place

Battle of Beaver Dam Creek

1862 in Virginia1862 in the American Civil WarBattles of the American Civil War in VirginiaBattles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil WarHanover County in the American Civil War
June 1862 eventsPeninsula campaignPortal templates with redlinked portalsUnion victories of the American Civil War
Battle field and prison pen, or Through the war, and thrice a prisoner in rebel dungeons (1882) (14576177738)
Battle field and prison pen, or Through the war, and thrice a prisoner in rebel dungeons (1882) (14576177738)

The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia. It was the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter-offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, which threatened the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee attempted to turn the Union right flank, north of the Chickahominy River, with troops under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, but Jackson failed to arrive on time. Instead, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill threw his division, reinforced by one of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's brigades, into a series of futile assaults against Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, which occupied defensive works behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Porter withdrew his corps safely to Gaines Mill, with the exception of Company F (a.k.a. The Hopewell Rifles) of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment who did not receive the orders to retreat.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Battle of Beaver Dam Creek
Cold Harbor Road,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Battle of Beaver Dam CreekContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 37.5985 ° E -77.3599 °
placeShow on map

Address

Cold Harbor Road 7398
23111
Virginia, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Battle field and prison pen, or Through the war, and thrice a prisoner in rebel dungeons (1882) (14576177738)
Battle field and prison pen, or Through the war, and thrice a prisoner in rebel dungeons (1882) (14576177738)
Share experience

Nearby Places

Polegreen Church
Polegreen Church

The Polegreen Church, also known as the Hanover Meeting House (and locally as the "ghost church"), is the site of what may be the first non-Anglican church in Virginia. It was named after a 17th-century landowner, George Polegreen.After Rev. George Whitefield preached at Bruton Parish Church at Williamsburg during the First Great Awakening, and his sermons were published, local mason Samuel Morris built a reading room or log cabin near Mechanicsville in rural Hanover County. In 1743, Virginia's colonial assembly permitted religious dissenters four meeting houses: three in Hanover County (including this one) and one in Henrico County; they were sometimes called "Morris churches".Pennsylvania Presbyterian missionary Samuel Davies, one of the first non-Anglican ministers licensed in Virginia, evangelized in Hanover County and used this as his base from 1743 to 1759. Patrick Henry attended services here with his mother, and credited Davies for his oratorical skills. In 1755, Davies helped organize what came to be known as the Hanover Presbytery, encompassing all Presbyterian ministers in Virginia and North Carolina. He also became known for writing hymns, and for educating slaves (unlike Methodist and Baptist evangelists). During the American Civil War, battle lines formed on opposite sides of Totopotomoy creek during the 1864 Overland Campaign as the Union army advanced on Richmond. Polegreen Church stood between them. A Confederate artillery shell fired to dislodge Union sharpshooters by a man whose father had been baptized at Polegreen hit the wooden building, which burned to the ground. The congregation could not afford to rebuild it.An open-air design of steel beams painted white to show the historic structure's former dimensions has been erected at the site, along with a visitor center and signage concerning religious persecution and freedom in Western civilization. The site now hosts various lectures (including on religious freedom in Virginia), as well as weddings and other private functions. The Polegreen Church site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It is open to the public free of charge.