McClellan’s First Line
Posted by: 
archway
N 37° 31.405 W 077° 18.902
18S E 295423 N 4155457
This historical marker is located on U.S. 60 about 300 feet east of the Sandston post office on the north side of the highway.
Waymark Code: WM71K5
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/19/2009
Views: 3
The area around Sandston was the site of the Battle of Seven Pines, part the Peninsula Campaign that took place during the Civil War.
The inscription on the marker reads as follows:
Union Brig. Gen. Silas Casey held both sides of the road here on 31 May 1862, in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s first defensive line at Seven Pines. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a dawn attack, but his lieutenants acted slowly. Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill waited with his division about a mile west of here for the sound of gunfire to the south that was his signal to move. Exasperated by the delay, he assaulted on his own at 1 P.M. and smashed through Casey’s position to McClellan’s second line, but a lack of support combined with the arrival of fresh Union troops halted the attack. That evening, Johnston fell wounded and Gen. Robert E. Lee replaced him the next day.