American Civil War

F

Invasion Plans

Lincoln agreed with McClellan that an attempt should be made to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Lincoln favored an overland invasion route. McClellan, however, insisted on moving the Army of the Potomac by water to the peninsula between the York and James rivers and attacking Richmond from the southeast. Lincoln finally consented to this plan on condition that generals Irvin McDowell and Nathaniel P. Banks be left behind for a short time with about half of the army to defend Washington, D.C.

G

Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Lincoln needed the troops in Washington, D.C., because the federal capital was threatened by Stonewall Jackson, operating with a handful of men in the Shenandoah Valley. When McClellan’s invasion began, Jackson was ordered to prevent reinforcements from reaching the Union commander. Jackson then opened a remarkable campaign, deceiving the enemy into believing he had a huge army. Even in a battle he lost at Kernstown on March 23, he convinced his adversary, General James Shields, of his strength although he had only 4200 men. By mobility and inventiveness, Jackson won victories in the valley at McDowell, Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys, and Port Republic before withdrawing to help in the defense of Richmond. Jackson’s tactics succeeded; to oppose him and the 16,000 men who fought with him for most of the campaign, the North held back 55,000 men under Banks, McDowell, and John C. Frémont, men that McClellan needed badly on the peninsula.

H

Peninsular Campaign

On April 2, 1862, McClellan arrived with 100,000 men at Fort Monroe, at the southeastern tip of the peninsula. He took Yorktown after a month’s siege but let its defenders escape. On May 31 Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston tried unsuccessfully to stop McClellan’s drive at Fair Oaks, only 10 km (6 mi) from Richmond. Johnston was wounded in the battle, and Robert E. Lee replaced him as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee’s courage and courtesy won him the warm affection of his troops. His outstanding ability as a general was to make him idolized in the South and respected and feared in the North. At times, as the war progressed, only the genius and personality of General Robert E. Lee kept the Confederate Army from crumbling.

Soon after Lee’s appointment, a series of engagements known as the Seven Days’ Battle took place, lasting from June 25 through July 1, 1862. On the second day, Union General Fitz-John Porter drove back a Confederate attack at Mechanicsville, 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Richmond. However, instead of pushing on to Richmond, McClellan began to withdraw. He ordered Porter to fall back to Gaines’s Mill. There, on June 27, a Confederate charge led by John B. Hood broke the Union center. McClellan then ordered the army to fall back on Harrison’s Landing on the James River, where he would have the cover of Union gunboats. On July 2, after sharp rear guard actions at Savage’s Station, Frayser’s Farm, and Malvern Hill, the last engagement in the Seven Days’ Battle, McClellan reached Harrison’s Landing and safety.

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The Peninsular campaign was over, with heavy losses on both sides. There were 16,000 Union casualties. Lee suffered even more, with casualties of over 20,000 men, about one-fifth of his army. However, he had stopped McClellan’s drive on Richmond. Lincoln’s administration held McClellan at fault for not having taken Richmond. McClellan blamed the administration for not having sent reinforcements.

I

Capture of New Orleans

Both North and South tended to underrate an event that took place while the country’s attention was fixed on the peninsula. To make the blockade of the South effective, the Union had to win control of New Orleans and the lower Mississippi. Early in April 1862, Flag Officer David G. Farragut started up the Mississippi with a squadron of combat ships and transports carrying 18,000 federal troops. Attempts to stop him with chain cables and fire rafts failed. Farragut pressed on past Fort Jackson and Fort Saint Philip and arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 25. He demanded the surrender of the city. Its Confederate defenders, numbering only 3000, withdrew. For the rest of the war, New Orleans, the biggest Confederate city and the key to the Mississippi, remained in Union hands. Its loss was a disaster for the Confederacy.

J

Second Battle of Bull Run

After the failure of the Peninsular campaign, Lincoln named Henry W. Halleck general-in-chief of the Union armies. The Army of Virginia was organized in June 1862. General John Pope, a former subordinate of Halleck’s, was put in command of the new army. Halleck ordered McClellan to bring his men back to Washington, where he was to join with the forces under Pope.

Lee concentrated on preventing this junction of Union armies. On August 9, 1862, Jackson attacked Pope’s advance units at Cedar Mountain, near Culpeper, Virginia, and defeated them. Pope withdrew to the north side of the Rappahannock River and waited for McClellan. Jackson, with 23,000 men, swung in a wide circle around Pope’s army. On August 26 he swooped down on the federal base at Manassas Junction, captured or destroyed supplies, and then made a stand at Manassas, the site of the First Battle of Bull Run.

On August 29, Pope with 62,000 men attacked Jackson. Jackson withstood the offensive, which was not well coordinated. Nevertheless, Pope believed that he had defeated Jackson and sent a wire to that effect to Washington. The following day, James Longstreet and Lee moved up to reinforce Jackson. Pope’s army was shattered by Longstreet’s artillery and infantry and fled in disorder. Lee pursued and tried to cut off Pope’s retreat the next day at Chantilly.

Pope, thoroughly and humiliatingly beaten, limped back to Washington. He had lost about 14,500 men to Lee’s 9200. Pope’s force was merged with the Army of the Potomac, and McClellan again was put in command of the entire force.

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