Chapter 64: The Confederate Remain Dominant on the Battlefield

Aside from Grant’s comeback win in April 1862 at Shiloh, Union victories are few and far between – and pressure mounts on Lincoln to launch the much anticipated assault on Richmond.

But his commander, George McClellan, is already earning his reputation for training a first rate army but then being reluctant to fight it. So when the President pushes for a plan and a date, McClellan stonewalls him citing a concern that the naïve Lincoln will be unable to maintain secrecy.

Then the “Young Napoleon” springs an audacious proposal to end run the Confederates with an amphibious assault. It would start from the Union bastion at Ft. Monroe and advance up the Virginia Peninsula toward Richmond with both flanks cleverly protected by naval gunboats.

In early April, Union troops board ships and sail down the east coast, assembling at Ft. Monroe. They number some 121,000 in total.

Once there, McClellan begins his methodical 80 mile advance toward Richmond, sending one command along the York River to the east, while marching himself to the west along the Chickahominy River. The two wings reunite some seven miles northeast of Richmond at Mechanicsville on June 26, where the first of the so-called “7 Days Battles” takes place.

From then on the Confederates, now under Robert E. Lee, confound McClellan’s efforts to mount a coordinated siege. Amidst daily rains and the rising waters of the Chickahominy, the Union suffers a major defeat at Gaines Mills on June 27. This erroneously convinces McClellan that his forces are vastly outnumbered, and he begins a retreat after the Battle of Glendale on June 30, ending up south at Malvern Hill. On July 1 the Union collapse comes to an end there when his superior cannon fire finally halts Lee’s assaults.

The next day the Union army retreats all the way back to their original base camp on James River at Harrison’s Landing. The South has staved off early defeat.