seven_pines_BL3

=**Battle of Seven Pines:** =

By Kelly Herr
1. The name of this battle is The Battle of Seven Pines. It also is known as The Battle of Fair Oaks. 2. The Battle occurred from May 31, to June 1, 1862. 3. Seven Pines took place in Henrico County, Virginia. 4. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was in charge of the Union Army, and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and General G.W Smith were in charge of the Confederate Army. General Smith took over after General Johnston was shot.



5. 84,000 troops total fought at the Battle of Seven Pines. Over 20 brigades fought for both sides. 6. At the battle of Seven Pines, General Johnston tried to overtake two Union Corps (Corps III and IV) that he thought were isolated at the south of the Chickahominy River. The weather was a help to the confederates, an intense thunderstorm had passed over the Union while they were crossing the Chikahominy River. It had heavy rains and high winds. The Confederate attack was not planned well, it began five hours late and only a fraction of the needed troops participated. Even so, they succeded and drove corps IV back, and inflicted many casualties.

Reinforcements arrived for both sides as more and more troops went into the battle. General Johnston was seriously wounded during the battle, and General G.W Smith took over temporarily for Johnston. General Robert E. Lee officially took Johnston's place after the battle.The Union brought in more reinforcements, and the Confederates renewed their attacks but they made little progress. Lee tried to restart the attack the next morning, but he was not able to displace the Union troops. Both the Union and the Confederacy claimed a victory. 7. Harvey Hill, (a confederate) was to begin the attack, and Benjamin Huger was to relay the message to Harvey Hill from General Johnston when they were ready. Instead, James Longstreet's men were on a different road than ordered, so Benjamin Huger got caught behind Longstreets men. Harvey Hill became inpatient and went on without Huger or Longstreet. 8. The battle of Seven Pines was inconclusive. 9. There was 13,736 total casualties. The Union army had 790 killed, 3,594 wounded, and 647 captured or missing ; the Confederate army had 980 killed, 4,749 wounded, and 405 captured or missing. 10. The battle of Seven Pines was the final battle before the 'Peninsula Campaign' became the Seven Days Retreat. It also ended General Joseph Johnston's command of the Army of Potomac, and began Robert E. Lee's command of the Army of Northern Virginia.



=**__Sources Used:__**= = = http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va014.htm http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Battle_of_Fair_Oaks_-_Seven_Pines__ http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/p/sevenpines.htm __ Echoes of Glory; illustrated atlas of the Civil War

Picture from: [|http://memory.loc.gov] Picture from: http://z.about.com/d/militaryhistory/1/0/a/2/-/-/Johnston2.jpg Picture From: http://z.about.com/d/militaryhistory/1/0/L/2/-/-/McClellan3.jpg Picture From: http://www.historyofwar.org/Maps/maps_century_2_240_seven_pines.html Picture From: [|http://www.natchezbelle.org/udc/smith.jpg]