Last updated: April 13, 2025
Place
Glendale Battlefield and National Cemetery
NPS
You are now at Glendale National Cemetery, established in 1866. The soldiers laid to rest here were originally buried on nearby battlefields — including Glendale, Malvern Hill, and other sites within a 15-mile radius before being reinterred in this national cemetery. While Richmond National Battlefield Park has preserved over 685 acres of land associated with the Battle of Glendale (also known as the Battle of Frayser’s Farm) these battlefield grounds and surrounding areas are not currently open to the public.
The Battle of Glendale was General Lee’s best opportunity to encircle and destroy the Army of the Potomac. Lee’s Confederate forces were closer in number to their United States adversaries than they would ever be again, and General McClellan’s large army was spread out along miles of country roads leading toward their destination at Harrison’s Landing on the James River.
Disorganized from the fighting of the previous days, and in motion, the Army of the Potomac was at its most vulnerable on June 30th. At the crossroads of Glendale, multiple roads converged from all directions. Lee’s plan was to split his army into five attacking columns and strike McClellan’s army from every direction as it passed the crossroads.
Lee tasked five of his commanders – Generals Jackson, Huger, Magruder, Longstreet, and Holmes – with leading their soldiers in separate attacking columns that would disperse across the countryside and all converge at the same time and place to strike at the Army of the Potomac as it moved through Glendale.
Lee’s complicated plan for a coordinated attack quickly fell apart. To the northeast, General Jackson failed to take the initiative to cross White Oak Swamp in the face of tepid resistance, and never joined the attack. To the north, General Huger was halted by obstacles left in the road by United States forces along their retreat to slow down their pursuers. He did not manage to remove the obstructions and clear the way in time to join the fight. General Magruder was ordered to bring his troops to one part of the battlefield, then another, and spent the battle marching and countermarching, never arriving in position to attack. Divisions of Confederates commanded by General Longstreet and General A.P. Hill arrived, as planned, east of the defensive line set up by a rear guard of soldiers from General Porter’s Fifth Corps. The Confederates on the scene initiated an attack around 2 p.m., and for the third time in four days, Porter’s men faced a frontal assault by Confederate attackers. At the southern part of the battlefield, General Holmes’s progress was stopped by Porter’s defensive positions and artillery fire from U.S. Navy ships within view on the James River.
Instead of a five-part converging attack force, Lee instead ended up with a force of about 45,000 attackers, facing approximately 40,000 opponents head on. Thus resulting in a face-to-face slugfest of opposing lines, trading musket and cannon fire, charges and countercharges.
After hours of violent but inconclusive combat, the sun set and Porter’s defenders were able to withdraw from the battlefield and continue their march southward. Both sides lost about 4,000 men each killed, wounded, and captured. Glendale was a victory for United States forces, who were not encircled and destroyed, and only briefly delayed in continuing their march toward their new James River base of operations.
The Battle of Glendale was a hard learned lesson for leaders who were exercising command on a scale they had never experienced before, a lesson of what can go wrong when complex planning meets unpredictable reality.
Head to your final two stops.
The Battle of Glendale was General Lee’s best opportunity to encircle and destroy the Army of the Potomac. Lee’s Confederate forces were closer in number to their United States adversaries than they would ever be again, and General McClellan’s large army was spread out along miles of country roads leading toward their destination at Harrison’s Landing on the James River.
Disorganized from the fighting of the previous days, and in motion, the Army of the Potomac was at its most vulnerable on June 30th. At the crossroads of Glendale, multiple roads converged from all directions. Lee’s plan was to split his army into five attacking columns and strike McClellan’s army from every direction as it passed the crossroads.
Lee tasked five of his commanders – Generals Jackson, Huger, Magruder, Longstreet, and Holmes – with leading their soldiers in separate attacking columns that would disperse across the countryside and all converge at the same time and place to strike at the Army of the Potomac as it moved through Glendale.
Lee’s complicated plan for a coordinated attack quickly fell apart. To the northeast, General Jackson failed to take the initiative to cross White Oak Swamp in the face of tepid resistance, and never joined the attack. To the north, General Huger was halted by obstacles left in the road by United States forces along their retreat to slow down their pursuers. He did not manage to remove the obstructions and clear the way in time to join the fight. General Magruder was ordered to bring his troops to one part of the battlefield, then another, and spent the battle marching and countermarching, never arriving in position to attack. Divisions of Confederates commanded by General Longstreet and General A.P. Hill arrived, as planned, east of the defensive line set up by a rear guard of soldiers from General Porter’s Fifth Corps. The Confederates on the scene initiated an attack around 2 p.m., and for the third time in four days, Porter’s men faced a frontal assault by Confederate attackers. At the southern part of the battlefield, General Holmes’s progress was stopped by Porter’s defensive positions and artillery fire from U.S. Navy ships within view on the James River.
Instead of a five-part converging attack force, Lee instead ended up with a force of about 45,000 attackers, facing approximately 40,000 opponents head on. Thus resulting in a face-to-face slugfest of opposing lines, trading musket and cannon fire, charges and countercharges.
After hours of violent but inconclusive combat, the sun set and Porter’s defenders were able to withdraw from the battlefield and continue their march southward. Both sides lost about 4,000 men each killed, wounded, and captured. Glendale was a victory for United States forces, who were not encircled and destroyed, and only briefly delayed in continuing their march toward their new James River base of operations.
The Battle of Glendale was a hard learned lesson for leaders who were exercising command on a scale they had never experienced before, a lesson of what can go wrong when complex planning meets unpredictable reality.
Head to your final two stops.