The Battle of Hanover Court House was a battle of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War which occurred on 27 May 1862 in Hanover County, Virginia. The Union V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Fitz John Porter, defeated Lawrence O'Bryan Branch's smaller Confederate force as it attempted to cut off a Union reinforcement route at Hanover Court House.
Background[]
The Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his 60,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia from the Peninsula towards Richmond and formed a defensive line along the James River centered at Drewry's Bluff. His men burned most of the bridges over the Chickahominy River and settled into strong defensive positions north and east of the Confederate capital of Richmond. Meanwhile, the Union general George B. McClellan and his 105,000-strong Army of the Potomac advanced on Richmond, and he decided to push up the Pamunkey River to outflank Johnston from the left and await the arrival of Irvin McDowell's I Corps from Fredericksburg. By the end of May, a third of the Army of the Potomac was located to the south of the Chickahominy, while the other two-thirds were positioned to the north.
At the same time, McClellan overheard a rumor that a Confederate force of 17,000 troops was marching to Hanover Court House, north of Mechanicsville, posing a threat to his right flank and the arrival of McDowell's reinforcements. McClellan ordered Fitz John Porter and his 12,000-strong V Corps to deal with the potential threat, which cavalry reconnaissance estimated to be a mere 6,000-strong army. The Union army met Lawrence O'Bryan Branch's Confederate force of 4,000 men, including the 7th, 18th, 28th, and 7th North Carolina Infantry Regiments and the 45th Georgia. At noon on 27 May, the two armies met in battle at Hanover Court House. The Confederate regiments attacked Gabriel Milliner's 1st Division from all sides, with the Confederate skirmishers inflicting heavy losses on the unprotected Union artillery and wounding Brigadier-General Jack Gibson, but the arrival of Union reinforcements turned the tide. The commander of the 22nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment was killed in action, the 7th North Carolina surrendered, and two Confederate skirmisher battalions surrendered in the face of Union cavalry charges. The Confederates were defeated, but the Union defeat at the First Battle of Winchester during Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign led to the cancellation of McDowell's march south and his return to Fredericksburg, and McClellan's refusal to attack Johnston until Porter's return led to Johnston launching an offensive which culminated in the Battle of Seven Pines.