McClellan's First Line

W-5

Union Brig. Gen. Silas Casey held both sides of the road here on 31 May 1862, in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s first defensive line at Seven Pines. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill to launch a morning attack, but lack of coordination resulted in delay. Hill, with three brigades about a mile west of here, was to advance once his fourth brigade joined him. Exasperated after waiting several hours, Hill assaulted on his own at 1 P.M. and smashed through Casey’s position to McClellan’s second line. A lack of support combined with the arrival of fresh Union troops halted the attack. Johnston fell wounded that evening, and Gen. Robert E. Lee replaced him the next day.

Department of Historic Resources, 2024

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Stephen W. Sears, To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1992). Steven H. Newton, Joseph E. Johnston and the Defense of Richmond (Ph.D. diss., College of William and Mary, 1989). Gustavus W. Smith, The Battle of Seven Pines (New York: C. G. Crawford, 1891). D. H. Hill Report, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, vol. 11, part 1, p. 943. John S. Salmon, The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001).