First Railway Gun Used in Warfare - Henrico Co., VA
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archway
N 37° 31.825 W 077° 18.792
18S E 295604 N 4156230
The first railroad gun was used by the Confederacy against the Union army at the Battle of Savage's Station June 29, 1862. Its path to the battlefield passed through the station once located in Fair Oaks.
Waymark Code: WM7YVD
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/25/2009
Views: 1
The first known use of an armored railway gun occurred during the battle of Savage's Station on June 29th, 1862, part of the Seven Days Battles. The Confederate weapon, nicknamed the "Land Merrimack", was a 32-pounder Brooke naval rifle mounted on a flat car armored with railroad iron. The gun was pushed by a locomotive along the Richmond and York River railroad, and its shells reached as far as the field hospital at the rear of the Union line. General Robert E. Lee's weapon was far superior to anything the Union artillery possessed, but the Confederate attack was undermined by Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder's decision to commit only part of his troops to the battle and by Stonewall Jackson's delay at the Chickahominy River. The battle ended in a stalemate and the Union army withdrew to the south.
The railway battery was designed by Lt. John M. Brooke of the C.S. Navy. General Robert E. Lee had submitted the idea to the Confederate ordnance and requested that it be built immediately. The gun was delivered just five days before the battle of Savage's Station. Its impact on the battle is unknown, but the Union army was impressed enough to copy the design. Later in the war, the Union army used the "Dictator" in the Siege of Petersburg. The Dictator could fire 200 pound shells a distance of three miles.
The Virginia highway marker at this location reads as follows:
Fair Oaks Station (W-7)
This intersection of the Richmond and York River Railroad with the Nine Mile Road became one of Henrico County's best-known landmarks during the Civil War. Fair Oaks Station lay on the north side of the junction. As part of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate attack at Seven Pines on 31 May 1862, his troops under Brig. Gen. Richard H. Anderson passed here as they assaulted the Union right. On 29 June 1862, an innovative Confederate artillery piece was pushed past the intersection by a locomotive and used during the Battle of Savage's Station. It consisted of a siege gun mounted on a flatcar behind a shield of rails. This was the first use of railroad artillery in warfare.
A companion sign mentioning this FIRST is also located at the battlefield of Savage's Station (Visit Waymark)
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