Gaines' Mill

• Target Property at Gaines' Mill

  

  The Civil War Trust is pleased announce its campaign to save this 285-acre portion of the Gaines' Mill battlefield. On June 27, 1862, Confederates under James Longstreet charged across this field during their assault on Fitz John Porter's Federals.

  Rob Shenk

• Farm Lane at Gaines' Mill

  

  This one-lane farm road is one of the very few modern sites on the Trust's target property at Gaines' Mill. This otherwise pristine hallowed ground looks just as it did in 1862.

  Rob Shenk

• Longstreet's Assault

  

  Union artillery across Boatswain's Creek to the east and across the Chickahominy to the south shelled Longstreet's Confederates as they rushed across this field on June 27, 1862. The Trust is now working to save this important piece of hallowed ground.

  Rob Shenk

• Satellite Image: Target Property at Gaines' Mill

  

  This satellite view show our Gaines' Mill property (in yellow) in relation to the National Park and other land the Trust has saved at this important battlefield.

  Google Earth

• Gaines' Mill Battleflags

  

  Battleflags carried at Gaines' Mill by the 11th Alabama (left) and the 19th Virginia (right). Both of these regiments advanced across the land the Trust is currently working to save.

  Waite Rawls, Museum of the Confederacy

• Boatswain's Creek

  

  After crossing open ground the Trust is working to save, Longstreet's Confederates then had to cross the murky waters of Boatswain's Creek--all while under fire from Yankees on the opposite bank.

  Rob Shenk

• Crossing Boatswain's Creek

  

  NPS historian Bobby Krick crosses the swampy ravine of Boatswain's Creek while the Civil War Trust's Director of Membership and Development, David Duncan, looks on.

  Rob Shenk

• Wilcox Monument

  

  After crossing the Trust's target property, the Alabamians of Cadmus Wilcox's became engaged in a hot firefight with the Yankees entrenched on the opposite bank of Boatswain's Creek. The monument at right was erected to commemorate the Alabamians' bravery.

  Library of Congress/Rob Shenk

• The Intensity of Battle

  

  This interpretative sign on the Gaines' Mill battlefield describes the brutal struggle between Longstreet's Confederates and the Federals of Fitz John Porter's Fifth Corps.

  Rob Shenk

• Professor Lowe's Balloon at Gaines' Mill

  

  Union soldiers prepare Thaddeus Lowe's reconnaissance balloon for assent. This photograph was taken just prior to the Battle of Gaines' Mill on edge of the property currently being preserved by the Civil War Trust

  Library of Congress

• Gaines' Mill National Battlefield

  

  The Civil War Trust is currently working to save a 285-acre portion of the Gaines' Mill battlefield adjacent to property owned by the National Park Service.

  Rob Shenk

• Saved Land Along Boatswain's Creek

  

  View of Boatswain's Creek in the heart of the Gaines' Mill battlefield. Earlier in 2011, the Trust saved the land on the left of this photo.

  Rob Shenk

• Griffin's Woods

  

  In their charge through these woods, Southerners encountered the Union brigade of Charles Griffin. Griffin's Yankees resisted the Confederate onslaught for several hours before being overrun.

  Rob Shenk

• Gaines' Mill Signs

  

  These historical markers describe the approach of Stonewall Jackson's forces on June 27, 1862

  Rob Shenk

• Gaines' Mill Commanders

  

  The Battle of Gaines' Mill was primarily an uneven match between the roughly 30,000 men of Fitz John Porter's Fifth Corps (right) and more than 60,000 Confederates under Robert E. Lee

  Library of Congress

• Federal Artillery at Gaines' Mill

  

  Supporting Porter's infantry were several batteries of Union artillery. These guns helped keep the Confederates at bay for most of the day.

  Rob Shenk

• Friday battle on the Chickahominy

  

  In this sketch, Fitz John Porter's infantry fends off Confederate attempts to drive them from their positions at Gaines' Mill and into the Chickahominy River.

  Library of Congress

• Desperate Valor

  

  Confederate General John Bell Hood leads the Texas Brigade over the Federal works at Gaines' Mill in this painting by Dale Gallon

  "Desperate Valor" courtesy of Gallon Historical Art www.gallon.com

• National Park Property at Gaines' Mill

  

  The primary Federal defensive position at Gaines' Mill, Turkey Hill, has been preserved in large part by the National Park service. This land was the site of the Confederate breakthrough that gave Lee his first victory as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia

  Rob Shenk

• Guns of Gaines' Mill

  

  Though the Federal batteries supporting Porter's infantry rendered valiant service, artillery alone could not stem the Southern tide. Having suffered substantial casualties and lacking reinforcements, a number of guns were lost to the Confederates.

  Rob Shenk

• Watt House

  

  Located on National Park Service property, this structure figured prominently in the final phases of the Battle of Gaines' Mill

  Rob Shenk

• Storm Clouds over the Battlefield

  

  A summer storm brews over the Watt House on Turkey Hill.

  Rob Shenk

• Whitings Advance

  

  This Douglas Southall Freeman marker on the Gaines' Mill battlefield describes the advance of W. H. C. Whiting's Confederate division, the very troops who ultimately broke the Federal line in the evening of June 27, 1862.

  Rob Shenk

• Dead at Gaines' Mill

  

  This grisly wartime photo shows the remains of the dead at the Gaines' Mill battlefield

  Library of Congress

• Unprotected Land at Gaines' Mill

  

  Though much of the Gaines' Mill battlefield is currently protected by the National Park Service, there are still significant portions of the battlefield - like the land seen here - that remain in private hands.

  Rob Shenk