Battle of Fair Oaks Virginia - June, 1862

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Battle of Fair Oaks Historian Page The Battle of Fair Oaks, also known as the Battle of Seven Pines, took place on May 31,1862 and continued to June 1, 1862 in Seven Pines, Virginia. The General for the Union side was Major General George B. McClellan. The General for the Confederates was General Joseph E. Johnston. General McClellan attended the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from the university he attended West Point in 1842. He graduated second in his class in 1846. McClellan was one of the Union's first war heroes but he was fired, by Lincoln, because of his lack of aggressiveness.               General Johnston graduated thirteenth in his class our of forty-six in 1829 from West Point. He entered the army as a second lieutenant of artillery. Johnston was a very skilled man but he was a cautious and pessimistic soldier. He had a reputation of never losing a battle but he never won a major one either.   On May 31, 1862 General Johnston launched an attack against the Union. McClellan had divided his troops into two groups. The left wing had 30, 00 men of Keye's and Hentzelman't corps. They were defending the Chicahominy River between Seven Pines and Fair Oaks farm. Jognston wanted to attack at daybreak with his division of Huger, Longstreet, Hill and Jones. Huger's division was late , forcing the Confederates to attack the right wing at noon. The right wing was under command of Casey. The confederates forces the union back to the Fair Oaks farm. Casey's 5, 000 men held the Confederates for three hours and were forced back to Seven Pines. Hentzelment's division came to help but they were still pushed back. At six 'o clock the Federals had enough people to stop the Confederates from moving forward. The battle continued and ended on June 1, 1862. The Union won. The Confederates retreated on June 1, 1862. They lost because they were the first to leave the battlefield. The first to leave the battlefield is the loser of the battle.     Johnston attacked the Union because he thought that he could win if they were split. However, his attacks were disordered. The significance, of this battle was wounding General Johnston. He was shot once in the shoulder and chess. He took six months to recover and Jefferson Davis, the main commander of the Confederates, was forced to replace Johnston with Robert E. Lee. There were many events happening during the time of the Battle of Fair Oaks. I decided to do four events from Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. In Australia, the second Maori War was going on from 1860-1879. In Europe, Leopold the second became the king of Belgium in 1865. In Asia, the treaty of Saigon was signed for the annexation of lower Cochinchina by Annam on June 5, 1862. In Africa there was a Transva'al Orange Free State War from 1862-1864.

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