The largest battle of the Peninsula Campaign, Gaines' Mill, began here on the afternoon of June 27, 1862, when Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia reached the New Cold Harbor crossroads just 300 yards north of here. Lee spread his men across a two-mile arc and attacked, hoping to drive the Union 5th Corps, commanded by Gen. Fitz John Porter, into the Chickahominy River. This was the second day of what became known as the Seven Days battles. During the first several hours, repeated Confederate attacks through the woods and across the fields against the Union line beyond Boatswain's Creek were unsuccessful. As daylight waned, the arrival of Whiting's division provided fresh manpower that helped launch the final attack. That last all-out effort stretched across the width of the battlefield and incorporated more men in a simultaneous attack than any other episode in Lee's career.
