Battle of Malvern Hill

Battle of Malvern Hill

Part of: Civil War

Battle of Malvern Hill, hand colored lithograph

date	July 1, 1862
place	Henrico County , Virginia , USA
output	Union victory

Parties to the conflict
United States	Confederate States of America
Commander
George B. McClellan	Robert E. Lee
Troop strength
75,000	90,000
losses
3,214 killed : 397 wounded: 2,092 missing / captured: 725	6,964 killed : 1,113 wounded: 5,288 missing / captured: 563

The Battle of Malvern Hill , also known as the Battle of Pointdexters Farm , was the final battle of the Seven Day Battle of the Civil War . It took place on July 1, 1862.

General Robert E. Lee carried out a series of uncoordinated, unsuccessful attacks on the Potomac Army positions on Malvern Hill. Despite his victory, Major General George B. McClellan evaded Harrison's Landing on James . There the Potomac Army was under the protection of gunboats patrolling the river. The Richmond , Virginia threat was averted. The peninsula campaign ended with the withdrawal of the first major units of the Potomac Army in early August.

prehistory

On June 26, General Lee first attacked the Potomac Army at Beaver Dam Creek. The following day another attack took place at Gaines Mill. Both times the Northern Virginia Army ran against good positions, which the Northerners both times gave up without really offering sustained resistance. During the next three days there were repeated battles that were characterized by the impassability of the terrain.

General McClellan had won on June 26th, General Lee on June 27th; the other days each ended in a draw. Despite great losses, Lee continued to attack the evasive Potomac army.

Starting position

Major General Fitz John Porter

After General Lee had failed to decisively defeat the evasive troops of the Potomac Army in the Battle of Glendale on June 30th, he saw only one possibility to defeat parts of the Potomac Army before they were completely protected of the gunboats patrolling the James. He had to defeat the 5th Corps, Brigadier General Fitz John Porters , deployed as rearguard at Malvern Hill.

The commanding generals of the Potomac Army had repeatedly exploited the defensive terrain northeast of Richmond in their favor in various battles and skirmishes. However, they each had to give up their positions on the orders of McClellans and dodge in the direction of Harrison's Landing on James. The V Corps used Malvern Hill as a defensive position to monitor the evasion of the Potomac Army from there. Brigadier General Porter also led Brigadier General Couch's division, which had been deployed to his right. Major General McClellan had ridden down the corps' positions on the morning of July 1st and found them to be good. In addition, he placed ten heavy artillery under Porter and promised support through the fire of gunboats. Then McClellan rode to the James and boarded a gunboat that he had made his headquarters.

Malvern Hill was a hill about 50 m above the surrounding area, rising from north to south over a mile and a half to the half-mile wide ridge line. This rising area was open. In the west there were steep, wooded slopes to a brook, in the east an extensive, tree-covered swamp area. An attack on the positions was therefore only possible from the front.

The plan

After winning the battle at Beaver Dam Creek, General McClellan had decided to move the Potomac Army supply base from White House on York to Harrison's Landing on James. He feared he would be outflanked by the Northern Virginia Army, which he considered to be far superior. So he had led the V Corps south across the Pamunkey, and on June 30th had taken positions on Malvern Hill. There the V Corps was supposed to take up the evasive corps and the supply columns of the Potomac Army after the Battle of Glendale and secure their march to the James for a day. The III. Corps secured the right flank, I. Corps remained in reserve behind V Corps.

General Lee believed the Potomac Army soldiers were demoralized. In his opinion, the vast amounts of captured supplies, including 30,000 hand weapons and 50 cannons, as well as the more than 6,000 prisoners, spoke for this . Dozens of stragglers picked up by the Northern Virginia Army on the night of July 1 also reinforced this view.

On the morning of July 1st, Major General James Longstreet explored two heights north of Malvern Hill, from which artillery could be used on Porter's positions. Lee was keen to seize this last chance of inflicting defeat on the Potomac Army before they could escape under the protection of the gunboats on the James. He therefore intended to eliminate the opposing artillery with the artillery of the Northern Virginia Army and to shoot the positions ready for assault. Then he wanted to attack and destroy with Major General Jackson's Corps Porter. Major General Magruder was to follow Jackson's divisions and attack to their right. Likewise, Major General Huger's division was to follow the attack, but only intervene in the fighting if necessary on instruction from Lee. The divisions of Major Generals Longstreet and APHill were initially held back as reserves due to the heavy fighting during the Battle of Glendale.

The battle

Course of the battle

Jackson's Corps first attacked on the left wing on the morning of July 1st. The attack remained in the defensive fire of the Union artillery. Lee informed Major General Jackson, Magruder, and Huger at about 1:30 p.m. that the artillery was in position and that Brigadier General Armistead, who could best see the effects of the artillery fire, would be attacked together. However, the artillery only reached the intended positions with a few batteries and was quickly destroyed by the Union artillery, sometimes up to 50 cannons fired at a single Confederate cannon.

