1862 June 1st

June 1 1862 Sunday

Battle of Fair Oaks, VA (CWSAC – Major Battle – Inconclusive)

Peninsula Campaign – Fair Oaks
Jackson‘s Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Mississippi. Union Major-General Henry Wager Halleck reported that his pursuit of the Confederates from Corinth had yielded 10,000 prisoners although this was viewed widely as an exaggeration. Descriptions of the ineffectiveness of his advance to Corinth and the escape of the Confederate army were widely disseminated. Newspapers and rivals alike saw the emptiness beneath Halleck’s alleged triumph and he was subjected to derision for his bombastic claims of a decisive victory at Corinth. Despite the criticism of Halleck’s pronouncements, his capture of Corinth without a fight was in fact a great achievement and of great strategic importance. Halleck had occupied the crossroads of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad and the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, two of the longest connected stretches of railroad in the South. Halleck now had the opportunity to strike east for Chattanooga and into the heartland of the Confederacy, or west to Memphis and down the Mississippi to divide the Confederacy in two along the river. Halleck vacillated and instead chose to consolidate his gains, garrisoning key points and repairing railroads, before starting another offensive movement.

Missouri. Operation in Oregon County began.

Missouri. Skirmish at Eleven Points between Union foragers and Confederate guerrillas.

South Carolina. Operation at James Island began.

Virginia. Evacuation of West Point.

Virginia. Incidents at Harrisonburg.

Virginia. Skirmish at Mount Carmel on the Strasburg to Staunton Road.

Strasburg, Virginia. After escaping from a Union trap set at Strasburg, Confederate Major-General Thomas Jonathan Jackson’s Army of the Valley sought to elude further pursuit. Union Major-General John Charles Frémont’s army of 11,500 men, including Brigadier-General George Dashiell Bayard’s cavalry brigade attached from Major-General Irvin McDowell’s Corps, attempted to confine the Confederate escape route. Jackson’s last brigade marched through Strasburg at about noon while Union Brigadier-General James Shields’ division hovered at Front Royal, just eleven miles to the east of the trap, lacking clear direction to march to Strasburg. Frémont was deterred from a closer approach to Strasburg by a skirmish line deployed from the Confederate division of Major-General Richard Stoddert Ewell. Having marched seventy miles in seven days, through heavy rain and hail, Frémont was not eager to bring on an engagement with his exhausted troops and promptly disengaged. When Ewell followed his withdrawal there was a sharp clash and Confederate Brigadier-General Richard Taylor deterred further pursuit by the Union column.

Aquia Creek, Virginia. The USS Thomas Freeborn, USS Anacostia, USS Resolute, and the sloop-of-war USS Pawnee bombarded the Aquia Creek batteries for almost five hours, firing over 500 rounds. No casualties were reported although the works sustained some damage, houses in the rear were hit, and the railroad was torn up in three or four places. The Confederate battery returned fire sparingly to conserve ammunition and only whenever the enemy ships came in view and range of his embrasures. Both the USS Thomas Freeborn and USS Pawnee took minor damage and required repairs but no sailors were seriously wounded or killed.

Fair Oaks, Virginia, also known as Seven Pines. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under the interim command of Major-General Gustavus Woodson Smith, renewed its attack against the Union forces at Fair Oaks, even though Union reinforcements were arriving. Orders were sent to Confederate Major-General James Longstreet to resume the attack at dawn but Longstreet anticipated being attacked himself and was not aggressive. Making little headway with just two brigades, he was stopped by the division of Brigadier-General Israel Bush Richardson (1/II) which had arrived overnight after a forced march from north of the Chickahominy River. The fighting ended at about 11.30 am when the Confederates withdrew.
At about 2 pm, Confederate General Robert Edward Lee arrived from Richmond and assumed permanent command of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Department of Northern Virginia. Confederate-General Joseph Eggleston Johnston had been wounded the day before and his successor and interim commander, Major-General Gustavus Woodson Smith, had fallen prey to extreme anxiety during the night and evidently could not continue. Confederate President Jefferson Finis Davis acted decisively to provide more experienced leadership. Lee cancelled all attacks and withdrew the army to its original defensive positions around Richmond.
Despite claiming a victory, McClellan was shaken by the experience at Fair Oaks. He believed that the audacity of the attack provided certain proof of Confederate superiority in numbers. This in turn strengthened his determination to proceed by siege in order to maximise his own advantages in artillery. He redeployed his army south of the Chickahominy but left V Corps north of the river. He persisted in his plan to capture Richmond by siege. His slow but inexorable advance had ground to a halt and he conceded the initiative.
Union casualties at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines were 5,031 (790 killed, 3,594 wounded, 647 captured or missing), with 2,597 being sustained by IV Corps alone out of fewer than 12,000 engaged. Confederate losses were 6,134 (980 killed, 4,749 wounded, 405 captured or missing). This battle had the second highest casualties of the war to date, after Shiloh (CWSAC – Major Battle – Inconclusive)

