SEVEN PINES, BATTLE OF, also known as the BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. A battle fought about seven miles east of Richmond. Va., on :Nlay 31 and June 1, 1S62, during McClellan's Peninsular campaign against Richmond. between a part of the Federal Army of the Potomac. numbering about 42,000 effective men (actually under General McClellan, and an equal federate force (forming part of what was later known as the Army of Northern Virginia), under Generals Joseph E. Johnston and G. W. Smith. It takes its name from a tavern, known as Seven Pines, on the field of battle, and from the Fair Oaks station on the Richmond and York River Railroad. After the engagement at Williams burg (q.v.) Johnston slowly withdrew to the deinity of Richmond, and NeClellan followed with great deliberation. Toward the end of May McClellan sent first the Third Corps and then the Fourth Corps of his army, under Keyes and Ileintzelman, respectively, the latter being the ranking officer, to the south side of the Chiekahominy River, retaining on the north side, for the purpose of cooperating, if necessary, with General McDowell's army, then expected as a reinforcement, and of pro tecting the base of supplies at White House on the Pamunkey, the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps under the command, respectively, of Sum ner, FitzJohn Porter, and Franklin. Johnston quickly saw the weakness of McClellan's dis position of the Federal troops, and decided to at tack in force the two corps. themselves widely separated, on the south side of the river, hoping to destroy them before reinforcements could ar rive from Sumner, Porter, or Franklin. The attack was set for the morning of May 31st, and the plan provided for the concentration at Seven Pines, by the Nine Mile, Williamsburg, and Charles City roads. of a force greatly superior to the Federal force at that point. and for the defeat first of Keyes and then of Heintzelman. The po sitions of the opposing forces on the morning of the 31st are shown in the accompanying map: On the afternoon and night of May 30th a rain storm of unusual violence occurred, and the Chickahominy became so swollen as to render ex tremely difficult the crossing of Federal rein forcements from the corps north of the river to those south of it. Owing to a misunderstand ing of Johnston's orders by Longstrcet, who was charged with opening the battle, the attack was not delivered until after 1 P. M., hut before dark
Keyes, though reinforced by Kearny's division of Heintzelman's corps, had been driven back to a point about one mile and a half east of Seven Pines. Part of Keyes's troops, however, under Couch, were driven to Fair Oaks, whence they fell back toward Sumner's bridges across the Chicka hominy. At 2.30 P. M., under orders Com Mc Clellan, Sumner crossed the river with a division under Sedgwick and a battery under Kirby, at what later became known as Sumner's Upper Bridge, and at about 5 o'clock, after being de layed by the rough and muddy roads, reached the vicinity of the Fair Oaks station, just in time to intercept and force back Whiting's division (from the Confederate left, where G. W. Smith was in command), then on its way to reinforce Long street. In this part of the field some of the most stubborn fighting of the day occurred, and it was here about 7 P. M. that General Johnston was severely wounded, whereupon General Smith took command of the Confederate army. Early on the following day Longstreet again attacked the Federal left, which had been reinforced by way of Sumner's Lower Bridge, by Richardson :s division of Sumner's corps, but he was repulsed and forced back for some distance. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon Gen. R. E. Lee, who had just arrived on the field of battle, superseded Smith in command of the Confederate army, and on the night of the 2(1 the army was withdrawn to the immediate neighborhood of Riehmond. General AlcClellan did not appear on the field of battle until about noon on the 1st. The loss of the Federals in killed, wounded, and missing was about 5000, that of the Confederates about 5200. Consult the Official Records, vol. xi., parts i. and iii.; Johnson and Bud (ed.), Bat tles and Leaders of the Civil War (New York, 1887) ; Ropes, Story of the Civil War, vol. ii.
(ib., 1898) ; General McClellan ( 1901), in the "great Commanders Series:" Webb, The Peninsula (ib., 1881), in the "Campaigns of the Civil War Series:" Johnston, Narrative 'of Military Operations (ib., 1874) ; Hughes, General Johnston (ib., 1893), in the "Great Commanders Series;" McClellan, McClellan's Own Story (ib., 1887) ; and Longstreet, From Manassas to Ap pomattox (Philadelphia, 1896).