Battle Battle of Glendale

seven days battles, june 30, 1862

as of 7 days battles, lee s plan poorly executed. huger slowed felled trees obstructing charles city road, result of efforts of pioneers brig. gen. henry w. slocum s division. huger had men spend hours chopping new road through thick woods in became known battle of axes . failed take alternative route, and, fearing counterattack, failed participate in battle. 4 p.m., lee ordered maj. gen. john b. magruder join holmes on river road , attack malvern hill, left flank of union line, ordered him assist longstreet, division spent day countermarching. stonewall jackson moved , spent entire day north of creek, making feeble efforts cross , attack franklin s vi corps in battle of white oak swamp, attempting force enemy fruitless artillery duel destroyed bridge rebuilt, though adequate fords nearby. (despite stunning victories in recent valley campaign, or possibly due fatigue of campaign, jackson s contributions 7 days marred slow execution , poor judgment throughout.) jackson s presence did cause 2 of brig. gen. john sedgwick s 3 brigades, had been defending charles city crossroads, move north reinforcements. mccall s division had stopped @ charles city crossroads on march rejoin porter. gap in line sedgwick noticed , plugged 3 brigades. holmes s inexperienced troops (from department of north carolina, attached army of northern virginia) made no progress against porter @ turkey bridge , malvern hill , repulsed artillery fire , federal gunboats galena , aroostook on james.

slocum s artillery engages huger s

at 2 p.m., waited sounds of huger s expected attack, lee, longstreet, , visiting confederate president jefferson davis conferring on horseback when came under heavy artillery fire, wounding 2 men , killing 3 horses. a.p. hill, commanding in sector, ordered president , senior generals rear. longstreet attempted silence 6 batteries of federal guns firing in direction, long-range artillery fire proved inadequate. ordered col. micah jenkins charge batteries, brought on general fight around 4 p.m.

although belated , not initiated planned, assaults divisions of a.p. hill , longstreet, under longstreet s overall command, turned out ones follow lee s order attack main union concentration. longstreet s 20,000 men not reinforced confederate divisions of huger , jackson, despite concentration within three-mile 3 miles (4.8 km) radius. assaulted disjointed union line of 40,000 men, arranged in 2 miles (3.2 km) arc north , south of glendale intersection, brunt of fighting centered on position held pennsylvania reserves division of v corps, 6,000 men under brig. gen. george a. mccall, west of nelson farm, north of willis church. (the farm owned r.h. nelson, many locals still called frayser s or frazier s farm.) mccall s division included brigades of brig. gen. george g. meade on right , brig. gen. truman seymour on left, brigade of brig. gen. john f. reynolds (led col. seneca g. simmons since reynolds s capture @ boatswain s swamp after gaines s mill) in reserve.

1864 engraving depicting fight on mccall s artillery @ glendale

three confederate brigades sent forward in assault, north south: brig. gen. cadmus m. wilcox, col. micah jenkins (anderson s brigade), , brig. gen. james l. kemper. longstreet ordered them forward in piecemeal fashion, on several hours. kemper s virginians charged through thick woods first , emerged in front of 5 batteries of mccall s artillery. in first combat experience, brigade conducted disorderly enthusiastic assault, carried them through guns , broke through mccall s main line jenkins s support, followed few hours later wilcox s brigade of alabamians. confederate brigades met stiff resistance meade , seymour in bitter hand-to-hand combat men stabbed each other bayonets , used rifles clubs. officers took using (normally ornamental) swords weapons. meade wounded in fighting, 2 of artillery batteries captured (lt. alanson randol s , capt. james cooper s), 1 retaken. mccall captured when mistakenly rode confederate picket line, looking positions place rallied men.

on mccall s northern flank, division of brig. gen. philip kearny held against repeated confederate attacks reinforcements of caldwell s brigade , 2 brigades slocum s division. on southern flank, brig. gen. joseph hooker s division repelled , once pursued minor attacks. sedgwick s division, brigades had returned near white oak swamp, came fill gap after brutal counterattack. heavy fighting continued until 8:30 p.m. longstreet committed virtually every brigade in divisions under command, while on union side had been fed in individually plug holes in line occurred.