The Seven Days Battles
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Seven battles in seven days? What a phenomenon!
Richmond, Virginia--about 150 kilometers south of Washington, D.C.--was the capital of the Confederacy during America's Civil War.
In 1862, Richmond was the objective of a campaign helmed by Major General George B. McClellan, leader of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan is one of the Union Army's greatest losers, suffering as he did from debilitating indecisiveness.
The operation was known as the Peninsula Campaign, moving as it did from the southeast tip of the Virginia Peninsula in a steady push toward Richmond. Had it been successful, the war would have ended just a little over a year after it had started. The assault was partially riparian, moving as it did up the York and James Rivers.
McClellan was successful at first, partly because he faced Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, who was as circumspect as he was. But on June 1--ten weeks or so after the operation began--Johnston was replaced by the brilliant, effective General Robert E. Lee, who eventually whipped the Union Army into retreat.
In the seven days beginning on June 25, the two armies skirmished seven times: at Oak Grove, McLellan initiated his only actual offensive attack on Richmond, with a small gain and heavy casualties on both sides; the next day at Beaver Dam Creek (also called Mechanicsville), where the North scored a tactical victory; on June 27, at Gaines's Mill, where the Confederates beat only a portion of McLellan's troops; on June 28 and 29 at Garnett's and Golding's Farm, while McLellan was withdrawing to the James River; at Savage's Station on June 29, where Lee attacked the North's rear guard; at the Battle of Glendale on June 30, when Lee attempted and failed to cut off McLellan's retreat; and finally at Malvern Hill on July 1, where the North beat back a frontal assault by Lee.
Military historians have been puzzled by McLellan's retreat. His troops were strong, his position was solid, and he was expecting reinforcements. But it seems Lee's aggression had unnerved him. He lost 16,000 men during the retreat; Lee, the aggressor, lost over 20,000. Nevertheless, McLellan was defeated.