Garnett's & Golding's Farms

Fought over two days, June 27 and 28 of 1862, the clash at Garnett's and Golding's Farms unfolded in Henrico County, Virginia, as one episode within the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the Civil War. North of the Chickahominy River, fighting at Gaines's Mill had already erupted when Confederate general John B. Magruder sent his troops on a reconnaissance in force south of the waterway. That probing effort grew into a small-scale assault against Union positions at Garnett's Farm. A second Confederate push came the following morning near Golding's Farm, on June 28, and just as before, the attackers were driven back without much difficulty. In the end, these engagements at the two farms achieved little of substance, save for persuading McClellan that his army faced threats from both banks of the Chickahominy.

Background

Because it functioned as the heart of the Southern rebellion, Richmond held obvious value for both sides fighting the Civil War, and control of the city became the goal driving much of the war's early strategy. Acting on this, General George McClellan led his Army of the Potomac onto the Virginia Peninsula in hopes of capturing it. His opening moves went well, and for a time his forces held the edge over the Confederates on nearly every front. That balance held until late May 1862, when McClellan's army found itself divided by the Chickahominy River, two Union corps positioned on its southern bank and roughly three more stationed to the north.

Sensing an opportunity in this split, Joseph E. Johnston, commanding general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, moved three columns of troops on May 31 against the isolated Union wing south of the river. What followed, the Battle of Seven Pines, also called Fair Oaks, settled little. Johnston's design unraveled and McClellan's army held its ground without losses in territory. Johnston himself, though, fell wounded in the fighting, prompting Confederate President Jefferson Davis to name his own military adviser, General Robert E. Lee, as commander of Confederate forces the following day, June 1.

Several quiet weeks passed on the Peninsula before Union troops broke the calm with an assault at Oak Grove on June 25. Lee's forces stopped that advance, and by the next day they had shifted to attacking at Mechanicsville, sometimes known as Beaver Dam Creek. That engagement went badly for the Confederates, who suffered steep losses despite ultimately achieving the field's outcome in their opponents' favor. Still, McClellan ordered his triumphant men to fall back to Boatswain's Swamp south of the Chickahominy, where they built a strong defensive line. It was there, on June 27, that Confederate forces struck again at Gaines's Mill, producing one of the deadliest clashes of the entire Peninsula Campaign. Even as that battle unfolded, tension was building near a pair of farms just to the south, tension that would soon erupt into the fighting known as the Battle of Garnett's and Golding's Farms.

Battle

On the bluffs overlooking the Chickahominy River stood the farm of James M. Garnett, close to Old Tavern. Nearby lay Golding's Plain, land owned by Simon Gouldin, and separating the two properties was a steep ravine along with a creek and a rise known as Garnett's Hill. The night before fighting broke out, troops from Brigadier General William T. H. Brooks's brigade, part of William F. "Baldy" Smith's 2nd division within the VI Corps, started setting up cannon atop that hill. Come morning on June 27, 1862, Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock's brigade, also of the VI Corps, continued this effort, and altogether six batteries of reserve artillery found their positions there.

While the Union forces busied themselves with this work, Major General David R. Jones's Confederate division moved into the surrounding terrain. Brigadier General Robert Toombs's brigade settled along the ravine's western edge, and Colonel George T. Anderson's brigade established itself to the northwest, within a mile of the Garnett house. Both Anderson and Toombs instructed their gunners to open fire on the Northern troops whenever a chance arose. Meanwhile, the Federals, readying themselves for a larger confrontation, received orders to steer clear of direct combat with the Southern forces. What followed was roughly an hour of intense artillery exchange, which concluded when the Confederates pulled back. Twenty-three Union guns, favorably positioned, proved too much for the ten Confederate pieces stationed in open terrain.

Around four in the afternoon, a portion of Major General Lafayette McLaws's command pushed toward the Federal position at Garnett's farm, only to retreat ten minutes later under intense fire. Quiet settled over the field for several hours until Toombs launched an assault against the Union line near seven that evening. His orders had called merely for a reconnaissance to "feel the enemy," yet he instead drew his men into what became a fierce and prolonged clash. Once darkness fell, Hancock's brigade turned back Toombs's advance following about ninety minutes of combat. By day's end, Confederate losses stood near 271 men, though the fighting around Garnett's farm ultimately settled little.

Combat resumed the next day, June 28, this time near the Golding house. Jones, believing the Union troops stationed there might be pulling out, gave Toombs permission to conduct a reconnaissance in force to confirm this suspicion. Toombs, however, escalated the probe into a full-scale attack, pushing forward alongside some of Anderson's men. Before anyone could rein him in, the VI Corps had already thrown back the Confederate advance.

Aftermath

Across the two days of combat around the Garnett and Golding farms, Confederate losses reached 438, against 189 on the Federal side. Anderson's command absorbed the worst of the Federal counterattack, losing 156 men on the fighting's second day. Little was gained from the engagement itself, yet it played a part in persuading McClellan that his forces faced pressure from both banks of the Chickahominy. That conviction led him, on the evening of June 28, to call his generals together. He told them he could still push forward against Richmond, but warned that doing so risked wrecking and defeating the Army of the Potomac entirely. From that gathering came a different plan: the Federals would pull back instead. Union general William B. Franklin later recalled that the commanding general had informed them of his intent to start moving toward the James River the following day. With that decision to fall back toward the James, the way was cleared for what would become the Battle of Savage's Station.