General Lee received a message around 4:00 p.m. that Union forces would evade Malvern Hill and that Armistead was proceeding successfully. Both reports were false, but Lee heard what he wanted to hear and ordered Magruder and Huger to follow Armistead. Major General DH Hill heard Armistead's gun battle with the Faults of V Corps of the Potomac Army and believed he heard the agreed signal. He attacked with five brigades at around 5:00 p.m. The attacks remained in the defensive fire of the Union artillery or were repulsed at the latest by the infantry, which only fired from the positions when the Confederates had approached within musket range. Two gunboats from the James also participated in the gunfire.

Hills division was weakened by the fire and dodged around 6:00 p.m. Magruder was now introducing additional brigades into the battle, one at a time. The Confederates got so close to the positions of the Potomac Army that Porter ordered the artillery batteries to fire double rounds of grapes regardless of their own losses. Porter simultaneously launched a counterattack with several brigades within a stone's throw of the Confederates. At the same time, since the early morning fighting artillery batteries and infantry regiments were held in reserve by I. and III. Corps relieved. The offensive momentum of the Confederate was finally broken.

The exchange of fire and artillery fire continued until 9:00 p.m. After that, only the fallen and wounded Confederate soldiers remained on the battlefield. The three Corps of the Potomac Army evaded Harrison's Landing that night. Protests by the commanding generals, in which even Porter, a close friend and protégé of McClellan's, took part, to attack the defeated divisions of the Northern Virginia Army the next day from the alleged positions, McClellan declined. Major General Philip Kearny even accused McClellan of cowardice and treason.

Review

Caricature about McClellan's fearful warfare

The Battle of Malvern Hill was the Potomac Army's second victory in the Seven Day Battle. General Lee had completely misjudged the morale of the enemy soldiers - despite the signs of demoralization, they were indeed highly motivated and ready to fight. In fact, the only demoralized soldier was the Commander-in-Chief, Major General McClellan, which resulted in the victories not being used for personal gain.

For the Confederates the battle was the last chance to inflict a severe defeat on "those people", as Lee always called his opponent. As with the previous Seven-Day Battles, Lee's plan was poorly executed. Impassable roads, bad maps and the division commanders' inadequate local knowledge slowed down the approach before the attack began. Boggy terrain held Jackson up, Magruder initially led his division in the wrong direction, and the artillery batteries only reached the positions explored one at a time. Lee's operational plan was difficult to coordinate, his subordinates were still unaccustomed to his leadership style, and the staff was not yet well-rehearsed and inadequately implementing Lee's complex instructions. Daniel H. Hill, who was the first to attack alone in an uncoordinated manner, wrote after the battle:

“... the advance after sunset of the nine brigades under Magrudor's orders. Unfortunately, they did not move together, and were beaten in detail .... It was not war --- it was murder. " (Eng. "... the attack by Magruder's nine brigades after sunset. Unfortunately, they did not attack together and were beaten individually .... That was not a war --- that was murder.")

The evacuation of the Potomac Army from Harrison's Landing began on August 14th. There were frequent skirmishes with Richmond's security forces. But since Richmond was no longer threatened, General Lee was able to move the bulk of the Northern Virginia Army to the Rapidan and begin the Northern Virginia campaign against Major General Pope on August 7th . On September 14, the Potomac Army and Northern Virginia Army faced each other again in Maryland.

literature

• United States. War Dept .: The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies . Vol. XI, Govt. Print. Off., Washington 1880–1901, online here .
• James M. McPherson : Battle Cry of Freedom . Oxford University Press, New York 2003, ISBN 0-19-516895-X
• Robert Underwood Johnson: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War . Vol. 2, Century Co, New York 1884-1888. here online
• Shelby Foote : The Civil War: A Narrative . Vol. 1 ( Fort Sumter to Perryville ), New York 1958, ISBN 0394419480 .
• William C. Davis: The American Civil War - Soldiers, Generals, Battles . Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0384-3 .
• James M. McPherson (Editor): The Atlas of the Civil War . Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 0-7624-2356-0 .
• Brian K. Burton: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles . Bloomington, IN 2001, ISBN 0-253-33963-4 .
• Stephen W. Sears: To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. New York 1992, ISBN 0-89919-790-6 .

Web links

Commons : Battle of Malvern Hill  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fox's Regimental Losses, Chapter XIV: Union Losses
2. ↑ The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume XI, Part II, p. 973ff: Confederate Losses The losses during the battle were actually somewhat lower, as five regiments only reported the total losses during the seven-day battle.
3. ^ The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume XI, Part I, p. 68: Troop Division
4. ^ The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume XI, Part II, p. 229: Reinforcements for Porter
5. ↑ James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, p. 470
6. ^ Johnson / Buel, Battles & Leaders of the Civil War, Part II, p. 394 That was murder