Union Organisation

USA: The parts of Virginia south of the Rappahannock River and east of the Fredericksburg & Richmond Railroad, were transferred from the Department of the Potomac to the Department of Virginia.

USA: The area of Northeastern Virginia was transferred from the Department of the Potomac to the Department of the Rappahannock.

USA: Major-General George Brinton McClellan was appointed to command the Department of Virginia but did not assume command.

USA: Major-General John Ellis Wool was appointed to command the Middle Department, arriving on 9 June 1862.

USA: The District of Missouri was established in the Department of the Mississippi, comprising the state of Missouri except for Mississippi, New Madrid, and Pemiscut counties.
USA: The District of Central Missouri was discontinued and incorporated into the District of Missouri.
USA: Brigadier-General John McAllister Schofield assumed command of the District of Missouri.

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Edwin McMasters Stanton
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Samuel Francis Du Pont
West Gulf Blockading Squadron: David Glasgow Farragut
East Gulf Blockading Squadron: William McKean
Pacific Squadron: Charles H Bell
Western Gunboat Flotilla: Charles Henry Davis
Potomac Flotilla: Robert Harris Wyman

Chairman of the War Board: Ethan Allen Hitchcock

Department of the Mississippi: Henry Wager Halleck

District of West Tennessee: Ulysses Simpson Grant
- Army of West Tennessee: Ulysses Simpson Grant
District of the Mississippi: Isaac Ferdinand Quinby
- Army of the Mississippi: John Pope
District of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell
- Army of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell
District of Cairo: William Kerley Strong
- Sub-District of Columbus: Isaac Ferdinand Quinby

Department of the Missouri: Henry Wager Halleck

District of Missouri: John McAllister Schofield
District of St Louis: Lewis Merrill
District of Southwest Missouri: Samuel Ryan Curtis
- Army of the Southwest: Samuel Ryan Curtis
District of Northeast Missouri: John Montgomery Glover
District of Northwest Missouri: Benjamin Franklin Loan

Department of the Gulf: Benjamin Franklin Butler

Army of the Gulf: Benjamin Franklin Butler

Department of Kansas: James Gilpatrick Blunt

Middle Department: John Adams Dix interim John Ellis Wool awaited

District of the Eastern Shore of Maryland: Henry Hayes Lockwood

Mountain Department: John Charles Frémont

Cheat Mountain District: Thomas Maley Harris
Railroad District: Benjamin Franklin Kelley
District of the Kanawha: Jacob Dolson Cox
District of the Gap: Samuel Powhatan Carter

Department of New Mexico: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby

Central and Northern District of New Mexico: Benjamin Stone Roberts

Department of New York: Edward Denison Morgan

Department of North Carolina: Ambrose Everett Burnside

Department of the Pacific: George Wright

District of the Humboldt: Francis James Lippitt
District of Oregon: Justis Steinburger
District of Southern California: George Washington Bowie

Department of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan

Army of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan
- II Corps Potomac: Edwin Vose Sumner
- III Corps Potomac: Samuel Peter Heintzelman
- IV Corps Potomac: Erasmus Darwin Keyes
- V Corps Potomac: Fitz John Porter
- VI Corps Potomac: William Buel Franklin

Department of the Rappahannock: Irvin McDowell

Military District of Washington: James Samuel Wadsworth

Department of the Shenandoah: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks

Department of the South: David Hunter

Northern District of the South: Henry Washington Benham
Southern District of the South: John Milton Brannan
Western District of the South: Lewis Golding Arnold

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Virginia: John Ellis Wool

Confederate Organisation

CSA: General Robert Edward Lee assumed command of the Department of Northern Virginia, succeeding Major-General Gustavus Woodson Smith.
CSA: General Robert Edward Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, succeeding Major-General Gustavus Woodson Smith.

