Seven Days’ Battle, Virginia. With strategic skill, Lee manages to marshal several forces, including Stonewall Jackson’s troops, on Mechanicsville, near Richmond, via armored trains. Two successive Confederate charges are repelled with immense losses. General Hill observes: “It’s magnificent, but it’s not war.” Further attacks follow, and finally, late that night, it’s the turn of General Hood’s Texans, who force the bluecoats back. It’s a narrow victory for the graycoats. The Northerners have lost 4,001 killed and 2,836 wounded, but the Southern losses are enormous: 8,751 men and several officers, including Roberdeau Wheat, the hero of Bull Run and a fighter with Garibaldi’s Thousand on the Volturno.
