Beaver Dam Creek

General Robert E. Lee’s plan on June 26, 1862, did not anticipate a direct assault on the Union position at Beaver Dam Creek. He hoped to maneuver rather than use force to drive Fitz John Porter’s troops from their powerful entrenchments, but poor coordination among his columns caused delays and the plan fell apart. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s 20,000 men were unable to get into position north of Beaver Dam Creek before sunset. With most of his Confederate army on this side of the Chickahominy River, Lee worried about the safety of Richmond, where only 25,000 of his soldiers manned the fortifications against about 75,000 Union soldiers. Fearing that McClellan might throw the bulk of his army directly at Richmond, Lee chose to engage Porter at Beaver Dam Creek, and the resulting action proved to be a costly diversion. In 1862, Porter’s men occupied a lofty ridge on the eastern side of the stream, and Ellerson’s Mill stood nearby as a wartime landmark.

Mechanicsville, Virginia · United States