On the night and early morning of May 2nd - 3rd, 1862, Brigadier General William B.
Franklin’s detached First Division of Major General Irvin McDowell’s I Corps - 11,000
strong and having been sent down the Chesapeake Bay on troop ships in order to reinforce Major
General McClellan on the Peninsula - finally arrives at Fort Monroe and begins debarking
from their vessels to join McClellan’s troops in the siegeworks outside Yorktown.
However, the next day, May 4th, the Federals find Yorktown abandoned and the Rebels moving
up the Peninsula to try and escape towards Richmond. McClellan quickly orders Franklin’s
division to re-embark on their troop ships to sail up the York River, then land on a
beach called Brick House Point, located near Eltham Plantation and positioned opposite
the river from West Point, Virginia. His hopes are to cut off General Johnston’s retreat
before he can reach the defensive works outside Richmond.
If Franklin’s troops move fast enough, they can move southward through Barhamsville and
Burnt Ordinary and hit Joe Johnston’s army as it retreats through Williamsburg. If the
plan works as McClellan intends, then Johnston’s Department of Northern Virginia might get
caught between two Union forces and be smashed for good.
The plan doesn’t work out the way Little Mac hopes, however, as his troops pursuing
Johnston become caught up at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th fighting against James
Longstreet’s Division, which is serving as a rearguard for Johnston’s retreat. Meanwhile,
on that same afternoon, Franklin’s First Division gets to work. His troops make haste
for the newly-opened wharf at Yorktown. Brigadier General Franklin reasons that if his men reach
Brick House Point by sundown, May 6th, they might salvage McClellan’s plan and get in
the Confederate rear. From the wharf at Yorktown, Franklin’s three brigades under Brigadier
Generals George W. Taylor, Henry W. Slocum, and John Newton, load onto transports and
sail upriver. For the soldiers of Franklin’s division,
it is a beautiful voyage. From the deck of the S. R. Spaulding, a New Yorker in Slocum’s
2nd Brigade recalled, “The journey was one that will never be forgotten by the soldiers
of that command. The banks and sloping hills were green with the heavy foliage of May,
and the beauty of the scene far exceeded anything before witnessed by the men on the soil of
old Virginia.” At first, it appears as if Franklin’s troops
have arrived in time. At 3:00 PM on May 6th, the first of Franklin’s soldiers come ashore
on pontoon boats, landing at Brick House Point, just opposite West Point. West Point is a
small river town that occupies the spit of land between the Mattapony and Pamunkey Rivers.
The first regiment to come ashore - the 27th New York under Colonel Joseph J. Bartlett,
deploys as skirmishers. Meanwhile, the rest of the division hastens to build an artificial
dock out of the pontoon boats. Everything looks prosperous for Franklin’s
First Division. The bluecoats are exactly where they needed to be to strike the Confederate
rear. A twelve-mile march might have put them at “Burnt Ordinary” by midnight. If they
make the nighttime trek, they would be astride the Confederate line of retreat.
Unfortunately, General Franklin’s men discover they aren’t alone at Brick House Point.
To their surprise, they discover that General Joe Johnston has dispatched Brigadier General
William H. C. Whiting’s Division - 11,000 strong - to Barhamsville, just six miles south
of the beachhead. Johnston does not intend to counterattack, but merely wants to use
Barhamsville as a line of retreat from Williamsburg. However, once Johnston learns of the presence
of Franklin’s division ahead of him, he feels it wise to brush it aside. Although
he tells General Whiting to “feel out” the Union beachhead, the Confederates under
Whiting’s command plan to make an aggressive attack. They would attempt to drive the Union
troops back into the York River. The 27th New York detects the Confederate
presence. As the New York skirmishers trudge into the dense woods southeast of Eltham,
they capture two soldiers belonging to the 5th Texas from Brigadier General John Bell
Hood’s Texas Brigade. Upon hearing this, General Franklin decides to hold his position
until the size of the enemy threat could be determined. With little daylight remaining,
he orders a strong picket line to advance into the woods, while the rest of his troops
bed for the night. The soldiers of 27th New York receive no opportunity
to sleep. They remain on alert all evening. In the darkness, it doesn’t take long for
Union and Confederate skirmishers to make contact with each other. At midnight, Second
Lieutenant John L. Bailey of Company D is trooping his line of pickets. He had just
stopped to speak to one of them, Corporal Henry Crocker, when he hears footsteps approaching.
Both he and Crocker grab rifles. Bailey shouts, “Halt! Who comes there?”
Two shadowy figures emerge from the brush. Both of them are Confederates. They raise
their muskets. Two shots ring out. Only Crocker and one of the Confederates have fired, but
both of them hit their targets. Crocker kills a Confederate sergeant by shooting him through
the neck, and the other shadowy figure, who happens to be Private John Cussons of the
4th Alabama, kills Lieutenant Bailey. Struck in the heart, Bailey dies instantly. He is
just twenty-six-years-old. The noise alerts the skirmish lines on both
sides. Throughout the woods, jumpy pickets begin firing at nothing, alarmed by the sound
of the two shots coming from the deadly encounter along the 27th New York’s picket line. Crocker
and his companion race back into the woods, reloading as they go. They spend the remainder
of the night in silence, awaiting an attack that never comes. The surviving Alabama soldier,
Private Cussons, likewise beats a hasty retreat. He reports the news of his deadly encounter
to his superiors. The next morning, General Franklin has Brigadier
General Newton’s 3rd Brigade posted in the woods on either side of the landing road,
supported in the rear by portions of Brigadier General Taylor’s 1st Brigade, known as the
“First New Jersey Brigade”, and Brigadier General Slocum’s 2nd Brigade.