CSA: The post of Military Adviser to the President became vacant after the assignment of General Robert Edward Lee to command the Army of Northern Virginia.

CSA: Brigadier-General James Johnston Pettigrew was wounded and captured at Fair Oaks.

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: George Wythe Randolph
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Military Adviser to the President: Vacant

Department No 1: Mansfield Lovell

Department of Alabama and West Florida: John Horace Forney temporary

Army of Mobile: William L Powell

Department of Middle and Eastern Florida: Joseph Finegan

Department of East Tennessee: Edmund Kirby Smith

Army of East Tennessee: Edmund Kirby Smith

Department of Henrico: John Henry Winder

Department of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

District of Cape Fear: Samuel Gibbs French
District of Pamlico: Robert Ransom temporary
District of Roanoke Island: Henry Marchmore Shaw

Department of Northern Virginia: Robert Edward Lee

District of Aquia: Gustavus Woodson Smith
Army of Northern Virginia: Robert Edward Lee
- Right Wing Northern Virginia: James Longstreet
- Left Wing Northern Virginia: Gustavus Woodson Smith
- Reserve Northern Virginia: John Bankhead Magruder
Valley District: Thomas Jonathan Jackson
- Army of the Valley: Thomas Jonathan Jackson

Department of South Carolina and Georgia: John Clifford Pemberton

District of Georgia: Alexander Robert Lawton
District of South Carolina: Roswell Sabine Ripley
- 1^st Sub-District of South Carolina: Arthur Middleton Manigault.
- 2^nd Sub-District of South Carolina: Hugh Weedon Mercer
- 3^rd Sub-District of South Carolina: William Stephen Walker
- 4^th Sub-District of South Carolina: Thomas Fenwick Drayton

Department of Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring

District of Abingdon: Humphrey Marshall

Trans-Mississippi Department: Paul Octave Hébert temporary

District of Arkansas: Thomas Carmichael Hindman awaited
District of Eastern Texas and Western Louisiana: Paul Octave Hébert
- Sub-District of Houston: John C Bowen
Western District of Texas: Henry Eustace McCullough
- Eastern Sub-District of Western Texas: Xavier Blanchard Debray
- Sub-District of the Rio Grande: Hamilton Prioleau Bee
Trans-Mississippi District: Thomas Carmichael Hindman
District of Arizona: Henry Hopkins Sibley
District of Indian Territory: Douglas Hancock Cooper
Defences of Pass Cavallo: John W Glenn

Western Department: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

District of North Alabama: Daniel Ruggles
District of Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana: Earl Van Dorn
Army of Mississippi: Braxton Bragg
- I Corps Mississippi: Leonidas Polk
- II Corps Mississippi: Thomas Carmichael Hindman
- III Corps Mississippi: William Joseph Hardee
- Reserve Corps Mississippi: John Cabell Breckinridge
Army of the West: Earl Van Dorn

Forces in Richmond: Charles Dimmock

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

George Brinton McClellan
John Charles Frémont
Henry Wager Halleck
John Ellis Wool

Major-General USV

Asterisk indicates concurrently Brigadier-General USA

John Adams Dix
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Benjamin Franklin Butler
David Hunter
Edwin Denison Morgan
Ethan Allen Hitchcock
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Irvin McDowell*
Ambrose Everett Burnside
William Starke Rosecrans*
Don Carlos Buell
John Pope
Samuel Ryan Curtis
Franz Sigel
John Alexander McClernand
Lewis Wallace
Ormsby McKnight Mitchel
Cassius Marcellus Clay
George Henry Thomas
George Cadwalader
William Tecumseh Sherman
Edward Otho Cresap Ord
Edwin Vose Sumner*
Samuel Peter Heintzelman
Erasmus Darwin Keyes
Joseph Hooker
Silas Casey

