On June 30, 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sought to exploit one of his greatest opportunities as Gen. George McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac retreated toward the James River. Lee planned a coordinated attack at Glendale: Gen. Benjamin Huger was to lead his 9,000-man division down the Charles City Road and strike Glendale, supported by Gens. James Longstreet's and A.P. Hill's 19,000 men on the Long Bridge Road to cut off the Federal retreat. Gens. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's and D.H. Hill's 25,000 men were to advance across White Oak Swamp, while Gen. Theophilus Holmes moved down the New Market Road with 6,500 men to harass any enemy troops that got past the intersection and possibly seize Malvern Hill; Gen. John B. Magruder's 12,000-man division was held in reserve. Lee had assumed command of the Confederate forces defending Richmond in early June 1862 and, rather than endure a siege, had launched the Seven Days' Battles and steadily driven Union troops back to the James River. McClellan, meanwhile, was away searching for a site for his army's new base and left no one in overall command. With Federal units scattered and divisions of the various corps not contiguous, exhausted Union troops gathered around the Glendale Crossroads as Lee hoped to crush them between converging Confederate attacks.