At 7:00 AM on May 7th, 1862, the Battle of Eltham’s Landing - also known by Northerners
present at the fighting as the Battle of West Point - begins when the Federal pickets on
Newton’s front right flank from the 95th Pennsylvania start firing on the lead cavalry
pickets from Whiting’s Division. Newton immediately directs Captain William Hexamer’s
Battery A, New Jersey Artillery, with four 10-pounder Parrott rifles, to limber up and
proceed towards the threatened position. Pickets from the 95th Pennsylvania then signal the
Rebels approaching in large force, with cavalry and artillery, upon Newton’s right flank.
Colonel John M. Gosline, commanding the 95th Pennsylvania, receives orders from Brigadier
General Newton to deploy his regiment as skirmishers through the extensive and heavy woods towards
the reported Confederate positions. Colonel Gosline deploys Companies A, B, C, D, E, F,
and K, to the right and left of the Barhamsville Road leading directly through the woods, holding
the remaining three companies - G, H, and I - near the edge and center of the woods
as a reserve. Lieutenant Colonel Town commands the right wing of Federal skirmishers, while
Major Hubbs oversees the left wing and Colonel Gosline stands in the middle of his skirmish
line. The companies of the 95th Pennsylvania advance cautiously forward through the heavy
woods southwest of the building known as the Brick House.
Meanwhile, William H. C. Whiting directs Hood’s Texas Brigade - made up of the 1st, 4th, and
5th Texas Infantry Regiments along with the 18th Georgia - to advance on the the Brick
House along the Barhamsville Road and attack Newton’s pickets. Meanwhile, Brigadier General
Wade Hampton’s Brigade is ordered to detach the 19th Georgia and the Hampton Legion to
skirmish on the division’s right flank. Whiting’s Brigade under Colonel Evander
M. Law would be held in reserve. The Confederate cavalry doesn’t do Whiting’s
men any favors. Some of them had fallen asleep at their vedette posts the night before and
do nothing to guide Whiting’s infantrymen when they come passing through. General Hood
nearly loses his life because of poor reconnaissance. Around 9:00 AM, Hood finds several Confederate
cavalry scouts asleep at their posts. Paying them no mind, he marches his brigade through
the line of vedettes, stopping only when he encounters Union skirmishers of Company F,
16th New York. As Hood remembered it, “I did not discover the Federals till they were
almost close enough to shake hands.” A wide-eyed Union corporal levels his weapon at Hood,
demanding his surrender. Having a quick choice to make, surrender or run for it, Hood leaps
from his horse and orders, “Forward into line!”
Hood’s lead regiment, the 4th Texas, begins changing formation, going from column into
line of battle. The men hastily load their muskets as they make the tricky change of
formation. Earlier in the morning, Hood had given orders to march with unloaded weapons.
Now, as he stares down the barrel of a Union rifle, he greatly regrets that decision.
As Hood frantically watches his line form, the Union soldier who accosts him - Corporal
George J. Love of Company F, 16th New York - draws a bead on him. For an instant, it
looks as if Hood’s number is up. Luckily, one of his men - Private John Deal of the
4th Texas - has defied orders and marched the entire way to Brick House Point with a
loaded weapon. He fires upon Corporal Love, killing him, and saves his brigade commander’s
life. Hood’s Texas Brigade deploys in full line
of battle, pushing back two companies from the 16th New York. Companies F and G of the
16th fight hard, giving way stubbornly. Between them, they number three officers and 102 enlisted
men. During the battle, the New Yorkers lose six killed, eleven wounded, and two captured.
Colonel Gosline orders his regiment’s own skirmishers to fall back through the woods,
and they continue to fall back along the main road - still keeping up a brisk fire back
towards Hood’s Texans as they withdraw. General Hood keeps the 18th Georgia led by
Colonel William T. Wofford in reserve, then throws forward the 4th Texas as skirmishers,
supported by the 1st Texas Infantry Regiment under Colonel Alex T. Rainey. The Texans proceed
to drive the 95th Pennsylvania through the dense woods while under heavy fire.
Whiting’s brigades move to drive into the woods, pushing back the Union skirmishers
one and a half miles. When Confederate artillerists argue that the transports are beyond their
range, and with the Union infantry sheltered by a bluff, Whiting abandons the attack. This
minor engagement has lasted only two hours. General Whiting’s advance secures the Confederate
flank, permitting the uneventful passage of the wagon train.
General Johnston is pleased with the outcome. Considering the success his men enjoy in executing
the order “to feel the enemy gently and fall back,” he humorously asks Brigadier
General Hood, “What would your Texans have done, sir, if I had ordered them to charge
and drive back the enemy?” Hood replies, “I suppose, General, they would have driven
them into the river, and tried to swim out and capture the gunboats.”
In the end, the Battle of Eltham’s Landing is inconclusive. Brigadier General Franklin
has missed an excellent opportunity to intercept the Confederates’ retreat and cut them off
from their escape route towards Richmond, allowing them to fall back into their defensive
works unhindered by the Federals. McClellan would have to continue his offensive against
the Confederates overland across the Peninsula.