Brigadier-General USA

Brackets indicates concurrently Major-General USV

William Selby Harney
(Edwin Vose Sumner)
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
(Irvin McDowell)
Robert Anderson
(William Starke Rosecrans)
Philip St George Cooke

Brigadier-General USV

Andrew Porter
Fitz-John Porter
William Buel Franklin
Charles Pomeroy Stone
Thomas West Sherman
George Archibald McCall
William Reading Montgomery
Philip Kearny
John Wolcott Phelps
Charles Smith Hamilton
Darius Nash Couch
Rufus King
Jacob Dolson Cox
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut
Robert Cumming Schenck
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Alpheus Starkey Williams
Israel Bush Richardson
James Cooper
James Brewerton Ricketts
Orlando Bolivar Willcox
Michael Corcoran
Henry Hayes Lockwood
Louis Blenker
Henry Warner Slocum
James Samuel Wadsworth
John James Peck
George Webb Morell
John Henry Martindale
Samuel Davis Sturgis
George Stoneman
Henry Washington Benham
William Farrar Smith
James William Denver
Egbert Ludovicus Vielé
James Shields
John Fulton Reynolds
William Farquhar Barry
John Joseph Abercrombie
John Sedgwick
Lawrence Pike Graham
George Gordon Meade
Abram Duryée
Alexander McDowell McCook
Oliver Otis Howard
Eleazar Arthur Paine
Daniel Edgar Sickles
Charles Davis Jameson
Ebenezer Dumont
Robert Huston Milroy
Willis Arnold Gorman
Daniel Butterfield
Horatio Gouverneur Wright
William Nelson
William Thomas Ward
John Gross Barnard
Innis Newton Palmer
Seth Williams
John Newton
Winfield Scott Hancock
Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
George Wright
Isaac Ingalls Stevens
Thomas Williams
George Sykes
William Henry French
William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks
John Milton Brannan
William Wallace Burns
John Porter Hatch
David Sloane Stanley
William Kerley Strong
Albin Francisco Schoepf
Lovell Harrison Rousseau
James Scott Negley
Thomas John Wood
Richard W Johnson
Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich Von Steinwehr
Joseph Bennett Plummer
John Gray Foster
George Washington Cullum
Jeremiah Tilford Boyle
Christopher Columbus Augur
Schuyler Hamilton
Jesse Lee Reno
George Washington Morgan
Julius Stahel
John McAllister Schofield
Thomas Jefferson McKean
John Grubb Parke
Zealous Bates Tower
Jefferson Columbus Davis
James Henry Lane
John McAuley Palmer
James Abram Garfield
Lewis Golding Arnold
Frederick Steele
William Scott Ketchum
Abner Doubleday
John Wynn Davidson
Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana
David Bell Birney
Thomas Francis Meagher
Henry Morris Naglee
Andrew Johnson
James Gallant Spears
Eugene Asa Carr
Thomas Alfred Davies
Daniel Tyler
William Hemsley Emory
Andrew Jackson Smith
Marsena Rudolph Patrick
Isaac Ferdinand Quinby
Hiram Gregory Berry
Orris Sanford Ferry
Daniel Phineas Woodbury
Henry Moses Judah
Richard James Oglesby
John Cook
John McArthur
Robert Latimer McCook
Jacob Gartner Lauman
Horatio Phillips Van Cleve
John Alexander Logan
Speed Smith Fry
Alexander Asboth
James Craig
Mahlon Dickerson Manson
Gordon Granger
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
Grenville Mellen Dodge
Robert Byington Mitchell
James Gilpatrick Blunt
Francis Engle Patterson
Quincy Adams Gillmore
Amiel Weeks Whipple
Cuvier Grover
George Lucas Hartsuff
Rufus Saxton
Benjamin Alvord
Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
William Sooy Smith
Nathan Kimball
Charles Devens
James Henry Van Alen
Carl Schurz
Samuel Wylie Crawford
Henry Walton Wessells
Milo Smith Hascall
Leonard Fulton Ross
John White Geary
Alfred Howe Terry
Andrew Atkinson Humphreys
James Henry Carleton
Absalom Baird
John Cleveland Robinson
Truman Seymour
George Dashiell Bayard
Henry Prince
Abram Sanders Piatt
Thomas Turpin Crittenden
Maximilian Weber
Pleasant Adam Hackleman
Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan
Alvin Peterson Hovey
James Clifford Veatch
William Plummer Benton
Henry Bohlen
John Curtis Caldwell
Isaac Peace Rodman
Neal S Dow
George Sears Greene
Samuel Powhatan Carter
John Gibbon
George William Taylor
Erastus Barnard Tyler
James Birdseye McPherson

