Following the Siege of Yorktown, Battles of Williamsburg and West Point, along with the Union Navy's failed assault against Drewry's Bluff, the Federal forces of Major General George B. McClellan were making progress in their Spring 1862 campaign to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.
By May 23, the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry was camped at Goodly Hole Creek on the north bank of the Chickahominy River in Hanover County, Virginia. They were approximately eight miles north of Richmond, so close they could even hear the church bells ringing from the distant city, while they performed their service as “pioneers.”
During the week, the Minnesotans, assigned to Gorman's Brigade of Sedgwick's Second Division of the Second Corps, were tasked with building one of four bridges across the Chickahominy in order for the Army of the Potomac to make a crossing to descend on Richmond. Their bridge was considered the “upper” bridge, with the Fifth New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, assigned to Howard's Brigade of Richardson's First Division of the Second Corps, leading the construction of a lower bridge a few miles away. There were three other bridges already built, plus a railroad bridge, all within 12 miles of their position. Two other bridges were constructed by different Corps further upstream.
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