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| General George McClellan |
June 25 found the Army of the Potomac fighting General Joseph Johnston south of the Chickahominy, just six miles outside of Richmond in what would be the first of the Seven Days Battles—at the Battle of Oak Grove, also known as King’s School House.
The Seven Days Battles occurred during a time of flux for both
armies. Robert E. Lee found himself at the head of three disparate armies. He
had just assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia less than a month
before engaging McClellan in the Seven Days Campaign. General John B.
Magruder’s force, formerly the Army of the Peninsula, merged with Lee’s army,
and Stonewall Jackson’s command joined Lee for the campaign.
Worse still, Lee had no experience commanding such a large
force. For him, the Seven Days Battles served as a training ground. The first
day at Oak Grove was bumpy at best, but Lee learned quickly and soon found
himself driving McClellan back.
When Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern
Virginia, his men nicknamed him “Granny Lee” because he concentrated all his
efforts on defending Richmond rather than attacking the enemy. That would soon
change. Although it didn’t look like it, Lee had a plan.
“The intention of the enemy seemed to be to attack Richmond by
regular approaches,” said Lee. “The strength of his left-wing rendered a direct
assault injudicious, if not impracticable,” so... I “determined to construct
defensive lines, so as to enable a part of the army to defend the city and the
other part free to cross the Chickahominy and operate on the north bank. By
sweeping down the river on that side and threatening his communications with
York River, it was thought that the enemy would be compelled to retreat or give
battle out of his entrenchments.”
The Union forces had their own problems. McClellan was a
brilliant organizer, but his management techniques on the battlefield were
problematic. He was often missing from the front, and what orders he issued
lacked clarity. Again, Oak Grove serves as a perfect example. Union troops won
the battle but were mysteriously ordered to return to their starting point.
When McClellan discovered what happened, he ordered a replay of the battle.
Fortunately, things worked out.
McClellan’s inaction and hesitation created problems with his
generals. Phil Kearny was baffled by everything McClellan did. Three days
before the start of the Seven Days Battles, he told himself, “I am puzzled to
divine the next act of the drama.”
The New York World correspondent expressed what much of
McClellan’s staff was thinking. “The Army of the Potomac is substantially an
offensive army of observation. It stands to arms in line of battle, awaiting
the unfathomable will of Gen. McClellan.”
There were so many near-disasters and so many lost
opportunities. The Army of the Potomac regularly came to the brink of victory,
then entrenched and waited or turned tail and ran.
No one knew what action the commander’s next order would bring.
The Seven Days Battles would be no different. Instead of energizing his army
and moving forward, McClellan pulled back.
The New York Herald had an interesting take on the battle of Oak Grove. “By a
remarkable blunder, we relinquished all the ground gained as soon as we had
obtained possession of it, and then, when the error was sifted and understood,
our gallant lads went at it again and corrected the mistake.”
The battleground was situated a mile from Fair Oaks, in the
woods along Williamsburg Road. The pickets were so close that they met
regularly to swap stories, coffee, and tobacco. But June 25 was different.
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| General Samuel Heintzelman |
General Samuel Heintzelman had orders to “drive in the enemy’s pickets from the woods in his front, in order to give us command of the cleared fields still farther in advance.” Hooker, Sickles, and Grover pushed forward at 8 o’clock that morning.
Sickles formed his brigade along Williamsburg Road and followed
along it. Grover marched on his left. Hooker and Kearny followed Sickles.
A small fire broke out along Grover’s lines, but he quickly
pushed the enemy back. Moments later, Grover came on the enemy’s second line.
It consisted mainly of North Carolina troops who fought tooth and nail to hold
their ground. Eventually, Grover sent them scurrying away.
Grover’s troops moved forward. Muskets barked. “So rapid was the
rattle of the fire at this time that the sound seemed to be without
cessation—without pause or interval—one continuous rattle of rifles.”
Soon, Sickles’ brigade came under intense fire. Kearny
reinforced him in the woods. He deployed the Massachusetts Sixteenth on his
left and the New Hampshire Second on the right. Berry’s brigade pushed up on
Grover’s left, and Robinson marched his men between Berry and Grover.
The rebels broke and retreated in front of Sickles. His men
chased them into an open field. Kearny opened a battery and began throwing
shells at them. Grover pushed harder and drove the rebels back.
“Victory sat upon our banners,” wrote the correspondent for The
New York Herald. Then, just as quickly, their victory was snatched away.
Headquarters (General Heintzelman) sent orders to “withdraw gradually to the
original line.”
General McClellan arrived at Fair Oaks at one o’clock. When he
learned what happened, he ordered the men to advance again in the same order.
Grover and Kearny met little resistance the second time around. The main fight
took place in front of Sickles on the Williamsburg Road.
The battle raged for nearly an hour. General J. N. Palmer
reinforced Sickles. Captain T. W. Osborn of the First New York Artillery opened
fire. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the range, and several shells fell on
Sickles’ troops.
Two guns from Battery K of the Fourth United States Artillery
joined Palmer’s artillery on the right. General Sumner opened his guns on his
front. The rebel artillery joined in, and soon the thunder and thud of the
shells were all that could be heard. “Numbers of men were mutilated by
them.”
By 6 o’clock, Union troops pushed the Confederates to the edge
of the woods. General Kearny commanded the last charge
that cleared the
stragglers from the woods.
McClellan’s orders were carried out. The cleared field to the
front of his troops belonged to the Union.
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