Battle of Seven Pines

Battle context

The Battle of Seven Pines was fought in Henrico County, Virginia on May 31–June 1, 1862, as part of the Peninsula Campaign. The engagement involved roughly 34,000 Union troops under George B. McClellan, with corps commanded by Erasmus D. Keyes, Samuel P. Heintzelman, and Edwin V. Sumner, opposing approximately 39,000 Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston, with James Longstreet, D. H. Hill, and G. W. Smith among the principal subordinates. Both sides suffered substantial losses — 5,431 Union and 6,134 Confederate casualties — making it one of the costlier engagements of the Peninsula Campaign to that point. The battle's most consequential result was the wounding of Confederate commander Johnston, which led to a change in Confederate army leadership during the campaign, a development with significant implications for subsequent operations in the defense of Richmond.