Battle of Malvern Hill

Battle of Malvern Hill
Part of American Civil War
The battle of Malvern Hill, by Currier and Ives.
Date July 1, 1862 Standort Henrico County, Virginia Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States of America	Confederate States of America
Commanders and leaders
George B. McClellan Fitz John Porter	Robert E. Lee
Strength
Army of the Potomac (minus IV Corps)	Army of Northern Virginia
Casualties and losses
3,214	5,355

The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter’s Farm, took place on July 1 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War.

File:Seven Days July 1.jpg

Seven Days Battles, July 1, 1862

The final battle of the Seven Days was the first in which the Union Army occupied favorable ground. For the preceding six days, the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, had been retreating to the safety of the James River, pursued by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee. Up to this point, the major battles of the Seven Days had been mostly inconclusive, but McClellan was unnerved by Lee's aggressive assaults and remained convinced that he was seriously outnumbered, although in fact the two armies were roughly equal.

Malvern Hill offered good observation and artillery positions, having been prepared the previous day by the V Corps, under Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter. McClellan himself was not present on the battlefield, having preceded his army to Harrison's Landing on the James, and Porter was the most senior of the corps commanders. The slopes were cleared of timber, providing great visibility, and the open fields to the north could be swept by deadly fire from the 250 guns placed by Col. Henry J. Hunt, McClellan's chief of artillery. Beyond this space, the terrain was swampy and thickly wooded. The entire Army of the Potomac occupied the hill, with the exception of the IV Corps, under Brig. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes, which had proceeded to Harrison's Landing.

Rather than flanking the position, Lee attacked it directly, hoping that his artillery would clear the way for a successful infantry assault (just as he would miscalculate the following year in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg). He also believed that his soldiers were in better fighting shape than their Union counterparts, despite the six preceding days of hard fighting and marching. (A number of the Union Corps had in fact not yet participated in direct combat, which was an indictment of McClellan's generalship, but worked out well for this final battle.) Lee's plan was to attack the hill from the north on the Quaker Road, using the divisions of Maj. Gens. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Richard S. Ewell, D.H. Hill, and Brig. Gen. William H. C. Whiting. Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder was ordered to follow Jackson and deploy to his right when he reached the battlefield. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger's division was to follow as well, but Lee reserved the right to position him based on developments. The divisions of Maj. Gens. James Longstreet and A.P. Hill, which had been the most heavily engaged in the Battle of Glendale the previous day, were held in reserve.

As with most of the battles in the Seven Days, Lee's complex plan was poorly executed. The approaching soldiers were delayed by severely muddy roads and poor maps. Jackson arrived at the swampy creek called Western Run and stopped abruptly. Magruder's guides mistakenly sent him on the Long Bridge Road to the southwest, away from the battlefield. Eventually the battle line was assembled with Huger's division (brigades of Brig. Gens. Ambrose R. Wright and Lewis A. Armistead) on the Confederate right and D.H. Hill's division (brigades of Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood and Col. Evander M. Law) on the Quaker Road to the left. They awaited the Confederate bombardment before attacking.

Unfortunately for Lee, Henry Hunt struck first, launching one of the greatest artillery barrages in the war from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Union gunners had superior equipment and expertise and disabled most of the Confederate batteries, which were concentrated on a hill 1,200 yards north of the Crew House and at Poindexter's farm to the northeast. Despite the setback, Lee sent his infantry forward at 3:30 p.m. and Armistead's brigade made some progress through lines of Union sharpshooters. By 4 p.m., Magruder arrived and he was ordered forward to support Armistead. His attack was piecemeal and poorly organized.

Meanwhile, D. H. Hill launched his division forward along the Quaker Road, past Willis Church. Across the entire line of battle, the Confederate troops reached only within 200 yards of the Union Center and were repulsed by nightfall with heavy losses.

D.H. Hill wrote afterwards, "It wasn't war; it was murder." Lee's army suffered 5,355 casualties (versus 3,214 Union) in this wasted effort and withdrew to Richmond, while the Union Army completed its retreat to Harrison's Landing.

Malvern Hill ended the Peninsula Campaign. When McClellan’s army ceased to threaten Richmond, Lee sent Jackson to operate against Maj. Gen. John Pope's army along the Rapidan River, thus initiating the Northern Virginia Campaign.

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