Seven Days' Battles

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SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES

SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. The Seven Days' Battles (25 June–1 July 1862) were the succession of Civil War battles in which the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee forced the Union Gen. George B. McClellan to abandon his threatening position east of Richmond, Virginia, and retreat to the James River. McClellan's forces were repulsed by the Confederates at Mechanicsville on 26 June and Gaines's Mill on 27 June. Pursued across the Chick-ahominy River, his troops repelled Confederate attacks at Savage's Station on 29 June. Discovering that McLellan was retiring on the James, Lee and Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson hurried columns to Frayser's Farm. Here on 30 June and at Malvern Hill on 1 July, the Confederate assaults were beaten back decisively. Confederate losses over the seven days of fighting were 3,286 killed, 15,909 wounded, and 940 captured or missing; Union losses were 1,734 killed, 8,062 wounded, and 6,053 captured or missing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dowdey, Clifford. The Seven Days: The Emergence of Lee. Boston: Little, Brown, 1964.

Martin, David G. The Peninsula Campaign: March–July 1862. Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined Books, 1992.

Sears, Stephen W. To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1992.

Joseph MillsHanson/a. r.

See alsoArmy of Northern Virginia ; Peninsular Campaign ; Richmond .