WIlliamsburg Road: Seven Days' Battle Historical Marker

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This marker shows the path of Confederate troops who attacked McClellan's defensive earthworks near this location during the Seven Days' Battles. This attack helped to thwart the Union's plan to capture Richmond in 1862. The Seven Days' Battle were a series of battles around Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War from June 25 to July 1, 1862. The battles pitted the Confederate forces of General Robert E. Lee against the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by General George B. McClellan. Lee was determined to push McClellan back from the Confederate capital and proceeded to attacked his forces repeatedly at Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Savage's Station, Frayser's Farm, and Malvern Hill. Though McClellan would seem to have won most of the battles, he retreated until he reached Harrison's Landing on the James River. The retreat was as much a detriment to Union morale as it was a boost to that of the Confederacy.


Images

  • General George B. McClellan
    General George B. McClellan
  • Map of the Union offensive
    Map of the Union offensive
  • Seven Days' Battle campaign map
    Seven Days' Battle campaign map
  • General Robert E. Lee
    General Robert E. Lee
  • This marker shows the path of Confederate troops who attacked McClellan's defensive earthworks near this location during the Seven Days' Battles.
    This marker shows the path of Confederate troops who attacked McClellan's defensive earthworks near this location during the Seven Days' Battles.
  • This 1862 depiction of the Seven Day's Battle shows the Union trying to hold off the attacks by the Confederacy.
    This 1862 depiction of the Seven Day's Battle shows the Union trying to hold off the attacks by the Confederacy.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Prior to the events of the Battles of the Seven Days, the Army of Northern Virginia had been put under the leadership of a new commander General Robert E. Lee. He was expected to defend the Confederate capital of Richmond against George B. McClellan and his well-trained Army of the Potomac. McClellan moved slowly and landed on the Virginia Peninsula to approach Richmond from the east. Even though he had built a disciplined army of over 150,000 men, he was in constant fear that the Confederate army was larger than it actually was.

Lee attacked the right flank of the Army of the Potomac to begin the Seven Days' Battle . In spite of poorly coordinated attacks at Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill, Lee was able to push McClellan's forces away from Richmond. He then attempted to stage a decisive battle at Malvern Hill, but the well-fortified Army of the Potomac repelled multiple waves of Confederate advances. Of Lee's 20,000 casualties, 5,000 occurred at Malvern Hill. 

The retreating Union forces reached the James River where they were supported by Union gunboats and Lee withdrew to tend to the defenses of Richmond. Subsequently, McClellan was relieved as General-in-Chief of the Union Army as President Lincoln felt he was too timid in the field. McClellan’s failure to capture Richmond and withdrawal of the Union’s Army of the Potomac from the Yorktown Peninsula ended of the Peninsula Campaign. 

Sources

Allison, William T., Jeffrey Grey, and Janet G. Valentine. American Military History: A Survey from Colonial Times to the Present. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. 159. Print. http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/map6.html http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/536437/Seven-Days-Battles http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/seven-days-battles/#Malvern_Resources

Additional Information