McClellan’s First Line

On May 31, 1862, during the Battle of Seven Pines, Union Brig. Gen. Silas Casey held both sides of the road here as part of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s first defensive line. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a dawn attack, but his lieutenants acted slowly. Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill waited with his division about a mile west for the sound of gunfire to the south as his signal to move. Frustrated by the delay, he attacked on his own at 1 P.M. and broke through Casey’s position to McClellan’s second line, but lack of support and the arrival of fresh Union troops stopped the assault. That evening Johnston was wounded, and Gen. Robert E. Lee replaced him the next day.

Sandston, Virginia · United States