Malvern Hill

[Blockaderunner]

I took this one from behind the guns. To the left, the ground drops away almost vertically. If I remember rightly, 'To the Gates of Richmond' by Stephen W Sears. The Confederates attempted to get batteries in position on the slope opposite, and on a rise off to the right of the picture. They hoped to get the Union position in a crossfire. However, there were a large number of Union batteries in this position. They knocked out the Confederate guns as they tried to get into position.

 

[dlavin]

It is a long slope from where the Confederates were to the Union artillery position. And it was open ground. I wonder if Lee was upset about his missed opportunity to really inflict damage on the Union army at Glendale (or do I have this battle wrong) and did what he did at Malvern Hill. If I also recall, McClellan's generals wanted to attack after Malvern Hill seeing the damage they did.

 

[JohnW.]

I have always been fascinated about the Battle of Malvern Hill.....it was the lesson Robert E. Lee didn't learn before he went to Gettysburg the following year.

 

[nc native]

The battle of Malvern Hill was one of General Lee's biggest tactical blunders and foreshadowed
what happened on the third day at Gettysburg. After McClellan had fallen back time after time
in the previous battles of the Seven Days, Lee felt that he had to hit McClellan again before he
got across the James River and away to safety. In boxing terms, Lee had McClellan on the ropes
and wanted the knockout. He got too aggressive however and got counterpunched instead losing
many men that would be sorely missed in later battles. Looking at the battlefield, one does have
to wonder what General Lee was thinking. After Malvern Hill, it would have been interesting
to see what would have happened if the Union Army would have stood its ground or even
counterattacked but McClellan wanted to get to Harrison's Landing to regroup and rebuild
again.

 

[Jamieva]

I think folks that have been there did a great job describing it. If you have not, you cannot picture a traditional hill, like you think of at Gettysburg etc. It's a wide flat plateau that rises slowly from the Confederate position, which bottoms out at the creek at the north of the battlefield park.

 

[Bruce Vail]

'It was not war, but murder.'

I've seen this quote attributed to DH Hill re Malvern Hill. Does anyone have a relianle citation for this?

 

[Bruce Vail]

The action of Ripley's Brigade is quite confused.

A letter from one of the participants states that most of the Brigade never made it into action. Apparently there were conflicting orders, and some suggestion of cowardice on the part of the men and officers.

 

[Scott Bowden]

The battle of Malvern Hill was one of General Lee's biggest tactical blunders and foreshadowed
what happened on the third day at Gettysburg.

I have always thought that this is one of the least understood battles of the war which, quite frankly, this quote typifies. While I certainly understand that it takes a lot of research and analysis to uncover exactly what and how things went down on the Confederate side of the battle, please know that it was Magruder who inserted himself into and then hijacked the Confederate chain of command that resulted in the attacks being initiated. I go into this in exact detail in my latest book of the "Robert E. Lee at War" series (the volume title of which is Hope Arises From Despair, release date late August 2017). As things turned out, Lee was totally exasperated with Magruder's violating previously issued orders, which is evidenced by the commanding general going in search of Magruder following the battle. When Lee finally found "Prince John" sound asleep, Lee woke him up and pointedly asked: "General Magruder, why did you attack?" When the answer came back that was total fiction ("By your orders, twice repeated"), Lee had had all of Magruder he could stomach. Orders were immediately cut and Magruder was out of Lee's inherited army. Magruder wouldn't be the last of the under-performing general officers to be removed as Lee reshaped the army to be "his" throughout the remainder of the summer and into the famous army reorganization of October 1862.

Thus, the Confederate command conditions at Malvern Hill were totally different from Gettysburg (as evidenced by the in-depth discussion of this topic in another of my books, Last Chance for Victory: Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg Campaign).

Thanks.

Regards,

 

[mt155]

Here is another image I took from behind the Federal cannon. The long wide open field of fire they commanded can be better seen. The Rebs had a long way to go coming out from that far tree line. There are also cannon to the left and right out of the picture.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Here is another image I took from behind the Federal cannon. The long wide open field of fire they commanded can be better seen. The Rebs had a long way to go coming out from that far tree line. There are also cannon to the left and right out of the picture.

View attachment 144155

This photo is just stunningly beautiful! Congrats...

 

[Bruce Vail]

Can any CWT folk inform me about the oft-cited D.H. Hill statement about Malvern Hill:

"We charged batteries...It wasn't war, it was murder."

I'd like to nail the exact quote. Any help out there?