At the Battle of Gaines’ Mill in Virginia on June 27, 1862, during the Seven Days Battles as Robert E. Lee continued attacks against George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac near Richmond, Fitz John Porter’s V Corps held a strong defensive position behind Boatswain’s Creek on Turkey Hill and repulsed Confederate assaults for more than five hours. Near sundown, Lee sent forward W.H.C. Whiting’s Division, including John Bell Hood’s Brigade and Evander Law’s Brigade. On this ground, Hood personally led the 4th Texas, closely supported by the 18th Georgia, in a bayonet assault that broke the Union line and drove Porter’s men from their breastworks on the high ground. As the other regiments of Hood’s Brigade emerged from the woods, Union resistance collapsed and Porter’s Corps retreated across the Chickahominy River, giving Lee the first victory of his career as a general. Texas units formed the major part of Hood’s Brigade, commonly known as the Texas Brigade, with the 18th Georgia and Hampton’s Legion of South Carolina also integral to it, and these troops played a decisive role in McClellan’s defeat and in saving the Confederate capital from capture.
