140th Anniversary Of Seven Days Battles

Mecanicsville in 1862 during the Seven Days Battles.

When the great armies of North and South met in Hanover County in the summer of 1862, they encountered places familiar to today's Hanoverians.

Stonewall Jackson's Army of the Valley left Ashland and moved down Ashcake Road, passing Slash Church. A turn south to Pole Green Church Road brought him near Mechanicsville, ultimately to join Gen. Robert E. Lee's forces moving along the Mechanicsville Turnpike to attack the Union army at Beaver Dam Creek.

At that time, Mechanicsville was "a modest crossroads village…consisting of half a dozen shops and stables and two blacksmiths and an equal number of houses," according to historian Stephen W. Sears. "In a grove of oaks nearby was a beer garden where in better times Richmonders enjoyed bucolic outings."

What happened between June 26 and July 2 was hardly bucolic. The Battle of Mechanicsville began what is now famous as the Seven Days Battles, the first two of which were fought in Hanover County.

On June 27, 1862, Lee achieved his first battlefield victory when his troops broke through the Union lines at Gaines Mill. Only nightfall saved the Fifth Corps of the Union army from destruction.

Parts of the Beaver Dam Creek and Gaines Mill battlefields have been preserved and are maintained by the Richmond National Battlefield Park Service.