Battle of Beaver Dam Creek Battle of Beaver Dam Creek The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter-offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, which threatened the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee attempted to turn the Union right flank, north of the Chickahominy River, with troops under Maj. Gen. Thomas
Battle of Cabin Creek intentions of Watie's force from captured Confederate soldiers. Watie's battle line extended around one mile either side of the crossing in trenches dug into the brush lining the creek. Owing to the unusually high water level in the creek, which reached above shoulder height, Williams chose to delay his attack on the Confederates until the following day and corralled his wagons defensively on a nearby prairie. Williams ordered a half-hour artillery bombardment before launching an assault with the Third Indian Home Guard. They failed to make it across the now waist-deep creek, pushed back by heavy Confederate fire, and so