Battle of Eltham's Landing

Other Names: Barhamsville, West Point

Location: New Kent County, Virginia

Campaign: Peninsula Campaign (March-September 1862)

Date: May 7, 1862

Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin [US]; Maj. Gen. Gustavius W. Smith [CS]

Forces Engaged: 11,300 [US]; 11,000 [CS]

Casualties and losses: 242 total (US 194; CS 48)

Result(s): Inconclusive

Brief Description:

Franklin's Union division landed at Eltham's Landing and was attacked by two brigades of Smith's command, reacting to the threat to the Confederate army's trains on the Barhamsville Road. Franklin's movement occurred while the Confederate army was withdrawing from the Williamsburg line. As a second brigade followed Hood on his left, the Union troops retreated from the woods to the plain before the landing, seeking cover from the fire of Federal gunboats. Whiting employed artillery fire against the gunboats, but his guns had insufficient range, so he disengaged around 2 p.m. Although the action was tactically inconclusive, Franklin missed an opportunity to intercept the Confederate retreat from Williamsburg, allowing it to pass unmolested.