The Battle Begins
Porter’s soldiers rested their muskets across a make-shift breastwork of felled trees, bales of hay, and knapsacks. A Union soldier remembered “an ominous silence” that covered the battlefield moments before Lee launched his first assault at 2:30 p.m.
Union shells screamed overhead ripping huge gaps in the charging Southern lines. When the Confederates reached the exposed high ground across the creek, Porter’s infantry greeted the attackers with “deadly and staggering volleys.” Uncoordinated Confederate attacks at Gaines’ Mill demonstrated the advantage of the defense during Civil War battles.
Marker can be reached from Watt House Road 0.7 miles south of Cold Harbor Road (Virginia Route 156), on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
