ON THIS DAY IN MILITARY HISTORY – June 26 1862, VIRGINIA, LAND WAR: The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek/Mechanicsville/Ellerson’s Mill. When General Robert E.Lee took command of Confederate forces outside the Confederate capital of Richmond earlier this month, he faced an enormous strategic problem. His 70,000 men faced a Union army of more than 100,000 men under George B. McClellan. Lee’s army, which he had named the Army of Northern Virginia, was entrenched just outside the capital – within sight of the city’s spires. With characteristic audacity Lee decided that offense was the best way to relieve Union pressure and began a series of attacks – known as the Seven days’ Campaign (June 25-July 1). Lee ordered Stuart to conduct a cavalry reconnaissance, which reported that McClellan had moved four corps south of the Chickahominy, leaving only one corps on the north bank near Mechanicsville, protecting the Union supply base at White House Landing on the Pamunkey River. Lee planned to attack the right flank of McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, V Corps under Fitz John Porter, which was separated from the rest of the Union army by the rain-swollen Chickahominy River. The Battle of Mechanicsville today is the second of the Seven Days’ Campaign. Confederate General A.P. Hill attacks with his division, reinforced by one of D.H. Hill’s brigades, against Porter’s V Corps deployed behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks are driven back with heavy casualties. Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley divisions, however, are approaching from the northwest, forcing Porter to withdraw the next morning to a position north of Chickahominy. The battle is a Union victory, the Confederates losing 1,300 men, the Federals 400. 1941, POLITICS, FINLAND: Finland declares war on the Soviet Union and launches an attack on the 29th. The Finns aim to recapture the territory lost to the Soviets during the Russo-Finnish War. When they finally achieve this objective, Adolf Hitler asks Marshal Karl von Mannerheim, the Finnish leader, to help Germany besiege Leningrad, but he refuses. EASTERN FRONT, SOVIET UNION: The Fortress at Brest-Litovsk is taken after fierce resistance, while the important crossing of the Bug River by Army Group Center begins on the 26th. This group’s initial objective is Minsk. The fast-moving panzers encircle Red Army units at Bialystok, Novogrudok, and Volkovysk, leaving them open to destruction by follow-on infantry forces. Unimaginative Soviet liner defensive tactics and weak divisions are proving vulnerable to rapid German panzer advances, especially on the flanks. In addition, Germany’s total aerial superiority has led to heavy Red Army losses.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 17:40:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015