Gaines’ Mill

Gaines’ Mill. Richmond Battlefield. The action here on June 27, 1862, was the second-largest battle in American history up to that time. One day earlier General Robert E. Lee had pried the Union Fifth Corps from its position at Beaver Dam Creek. Here he brought 65,000 Confederate soldiers to bear against that same corps, which stood on this ground with its back less than two miles from the Chichahominy River and with its front protected by the steep ravine of Boatswain Creek. A vigorous defense by the Union Fifth Corps repulsed several Confederate attacks until very late in the day, when a determined assault across a two-mile front succeeded in breaking the Federal line in two places. Sunset saved the Fifth Corps from possible destruction on the banks of the river., The Battle of Gaines’ Mill is notable as Lee’s first major victory of the Civil War. It also illustrated that direct frontal assaults, while costly, did not always fail. General Fitz John Porter’s Fifth Corps suffered 6,000 casualties in defense of this extended ridge, and Lee’s army sustained 9,000 causalities. Gaines’ Mill proved to be a landmark battle in several respects. It produced soaring confidence among Southern soldiers and civilians. It also showed that Civil War battles had the potential for greater violence and destruction than previously supposed., Touring the Battlefield , The site of Confederate General John B. Hood’s Texas Brigade’s decisive breakthrough point can be reached by following this trail. Along the way are surviving rifle pits, artillery positions, and a monument to an Alabama brigade that played a significant role in the attack on June 27, 1862. The historic Watt House, standing nearby, is not open to the public.