Charge: McClellan's Peninsula Campaign: Line of Battle, #7

By Nick Vulich

Charge: McClellan's Peninsula Campaign outlines the battle and explains how it came about. In less than an hour, you will meet the main participants, understand Union and Confederate troop movements, and learn more about the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Fair Oaks.

For those readers who want to know more and understand how contemporary readers learned about the battle, we included the original accounts published in contemporary newspapers. It's not the complete story, but enough to bring you up to speed, understand the issues of the day, and maybe encourage you to explore more on your own.

Each book includes a timeline to help you see the bigger picture so you can watch events unfold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Vulich
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223566588

Book preview

Charge

McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign

Line of Battle – Book 7

Copyright © 2019 / 2023 Line of Battle

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Table of Contents

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Forward

Timeline

Participants

Peninsula Campaign

Progress of the Siege

More About Yorktown

Heintzelman’s Battle of Williamsburg

Battle of Fair Oaks

Footnotes

Forward

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A feeling of giddiness enveloped the entire country as the Army of the Potomac marched off to the peninsula. By the time the army assembled at Fort Monroe, it was over 120,000 men strong—the largest force ever assembled on the continent. Union supporters assumed the sight of all those men would scare the rebels back into the fold—possibly without firing a shot. Even politicians found themselves lulled into a false sense of security. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was so sure McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign would end the war that he suspended recruiting on April 3rd.

The New York Herald bubbled over with enthusiasm. Soon, Richmond will be in the hands of McClellan without a blow, and the insurgent army in full retreat to the cotton states, a demoralized, disorganized mob.[1]

The outcome didn’t need to be said, but they said it anyway. Joseph Johnston will be compelled to turn [a] round and face the music, and thus end the war by suffering an overwhelming defeat on the decisive battlefield.[2]

It sounded good, but... they should have bet their money on another General. George McClellan went all the way. He got to within four miles of Richmond, got cold feet, and turned around. He blamed it on a lack of men, but a lack of cojones was more like it.

The Army of the Potomac could have whipped the rebels at Yorktown or even at Williamsburg, then marched all the way through to Richmond, but McClellan couldn’t bring himself to do it. He kept seeing rebel grey everywhere he looked.

There were so many lost opportunities. So many false starts. When the army first arrived outside of Yorktown, fewer than 15,000 troops defended the rebel fortifications there. 

General John Magruder had 10,000 to 11,000 men packed in the main fortifications at Yorktown and another 4,000 spread out over a series of smaller forts spanning the twelve miles from the James River to the York River. He skillfully marched them back and forth, making Little Mac think he had four or five times that number—if not more.

If McClellan had followed Abraham Lincoln’s advice and attacked Yorktown immediately instead of laying siege to the city, he could have pushed the rebels to Richmond in less than a week. By entrenching, he gave Joseph Johnston time to march in with 45,000 troops to reinforce Magruder. 

If any campaign could end the war, the Peninsula Campaign was it. McClellan’s plan was a good one.

The only weak point—if there was one—was if the Confederate army chose to abandon Richmond, they could reach Washington many days before any large portion of the Yorktown army could overtake them.[3] But that would never happen, just like the Union would never give up Washington.

No one understood. They were only cities. You could run the government from anywhere. Everyone was so caught up in keeping enough troops in Washington or Richmond they missed the whole point. Cities don’t fight wars—men do.

If McClellan had even half the troops Lincoln and Stanton kept back to defend Washington, he could have given the Confederates hell—despite his cautious nature.

The Muscatine Journal (Iowa) had a different view. They didn't want to say anything bad about McClellan, but... It must be apparent to everyone that he is not the man for the position. Disaster and defeat have marked his career ever since he was recalled from the Army of Western Virginia to the Army of the Potomac. If not grossly incompetent, he is marvelously unlucky.[4]

This book is a quick history of General George McClellan’s ill-fated Peninsula Campaign. In less than an hour, you will meet the major players, learn how the battle came about, and understand the significance of the Peninsula Campaign. For readers who want to know more, I’ve included the first complete reports of the battles as they appeared in The New York Tribune, the Chicago Daily Tribune, and The New York Evening Post. While not entirely accurate, they let you experience the war the way contemporary readers learned about it.

Let’s get started ...

Timeline

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March 1.

George McClellan begins his ill-fated Peninsular campaign.

March 8.

Confederate General Joseph Johnson withdraws his troops from Manassas and Centreville.

March 11.

Abraham Lincoln removes General George McClellan as general in chief of the army. Instead of naming a successor, Lincoln orders the department commanders to report to the Secretary of War. Surprisingly, Lincoln lets Little Mac retain command of the Army of the Potomac.

When Union troops reoccupy Manassas, they discover the Confederate forces there are not as strong as General McClellan led them to believe. Many of the guns are Quaker Guns, logs painted black to look like real guns.

March 13.

McClellan’s troops begin boarding transports for the trip to Fortress Monroe.

April 4.

Army of the Potomac marches out of Fortress Monroe.

April 5.

The two armies skirmish at Lee’s Mills, near the junction of the Warwick and Yorktown Roads.

April 16.

The Battle of Lee’s Mill is the first of many confrontations in General George McClellan’s Peninsular campaign. It is more of a skirmish than anything as battles go—the Confederates post seven casualties to the Union’s twelve. The rebels position a three-gun battery upstream from the dam, although only one of the guns (a six-pounder) can be brought to play during the fight. After surveying the site, Brigadier General Erasmus Keyes, IV determines, no part of this line as far as discovered can be taken by assault without an enormous waste of life. McClellan changes his plans and begins a siege on the Warwick-Yorktown line instead.

April 22.

General Franklin arrives at the York River. His army is supposed to make a naval landing near West Point to distract the enemy while the main attack occurs at Yorktown.

May 4.

Confederate troops abandon their fortifications at Yorktown and fall back on Williamsburg.

May 5.

The Battle of Williamsburg (also known as Fort Magruder) is part of McClellan’s Peninsular campaign. Confederate forces abandon the fort and continue their withdrawal to Richmond. Both sides sustain heavy casualties—1682 for the Confederates compared to 2283 for the Union.

May 6.

The nation becomes over-optimistic after the Union victories at Yorktown and Williamsburg. The Muscatine Weekly Journal (Iowa) declares, General McClellan has now got the enemy just where he wants them. Many people think the war will end within a few weeks.

May 8.

Early in 1862, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston sends Stonewall Jackson and his foot cavalry into the Shenandoah Valley with orders to prevent Union soldiers there from reinforcing McClellan’s Peninsular campaign. Edward Alleghany Johnson attacks the Union troops as they climb the western slope of Sitlington’s Hill. Johnson outnumbers the Union forces 2800 to 2300 but forfeits much of that advantage by not realizing his men are in open view—making them sitting ducks for the Yankee sharpshooters.

Jackson marches the Stonewall Brigade in the next morning, but he is too late. The Union troops led by Robert H. Milroy slip away overnight.

May 23.

Stonewall Jackson attempts to bring about a battle with General Nathaniel Banks at Strasburg. His troops advance up the main valley, where he can cross into the Luray Valley. His cavalry continues up the main valley. If things work out as Jackson hopes, Banks will stop his army long enough for Jackson to slip around and attack Banks’ command from the rear.

Instead, Jackson bumps into Colonel John Reese Kenly’s force of 1,000 men. Jackson outmans Kenly sixteen to one and soon crushes his small force taking 700 men prisoner.

When Bank learns of the attack, he abandons his position at Strasburg and moves his army toward Winchester. This mini-battle at Front Royal sets Banks up to meet Jackson in a more significant confrontation at Winchester the next day.

May 26.

After retreating to Winchester, General Nathaniel Banks positions his troops along Abram’s Creek. Fighting breaks out at daylight. Stonewall Jackson attacks Bank’s right. When that fails, he moves on the left. The attack breaks Bank’s line. Soon, his men are fleeing through the streets of Winchester, with residents shooting at them as they march by.

Jackson pursues them to Stephenson’s Depot, then stops. His men need to rest and recuperate. They can’t handle any more fighting.

It is a crushing loss for Nathaniel Banks. He outnumbers Jackson’s men