Qualla: Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farms

Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farms: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. By the morning of June 27, 1862, the Army of the Potomac was already half-trapped along the muddy banks of the Chickahominy. Two corps stood south of the river; three stood north, and Robert E. Lee, four weeks into his command of the Army of Northern Virginia, intended to destroy the northern wing at Gaines's Mill. The fighting at Garnett's and Golding's farms, two days of small clashes on the south bank, looks at first like a footnote. It killed and wounded six hundred men. And it whispered something into George McClellan's ear that would change the entire campaign: you are being attacked from two sides.

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain

Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farms: Lee Takes the Initiative

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Richmond was the prize. McClellan had landed his army on the peninsula and pushed it within sight of the Confederate capital. By the end of May, his forces straddled the Chickahominy, two Union corps to the south, three to the north. On May 31, Joseph E. Johnston tried to crush t...

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain

Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farms: The Diversion South of the River

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. While that battle raged, John B. Magruder, a theatrical Virginian who had bluffed his way through the early peninsula campaign, held the line south of the Chickahominy. James M. Garnett's farm sat on bluffs above the river near Old Tavern. Nearby, Simon Gouldin's Golding's Plain ...

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain

Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farms: Golding's Farm and McClellan's Mind

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. On the morning of June 28, Jones suspected the Union forces were withdrawing from around Golding's house, and authorized Toombs to push forward and check. Once again Toombs turned the order into an attack, dragging some of Anderson's regiments with him. The VI Corps was waiting. ...

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain

Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farms: A Small Battle, A Large Consequence

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Magruder's diversion accomplished almost nothing on the ground. The maps drawn up later by the American Battlefield Protection Program show a few hundred acres of bluff, ravine, and farm field around what is now suburban Henrico County, hemmed in by interstate and subdivision. Bu...

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain