The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-02-08
SUNDAY, FBRRuA4.Y $, 1908.
SEVEN PINES.


the people Of the purpose Of tho Rich
mond Passenger and Power Company to
Y make the battlefield of Seven Pines
h more attractive to visitors than it ever
has been. ii
The Seven Pines road of that company
ls a part OF the street-car system OF this
;ity and makes that spot more accessl-
BILE than any other OF the dozen fields
In the vicinity Of Richmond. In fact, 1t
Is the only one that Is very much visit
I ID; the rest not having the advantage
ola trolley line running to them.
Seven Pines is but six miles from
here How 1t got its name is a mystery
In that respect, at least, it Is like Its
neighbor- Cold Harbor.
The earliest mention OF Seven Pines
30 far as we know, occurs In the records
81 Henrico, 17$s,Ewhen Jos. Mayo, gen
ueman."" was ordered to take a list Of
III the tltheables from Cornelius across
70 the Seven Pines and upward to the
chickahominy Swamp and James river
70 the upper bounds Of this county,
One of the traditions as to the origin
of the name. Seven Pines. is that seven
pines once grew there from common
root upon al farm which marked the
junction Of twso roads, the old Williams
burg and the Nine Mile Road.
That is not q very credible story, but
there arei.no living witnesses to contra
dict 1t! Likely as not the name was
given simply because seven plain. COM
monpleace pines stood in conspicuous
position there and from them surveyors
may have taken their courses and land
lords marked the boundaries Of their
plantations.
While the Confederates always called
this battlefield Seven Pines" our friend,
the enemy, called 1t "Fair Oaks from
nearby station on the Aork river rail-
road. The surface of the ground is but
slightly undulating in that vicinity.
while the Chlckahomny with its swamps
and tangled underground Is not far
distant. But tho country thereabout
must have looked lovely enough in May
1859, covered as 1t was with fresh verdure
and blooming with wld-flowers. Tran
quill, too. 1t was until the two maddened
hosts began to come together and shake
s the earth with their artillery and stain
natures carpet of green with blood.
McClelan's army occupied a line which
ran across the Chickahonliny; his right
To- $40 toe, 1ia. lie, laff
Pines. Seeing him in that position. Cen
eral Johnston planned to fall upon Nc.
Clellan's force south of the. Chckahom-
my and crush 1t before relief could
come from the other side. D. II. HILL,
Longstreet, Huger and G.. w. Smith were
the Confederate Division commanders,
4 but their attack. which was to have been
begun early in the morning, was unfor-
Which time the enemy was fully aware
OF our movement and prepared for It,
However heavy rain had fallen the
night bGoreJl.and d raised the stream
and this prevented them from got
ting reinforcements until the evening,
The battle of the 31st, continued into
next day, was drcadfully bloody but in
decisive, though each side lost more than
five thousand men. It's consequences
were far-reaching, too, for on that field
General Johnston was wounded and Cen
eral Lee succeeded him in command, no
more to sunder his relations with the
Army of Northern Virginia until THAT
dismal day at AppomattoX, when occur
red the most pathetic parting recorded in
history as taking plac between gen.
eral and his army.
1t used to be said here that not until
the battle of Seven Pines took place did
the Confederate authorities really under
stand the magnitude of the conflict be-
fore them. Such military hospitals as
we had in this city were already crowd
ed with men wounded at williamsburg
and with the sick. and though large new
zones were being built, they were no
quite ready.
So our hospital Accommodations proved
strightfully inadequate. But the sym
T. polhy SiiH PdaipNAo't@ VI tilS Iilell 2tilS
women Of Richmond rose to a sublim
height to meet the emergency. Wit
their carriages and wagons they helpe
to bring the wounded into the city, an,
such soldiers as the military hospital
could not receive they made room for Il
their homes. Churches. too. were con
verted into emergency hospitals. Blu
with all that they and the military au
thorities could do. the night OF May Bis
closed with many OF our wounded sol
diers lying by the roadside between seve
Pines and Richmond, while some la
In our parks or upon our sidewalks unit
beds could be found for them.
Alas. that was a dreadful time her
Tin Richmond! But one good result o
It was that the Confederate Government
went to work with hve-fold more enere
Il than before to provide hospital accomo
dationa. And It was not long befor
they We're all needed AS for Lee, h
stsoon mustered here tho largest arm
the Confederacy ever had and in abou
a month fell upon Mcclellan at Mo
4 fxal,o ,lnc. 10 M