Battle of Glendale
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAT : Battle of Glendale
The Battle of Glendale, also known as the Battle of Frayser’s Farm, Nelson’s Farm, Charles City Crossroads, New Market Road, or Riddell's Shop, took place on June 30, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered his Army of Northern Virginia to converge on the retreating Union forces, bottlenecked on the inadequate road network in the White Oak Swamp, near Frayser's Farm. The Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, had beaten off attacks by Lee starting on June 26 at Beaver Dam Creek (or Mechanicsville), but McClellan, unnerved by Lee's aggressiveness and convinced he was outnumbered, ordered his army to retreat to the south and the safety of Harrison's Landing on the James River. McClellan himself had left the Army with no clear instructions on routes of withdrawal and without naming a second-in-command. The V Corps, under Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter moved to occupy Malvern Hill, while the remaining four corps of the Army of the Potomac were essentially operating independently in their fighting withdrawal. Most elements of the army had been able to cross White Oak Swamp Creek by noon on June 30.
Lee ordered the division of Maj. Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes to capture Malvern Hill and his other divisions to converge and attack the Union Army in force near Frayser's farm and Glendale. As with most of the Seven Days Battles, Lee's plan was poorly executed. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger was slowed by Union abatis obstructing the Charles City Road, failed to take any alternative route, and, fearing a counterattack, failed to participate in the battle. Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder marched around aimlessly, unable to decide whether he should be aiding Longstreet or Holmes. Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson moved slowly and spent the entire day north of the creek, making only feeble efforts to cross and attack the Union VI Corps under Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin. (Despite his stunning victories in the recent Valley Campaign, or perhaps due to the fatigue of that campaign, Jackson's contributions to the Seven Days were marred by slow execution and poor judgment throughout.) Holmes's relatively inexperienced troops made no progress against Porter at Turkey Bridge on Malvern Hill and were repulsed by effective artillery fire and by Federal gunboats in the James.
Lee, Longstreet, and visiting Confederate President Jefferson Davis were observing the action on horseback when they came under heavy artillery fire and the party withdrew with two men wounded and three horses killed. The war might have turned out quite differently if the unwitting Union gunners had known the identities of their potential targets.
Due to the setbacks, only the divisions of Maj. Gens. A.P. Hill and James Longstreet were able to follow Lee's order to attack the main Union concentration. Their assaults, under Longstreet's direction, commenced at 4:30 p.m., along the Long Bridge Road toward Frayser's farm, in the direction of the Union brigade of Brig. Gen. George A. McCall, near Willis Church. McCall's brigades stood up well to the heavy artillery and rifle fire. The brigades of Brig. Gens. Truman Seymour, John F. Reynolds, and George G. Meade also fought vigorously against the attack, with the divisions of Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker to the south and Brig. Gens. Philip Kearny and Henry W. Slocum to the north. The lead Confederate brigades were those of Colonel Micah Jenkins (Anderson's Brigade) and Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper. Heavy fighting continued in the late afternoon. Six companies of the 12th Pennsylvania Reserves were captured. Although the 1st Battalion New York Artillery initially prevented a breach of the Federal line, eventually it broke, the Confederates streamed in, and were counterattacked by Hooker’s and Kearny’s divisions, which sealed the break and saved their line of retreat along the Willis Church Road.
The battle was tactically inconclusive, although Lee failed to prevent the Federal escape. Longstreet's performance had been poor, sending in brigade after brigade from his division and A.P. Hill's Light Division in a piecemeal fashion, rather than striking with concentrated force in the manner for which he would be known later in the war. The Confederate casualties were 3,673 (638 killed, 2,814 wounded, and 221 missing). Union casualties were 3,797 (297 killed, 1,696 wounded, and 1,804 missing or captured). Union generals McCall and Reynolds were both captured during the battle, after wandering into enemy lines in the dark; Union generals Meade and Edwin V. Sumner and Confederate generals Richard H. Anderson, Dorsey Pender, and Winfield S. Featherston were wounded.
Lee would have only one more opportunity to intercept McClellan's army before it reached the safety of the river and the end of the Seven Days, at the Battle of Malvern Hill.
References
- Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
- Esposito, Vincent J., [West Point Atlas of American Wars], Frederick A. Praeger, 1959.
- [National Park Service battle description]
External links
- [Glendale and Malvern Hill battlefields] at the Civil War Preservation Trust
- [Maps and aerial photos]
- * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
- * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Microsoft Virtual Earth]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.