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (Quartermaster-General)
Henry Knox Craig
Lorenzo Thomas (Adjutant-General)
James Wolfe Ripley (Ordnance)
William Alexander Hammond (Surgeon-General)

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

General ACSA/PACS

Samuel Cooper
Robert Edward Lee
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg

Major-General PACS

Leonidas Polk
Earl Van Dorn
Gustavus Woodson Smith
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
William Joseph Hardee
Benjamin Huger
James Longstreet
John Bankhead Magruder
Mansfield Lovell
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Edmund Kirby Smith
George Bibb Crittenden
John Clifford Pemberton
Richard Stoddert Ewell
William Wing Loring
Sterling Price
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
Samuel Jones
John Porter McCown
Daniel Harvey Hill
Jones Mitchell Withers
Thomas Carmichael Hindman
John Cabell Breckinridge
Lafayette McLaws
Ambrose Powell Hill

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Charles Clark
John Buchanan Floyd
Henry Alexander Wise
David Rumph Jones
Henry Hopkins Sibley
John Henry Winder
Richard Caswell Gatlin
Daniel Smith Donelson
Richard Heron Anderson
Robert Augustus Toombs
Arnold Elzey
William Henry Chase Whiting
Jubal Anderson Early
Isaac Ridgeway Trimble
Daniel Ruggles
Roswell Sabine Ripley
Albert Pike
Paul Octave Hébert
Joseph Reid Anderson
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Albert Gallatin Blanchard
Gabriel James Rains
James Ewell Brown Stuart
Thomas Fenwick Drayton
Lloyd Tilghman
Nathan George Evans
Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox
Robert Emmett Rodes
Richard Taylor
James Heyward Trapier
Samuel Gibbs French
William Henry Carroll
Hugh Weedon Mercer
Humphrey Marshall
Richard Griffith
Alexander Peter Stewart
William Montgomery Gardner
Richard Brooke Garnett
William Mahone
Lawrence O’Bryan Branch
Edward Johnson
Maxcy Gregg
Raleigh Edward Colston
Henry Heth
Johnson Kelly Duncan
Sterling Alexander Martin Wood
John George Walker
John King Jackson
George Edward Pickett
Bushrod Rust Johnson
James Patton Anderson
Howell Cobb
George Wythe Randolph
Joseph Brevard Kershaw
James Ronald Chalmers
James Johnston Pettigrew
Carter Littlepage Stevenson
Daniel Leadbetter
William Whann Mackall
Charles Sidney Winder
Robert Ransom
John Bell Hood
Daniel Marsh Frost
Winfield Scott Featherston
Thomas James Churchill
William Booth Taliaferro
Albert Rust
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne
Samuel Bell Maxey
Hamilton Prioleau Bee
James Morrison Hawes
George Hume Steuart
William Duncan Smith
James Edwin Slaughter
Charles William Field
John Horace Forney
Paul Jones Semmes
Lucius Marshall Walker
Seth Maxwell Barton
Dabney Herndon Maury
John Bordenave Villepigue
Henry Eustace McCullough
John Stevens Bowen
Benjamin Hardin Helm
John Selden Roane
States Rights Gist
William Nelson Pendleton
Lewis Addison Armistead
Joseph Finegan
Martin Luther Smith
Franklin Gardner
William Nelson Rector Beall
Thomas Jordan
William Preston
Roger Atkinson Pryor
Henry Little
John Echols
George Earl Maney
Jean Jacques Alfred Alexandre Mouton
John Stuart Williams
James Green Martin
Thomas Lanier Clingman
Wade Hampton
Daniel Weisiger Adams
Louis Hébert
Samuel Garland
John Creed Moore