While the battle of Gaines’ Mill was raging on the north side of the Chickahominy River Lee ordered Magruder to demonstrate on the south side of the river. James Garnett’s farm was located on the edge of the bluffs on the south bank of the Chickahominy River near Simon Gouldin’s farm. Between the two properties was a steep ravine, a creek and a hill (Garnett’s Hill). Soldiers from the 2nd division of the Union VI Corps under Brigadier General William Brooks’ began placing artillery pieces on Garnett’s Hill on June 26th. The next day Winfield Scott Hancock’s brigade continued the process and six batteries of reserve artillery were placed on the hill. Meanwhile, Confederate Major General David R. Jones’ division began taking position. To the west of the ravine was Brigadier General Robert Toombs’ brigade, while to the northwest less than a mile from the Garnett house was Colonel George T. Anderson’s brigade, see map below.

Anderson’s and Toombs’s artillerists fired on the Federals resulting in an artillery duel that lasted about an hour ending in the Confederates withdrawal. The Rebels ten guns, situated in an open field, were no match for the Federal artillerist’s twenty-three guns. Around 4:00 PM Lafayette McLaw’s men advanced towards the Union line at the Garnett farm but quickly withdrew under heavy fire. At about 7:00 pm Robert Toombs was ordered to reconnoiter the Federal position but attacked instead and in heavy fighting was repulsed by Hancock’s brigade. The Confederates would lose 271 men during the day’s fighting. The following day on the 28th Jones ordered Toombs to perform a demonstration to determine if the Federals near the Golding house were withdrawing. The hot-headed Toombs advanced with some of Anderson’s men and once again turned a reconnaissance into a full fledged battle. He was easily repulsed by the VI Corps. In two days of fighting the Confederates suffered 438 casualties and the Federals 189. Anderson’s men (7th and 8th GA) bore the brunt of the Federal counterattack on the second day and suffered 156 casualties.

The significance of this small and largely forgotten battle is that the fighting here convinced McClellan that he faced serious resistance on the southern side of the Chickahominy and resulted in two key decisions. The first was to leave Porter’s V Corps alone on the north side of the river to fend for themselves against the bulk of Lee’s army in the battle at Gaines’ Mill and the second was to abandon his supply base at White House Landing and move it to the James River.

The area of the battlefields has been lost to development and the only interpretation is the marker shown below.

Next- Savage’s Station

Source

To the Gates of Richmond The Peninsula Campaign by Stephen W. Sears