The Battle of Malvern Hill

On July 1, 1862, half of the battlefield at Malvern Hill lay in front of the West House, where Union infantrymen of General Darius Couch’s division occupied the far forward slope and more than one dozen cannon along the gentle crest strengthened the position. Couch’s men stood several hundred yards ahead of their artillery, very near the Confederate lines, and one New York regiment advanced so far that it lost several men to friendly fire from the guns behind it. Opposite them, soldiers from General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s wing of the Confederate army formed Robert E. Lee’s left. From this ground Union batteries helped suppress Jackson’s artillery on the Poindexter Farm during the opening minutes of the battle. Toward sunset, Confederate attacks grew more determined as Jackson’s troops pushed onto the high ground of Malvern Hill and delivered disruptive musketry fire, while fresh regiments from the Federal army’s Second and Third Corps moved through the artillery here as they hurried to the extreme front.

Virginia · United States