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Beaver Dam Creek

Core Battlefield Land Saved: In the Fall of 2012, the Richmond Battlefields Association purchased one of the few remaining tracts of core battlefield land at Beaver Dam Creek, site of the the first major engagement of the Seven Days' Battles. It was here that Confederate Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill threw his "Light Division" into a series of costly, futile assaults against the fortified positions of Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's Union V Corps.

Building on this foundational successs, the RBA acquired an additional 11 acres across the creek in late 2025. These combined RBA-protected lands now sit adjacent to Beaver Dam Creek Unit of the Richmond National Battlefield Park, establishing a vital, contiguous corridor of preserved history for futiure generations.

RBA Property

June 26, 1862

The Union V Corps occupied an isolated position on the north bank of the Chickahominy River near Mechanicsville. In a daring gamble, Gen. Robert E. Lee left only two divisions at Seven Pines and massed 65,000 troops to strike the Union army's exposed right flank.

As dusk approached, Lee pushed his last fresh divisions against the Union left, unleashing 32,000 men in a powerful assault. On the ground now preserved by RBA, units from the brigades of Pender, then Fields, and finally Ripley withstood punishing artillery and musketry fire from the fortified Federal lines while awaiting Stonewall Jackson's arrivl from the north.

Although the intended turning movement never materialized, the threat of Jackson’s presence forced a Federal retreat. Learning that Jackson had reached his flank, Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter directed the V Corps to abandon the creek and retire to a new defensive line at Gaines' Mill behind Boatswain Creek.

Beaver Dam Photo

Beaver Dam Creek Battlefield. View from Cold Harbor Road (facing north). The land preserved by RBA is on the left.

acres saved

Above: The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek by Alfred Waud (LC-USZC4-5882).

BDC Tour

RBA members brave the rain to hear historian Michael Andrus describe the 1862 battle on land they helped save at Beaver Dam Creek (June 2013).

Mechanicsville

Also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville (LC-DIG-ppmsca-12616).

Ellerson's Mill

Ellerson's Mill was a prominent feature on the battlefield (LC-USZ62-105374).

Woodcut

Federal soldiers firing from a well-prepared position behind Beaver Dam Creek (Battles & Leaders).