The Battle Begins

Porter’s soldiers rested their muskets across a make-shift breastwork of felled trees, bales of hay, and knapsacks as an ominous silence covered the battlefield moments before Lee launched his first assault at 2:30 p.m. Union shells screamed overhead, ripping huge gaps in the charging Southern lines, and when the Confederates reached the exposed high ground across the creek, Porter’s infantry met them with deadly and staggering volleys. The uncoordinated Confederate attacks at Gaines’ Mill demonstrated the advantage of the defense during Civil War battles.

Virginia · United States