Battle of White Oak Swamp - Sandston, VA
Posted by: 
archway
N 37° 28.150 W 077° 12.551
18S E 304637 N 4149212
Stonewall Jackson's attempt to cross White Oak Swamp was thwarted by Union artillery fire, a delay that prevented his participation at the Battle of Glendale.
Waymark Code: WM7XVM
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/20/2009
Views: 7
During the Seven Days Battles, Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac retreated to safety at the James River. Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered Stonewall Jackson and his men to attack the Union rear guard at White Oak Swamp while Lee and the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia attacked at Glendale.
The Union rear guard, the VI Corps commanded by Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin, crossed White Oak Swamp ahead of Jackson and destroyed the bridge. Jackson's unit was slowed by prisoners and provisions acquired previously at Savage's Station. Jackson couldn't rebuild the bridge due to fire from Union sharpshooters. An artillery duel took place until nightfall, too late to reinforce Lee at Glendale. Jackson's engineers rebuilt the bridge at a different location and crossed the following day, but the Union army had taken a superior position at Malvern Hill following the stalemate at Glendale.
The battlefield marker reads as follows:
Here on June 30, 1862, “Stonewall” Jackson’s command, pursuing McClellan’s army was halted by fire from troops of Franklin’s corps posted across the stream. Failing to effect a crossing, Jackson could not participate in the converging attacks Lee planned to deliver that day near Glendale.