Battle of Mechanicsville

The Civil War was a bloody war that threatened to divide the United States. North fought against South, and brother fought against brother. In any war, fear is a constant companion, even for the bravest of soldiers. During the Battle of Mechanicsville, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee Army of Northern Virginia launched an attack on Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, marking the start of the Seven Days’ Battles. Despite suffering significant casualties and failing to achieve a decisive victory over the forces, the battle did succeed in unnerving McClellan. Over the course of the following week, Lee pushed McClellan from the outskirts of Richmond Virginia, back to his base along the James River.

Lee had replaced Joseph Johnston on June 1, 1862, and this was his first battle as commander of the army. Johnston had been severely wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks, and Lee was eager to show his prowess. He saw this as his best chance. McClellan had been on the offensive, but his operation had stalled about five miles from Richmond. Nevertheless, his army was still there until late June. While McClellan was regrouping outside of Richmond, General J.E.B. Stuart and his Rebel cavalry made a reconnaissance ride around McClellan’s force. Following their ride, the spies brought back information that indicated that McClellan’s right flank was “in the air,” which means unprotected by natural barriers. On June 23rd, Lee told his commanders that he was going to attack the flank, which was occupied by Fitz John Porter’s V corps. They saw that Porter’s group was separated from the rest of the Union army by the Chickahominy River. Lee’s plan could have been viewed as risky, because it meant leaving a skeleton force to face the rest of McClellan’s army south of the Chickahominy River. It was an early indication of Lee’s bold and daring style.

The plan was probably a good one originally, but it quickly fell apart. McClellan had been alerted to the vulnerability of his flanks by Stuart’s ride two weeks prior, which had apparently not been as secret as they thought. So, McClellan shored up his left flank and moved Porter’s men to high ground with a deep creek in front of them. The new location gave them much better security. Lee’s plan had called for several smaller forces to overwhelm Porter’s men, but it required precise timing. Unfortunately, for Lee, when the assault came, the coordination did not materialize. A major problem was General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s corps, which was slow to move into place. Jackson was just back from his brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, but didn’t show the same vigor and speed at Mechanicsville.

Lee had planned to bring about 55,000 troops against Porter. Unfortunately, because of the mistakes made by Jackson and others, there were only about 11,000. Vastly undermanned, Lee lost 1,475 men in the battle, while the Union losses were only 361. Nevertheless, Lee had stunned McClellan, who then began to fall back away from Richmond. Lee continued to hammer on McClellan for the next week, and the Yankees had to retreat to the James River. For some reason, McClellan did not threaten Richmond again. Instead, and he eventually sailed his army back to Washington, D.C. in what could be viewed a retreat.