Battle of Oak Grove

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Peninsula Campaign
Hampton Roads – Yorktown – Williamsburg – Eltham's Landing – Drewry's Bluff – Hanover Courthouse – Seven Pines – Seven Days Battles (Oak Grove – Beaver Dam Creek – Gaines' Mill – Garnett's & Golding's Farm – Savage's Station – White Oak Swamp – Glendale – Malvern Hill)

Peninsula Campaign
Hampton Roads – Yorktown – Williamsburg – Eltham's Landing – Drewry's Bluff – Hanover Courthouse – Seven Pines – Seven Days Battles (Oak Grove – Beaver Dam Creek – Gaines' Mill – Garnett's & Golding's Farm – Savage's Station – White Oak Swamp – Glendale – Malvern Hill)

The Battle of Oak Grove, also known as the Battle of French's Field or King’s School House, took place on June 25, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia as part of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War.

Oak Grove was the first battle of the Seven Days Battles. On June 25, Major General George B. McClellan advanced his lines north and south of the Williamsburg Road with the objective of bringing Richmond within range of his siege guns, by driving Confederate pickets from his front and deploying on the high ground on the Nine Mile Road at Old Tavern. At 8:00 a.m., the Union III Corps, under Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman (divisions of Brig. Gens. Joseph Hooker and Philip Kearny) attacked across the headwaters of White Oak Swamp, but were repulsed by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger's Confederate division. The brigade of Brig. Gen. David B. Birney came to reinforce Hooker, but was unable to break through. McClellan arrived on the battlefield and at 1:00 p.m. ordered another attack. Union artillery blasted Huger's men with repeated firings of canister, driving away his pickets. Darkness halted the fighting.

The minor battle was McClellan's only tactical offensive action against Richmond. His attack gained only 600 yards and was not strong enough to derail the offensive planned by Robert E. Lee, which already had been set in motion. The next day, Lee seized the initiative by attacking at Beaver Dam Creek north of the Chickahominy River, near Mechanicsville.

References

Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
Kennedy, Frances H., Ed., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
[National Park Service battle description]

External links

[Maps and aerial photos] Coordinates: [37.51888746157698° -77.33987093140686°]
* 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]

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