Texas Journal of Genealogy and History, Volume I, Fall 2002 Page: 25
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hind felled timber and earth-packed
knapsacks. Their position was further
secured by the grade of the hill, which
rendered them safe from rifle fire com-
ing from the ravine below. Furthermore,
the third line, the artillery and infantry
reserves occupying the crests of the hills,
could generally fire into advancing Con-
federate ranks without endangering the
Union soldiers below. The middle line of
Union defenses sidled the hill, further
protected by a tree line. Lee portrayed
the daunting task facing his men as he
described the Union position:
The approach to this position was over
an open plain, about a quarter of a
mile wide, commanded by this triple
line of fire and swept by the heavy bat-
teries south of the Chickahominy. In
front of his center and right the
ground was generally open, bounded
on the side of our approach by a
wood, with dense and tangled under-
growth, and traversed by a sluggish
stream, which converted the soil into a
deep morass. The woods on the far-
ther side of the swamp were occupied
by sharpshooters, and trees had been
felled to increase the difficulty of its
passage and detain our advancing col-
umns under the fire of infantry massed
on the slopes of the opposite hills and
of the batteries on their crests.'6
By approximately 10 A.M., Sykes' 2nd
Division of Porter's V Corps held down
the Union right flank, the brigades of
Buchanan, Lovell and Warren placed
from right to left; Weed's battery stood
ready to fire on the road approaching
southward from Old Cold Harbor, with
Edwards' battery interspersed between
the brigades. The men held a rather
open field on the crest of the hill on
which McGehee's house stood, with roll-
ing terrain and fencing in front to serve
as protection. Four hundred yards to the
front of Sykes' units, dense woods en-
capsulated the ravine that would sepa-
rate the Union and Confederate lines. 7
At about this same time, Morell's 1"
Division was also taking up their lines of
battle. On his extreme right, in an open
space between himself and Sykes, Morell
placed Martin's battery. Griffin's brigade
came to the left of Martin's battery, and
Martindale's brigade to the left of Griffin.
A portion of Weeden's battery occupied
the space between Griffin and Martindale,
with the other unit holding ground be-
tween Martindale's lines. Butterfield's bri-
gade, the extreme left of the Union line,
held in its midst a section of Allen's bat-
tery. Kingsbury's battery was placed to the
left and rear, some distance away, to con-
trol the Chickahominy valley. Berdan's
Sharpshooters went forward as skirmish-
ers, protected by the timber line, some
felled trees, and knapsacks.18McCall's division, subjected to heavy
fighting during both the day prior and
the early morning at Beaver Dam Creek,
was to be held in reserve. Approximately
six hundred yards to the rear of the
woods, in an open plain, McCall's men
rested for the first time in perhaps two
full days. Reynolds' brigade formed as a
reserve on the right, nearer Sykes.
Meade formed his men in reserve to
Morell's division, on the left, while Sey-
mour acted as a reserve to the ground
between. Cooke and the cavalry reserve
were directed to a position along the left
flank, in the valley of the Chickahominy;
the terrain simply rendered the cavalry
virtually useless. Cooper's battery com-
manded the open ground toward Cold
Harbor, with those of De Hart, Easton,
and Kerns "sweeping from commanding
ridges the space between the woods and
the Chickahominy."19
Lee, under the assumption that Porter
would make his stand near Powhite
Creek, ordered Jackson and D.H. Hill to
the north and east. Jackson aimed to
turn south on Cold Harbor Road at Be-
thesda Church, with D.H. Hill to Cold
Harbor Tavern. Ultimately, this would
put four divisions, Hill's own and Jack-
son's three, behind Porter at the creek.
A.P. Hill would assault along the left
flank of the Union lines, with Longstreet
in reserve. Jackson and D.H. Hill
marched off, and Jackson came upon
A.P. Hill's division at Walnut Grove
Church a couple of hours later. Jackson
held up as A.P. Hill marched by and
took the road to the right, leading al-
most directly to Gaines' Mill and farther
to Boatswain's Creek, while Jackson
veered off onto the road to the left, ulti-
mately leading to Old Cold Harbor. Ide-
ally, these three groups were to converge
on Porter at the same time, from differ-
ent points. As the divisions marched,
Jackson proceeded with uncharacteristic
sluggishness; granted, the roads were
narrow and dusty, and the men had to
deal with felled timbers strewn about by
the retreating Union forces. Addition-
ally, a handful of Union sharpshooters
maintained deep cover in the woods,
only taking fire on Jackson's men as they
stopped to remove the logs from the
roadway. His caution is thus understand-
able, but still Jackson moved more
slowly than his reputation would have
pledged. He soon realized that Porter
was not at Powhite Creek. "[B]eing un-
acquainted with the ground, and appre-
hensive,"20 Jackson took even more time
before ordering his troops back north on
the road they had just come down, so as
to join at the rear D.H. Hill's division
farther to the east. In so doing, he actu-
ally marched his men farther away fromthe firing that was then ringing through
the woods, firing meaning A.P. Hill's
men were engaged in ferocious action
with the enemy. Had Jackson at this
time proceeded on his march less than
one mile, he could have joined and
strengthened A.P. Hill's assault, and
lengthened the Confederate lines to the
north and east, eventually joining ranks
with D.H. Hill's division.21
Gregg, of A.P. Hill's division, was or-
dered first by Hill, and later by Lee, to
advance his brigade down the road lead-
ing to Gaines' Mill. Upon reaching near
to that point, Gregg's skirmishers met
with heavy firing from their Union coun-
terparts. It was now noontime, and for
the next two hours Gregg's skirmishers
would find themselves playing cat-and-
mouse with the advance Union lines,
pausing only as bridges over Powhite
Creek were rebuilt. Upon continuing his
advance at approximately 2 P.M., Gregg
was pleased to see Union soldiers flee-
ing. He apparently mistook this for a
full-out retreat, instead of recognizing it
as the withdrawal of the rear echelon of
skirmishers, who were themselves merely
pulling back to a more fortified position.
Gregg sent his men into the trap, but
again fortune would favor the bold. He
pushed his men forward across the plain
and to the ravine, at a quick double-
time. Although their lines slackened as
the run tired the men, Gregg's brigade
ran banshee-like down the slope and
into the creek bottom. An admiring A.P.
Hill called it "the handsomest charge in
line I have seen during the war."22
Union artillery rained down from above,
and as one historian aptly describes the
situation, "The looseness of the lines
and the speed with which the men went
pell-mell down the slope saved them
from heavy damage."23 Gregg found for-
tune's favor again upon realizing that
the portion of the creek that he had just
crossed was defended solely by skirmish-
ers, with the Union artillery batteries
visible on the crest of the hill. He ea-
gerly requested permission to continue
the attack, but A.P. Hill ordered him to
wait. Sykes, whose Union lines had as
yet survived a few probing, almost tenta-
tive attacks by Confederate skirmishers,
perfectly articulated the mood of the
next moments: "Matters now remained
quiet for an hour. It was only the lull
that precedes the storm."24
The Storm: approximately 3 P.M. to 5
P.M.
As Gregg's advance came under heavy
fire, the rest of A.P. Hill's division took
up their own positions. Lee's now-impro-25
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Howard Payne University. Texas Journal of Genealogy and History, Volume I, Fall 2002, periodical, 2002; Brownwood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth599838/m1/28/: accessed June 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Howard Payne University Library.