Battle of Beaver Dam Creek - Definition and Overview

The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson’s Mill, took place on June 26, 1862 in Hanover County, Virginia as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War.

It was the second of the Seven Days’ Battles. Gen. Robert E. Lee initiated his offensive against McClellan’s right flank north of the Chickahominy River. A.P. Hill threw his division, reinforced by one of D.H. Hill’s brigades, into a series of futile assaults against Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter’s V Corps, which was drawn up behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley divisions, however, were approaching from the northwest, forcing Porter to withdraw the next morning to a position behind Boatswain Creek just beyond Gaines’ Mill.

References

• CWSAC Battle Summaries, National Park Service (http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/bycampgn.htm)