"Glendale" is the euphonious name given by Mr. Nelson to his farm, which is located two miles south of White-Oak Swamp. It is a place where several roads meet; from the north, the Swamp road; from the east, the Long-Bridge road; from the south, the road leading to Malvern Hill; from the southwest, the Newmarket road; from the northwest, the Charles City road, leading to Richmond. There are farm-houses, groves, ravines, wheat-fields waving with grain. Upon the Malvern road, there is a church. West of the church, a half-mile, is the mansion of Mr. Frazier, where the Rebel lines were formed on the 30th of June.
At sunrise on that morning, all the divisions of the Union army were south of the swamp. Richardson and Smith, with Naglee's brigade, of Casey's division, were guarding the passage at the swamp. Slocum was on the Charles City road, northwest of the church. Kearney was between that road and the Newmarket road. McCall was on the Newmarket road, with Hooker and Sedgwick behind him, nearer the church.
Porter and Keyes were at Malvern with the trains, two miles distant.
Lee divided his army. Jackson, D. H. Hill, and Ewell followed McClellan down the Swamp road; while A. P. Hill, Longstreet, Huger, Magruder, and Holmes made all haste down the Charles City road from Richmond, to strike McClellan on the flank and divide his army. The President of the Confederacy went out with A. P. Hill to see the Union army cut to pieces.
Jackson reached the bridge across the sluggish stream in the swamp, but it was torn up; and on the southern bank stood Smith and Richardson. Hazard's, Ayres's, and Pettit's batteries were in position. Jackson brought up all his guns. There was a fierce artillery fight, lasting through the day. Jackson succeeded in getting a small infantry force across towards evening, but it was not strong enough to make an attack, and nothing came of all his efforts to harass the rear.
During the afternoon, the pickets on the Charles City road discovered A. P. Hill's troops filing off from the road, west of Frazier's farm, toward the south. They went across the fields, and through the woods to the Newmarket road. While the main body was thus taking position, a small body of infantry and a battery opened fire upon Slocum; but he had cut down the forest in his front, forming an impassable barrier, so that he was secure from attack.
General McCall formed his division of six thousand men, with Meade's brigade, north of the road, Seymour's south of it, and Reynolds's,—commanded in this battle by Colonel Simmons,—in reserve. He had five batteries,—Randall's on the right, Kerns's and Cooper's in the center, and Dietrich's and Kanerhun's on the left,—all in front of his infantry, looking down a gentle slope upon an open field; on the west there was a brook, fringed with a forest growth, with the farm of Mr. Frazier beyond.
It was half past two before Hill was ready to make the attack. He threw out two regiments as skirmishers, which advanced to feel of McCall's lines; but they were repulsed by the Seventh and Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserves. Hill had twelve brigades, six of his own and six of Longstreet's. Magruder and Huger had not arrived. His plan was to strike with all his force at once.
Brigade after brigade advanced, but recoiled before the direct fire of the batteries, sustained by the infantry.