engagements called the Seven Days' Battles that introduced Lee to the world as a talented general.
Called High Meadow before the war, this was Josiah and Mary Dabbs's farm in 1861. After Josiah Dabbs died in January 1862, his widow moved into Richmond and left the house unoccupied. By 1864, the house stood between the first and second of three Confederate defensive lines. Part of the house was constructed about 1820 and multiple additions were completed between the mid-1800s and mid- |