Malvern Hill

Malvern Hill in the 1880s. Note the former slave cabins on the left, which marked the point of furthest Confederate advance near twilight.

Malvern Hill today. The former slave cabins would have been along the edge of the trees past the second cannon from the left. The trees mask a ravine that was basically impenetrable to the Confederate troops, forcing them into the long gentle slope of the hill.

Click here for the larger picture.

At Malvern Hill, the Union troops set up about 40 cannons along the crest of the hill. giving them an clear sweep of the terrain for about a mile. Repeated Confederate attacks under Robert E. Lee never seriously threatened this strong position, while attacks on either flank also failed. The left flank was protected by steep cliffs, the right flank by swampy broken ground. By the end of the battle, 5,000 Confederate soldiers lay dead and wounded out on the fields of Malvern Hill.

While the Confederates lost the battle of Malvern Hill, McClellan, against the advice of some of his generals, chose not to counterattack the no longer cohesive Confederate army, but instead retreated toward Harrison's Landing, and thereby ending the Seven Days Battles.

The Willis Church Parsonage, show below, is just off the extreme right of this panorama, along the woods in the distance.

The parsonage at the foot of Malvern Hill, on the Union Right. Confederate troops moved from right to left in this picture, across these fields, as Lee observed from a blacksmith's building just to the left of this picture.

The same location today.

The arrow marks the location of the chimneys of the parsonage, which burned down about 30 years ago. Colonel Gaston Meares was killed in the yard of this parsonage at the base of Malvern Hill, and D.H. Hill met with his officers near this house as the attack began.

Posted by Indiana Reb on: Wednesday 8th November 2006, 4:00 PM