Peninsula Campaign

• General Robert E. LeeOak Grove, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill, Glendale/White Oak Swamp, Glendale, Malvern Hill
• Major General John B. MagruderYorktown, Garnett's & Golding's Farms, Savage's Station
• General Joseph E. JohnstonYorktown, Seven Pines
• Major General Gustavius W. SmithEltham's Landing, Seven Pines
• Major General Thomas J. JacksonWhite Oak Swamp, Glendale/White Oak Swamp
• Captain Franklin BuchananHampton Roads
• Lieutenant Catesby R. JonesHampton Roads
• Major General James LongstreetWilliamsburg
• Commander E. FarrandDrewry's Bluff
• Brigadier General William MahoneDrewry's Bluff
• Captain S. S. LeeDrewry's Bluff
• Lieutenant John Taylor WoodDrewry's Bluff
• Brigadier General Lawrence O'B. BranchHanover Court House

• Lieutenant John WordenHampton Roads
• Major General George B. McClellanYorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Oak Grove, Garnett's & Golding's Farms, Glendale/White Oak Swamp +2 more
• Brigadier General William B. FranklinEltham's Landing, White Oak Swamp
• Commander John RodgersDrewry's Bluff
• Brigadier General Fitz John PorterHanover Court House, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill
• Major General Edwin SumnerSavage's Station
• Major General William FranklinGlendale/White Oak Swamp

In the spring and summer of 1862, from March through July, Union forces launched what became known as the Peninsula campaign (sometimes called the Peninsular campaign) in southeastern Virginia, marking the first large-scale Union offensive in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War. Major General George B. McClellan led this operation, an amphibious turning movement aimed at the Confederate States Army positioned in Northern Virginia, with the ultimate goal of seizing Richmond, the Confederate capital. A Confederate spy named Thomas Nelson Conrad had managed to secure documents outlining McClellan's plans through a double agent working within the War Department, yet this intelligence coup did little to change the campaign's early trajectory. McClellan found early success facing General Joseph E. Johnston, whose cautious temperament matched his own, though everything shifted once the bolder Robert E. Lee took command, ultimately steering the Seven Days Battles toward a crushing setback for Union forces.

After disembarking his troops at Fort Monroe, McClellan pushed northwest along the Virginia Peninsula. There, Confederate Brigadier General John B. Magruder had established defenses along the Warwick Line, catching McClellan off guard and dashing any hope of swift progress. In response, McClellan shifted strategy toward besieging Yorktown. However, before his siege lines were fully in place, Johnston, now directing Confederate forces personally, pulled his troops back toward Richmond. The campaign's first major clash came at Williamsburg, where Union forces claimed several tactical successes even as the Confederates pressed on with their retreat. A subsequent attempt to outflank the retreating Confederates through an amphibious landing at Eltham's Landing failed to achieve its purpose. Meanwhile, on the James River, Union naval forces tried unsuccessfully to fight their way toward Richmond, being turned back at Drewry's Bluff.

As McClellan's forces drew near Richmond's outskirts, a smaller engagement broke out at Hanover Court House. This was soon overshadowed by Johnston's unexpected assault in the Battle of Seven Pines, also called Fair Oaks. Though the fighting produced no clear victor and infl

Background

When George B. McClellan assumed command of the newly formed Army of the Potomac on August 20, 1861, he took on the role of its very first leader. Over the following months he devoted himself to shaping this force into a disciplined body, boosting the spirits of his soldiers through constant visits to inspect and rally them. This effort proved extraordinary, so much so that McClellan became closely identified with the army itself and won deep affection from the men under him. He also oversaw construction of formidable fortifications guarding Washington, a network of 48 forts and strongpoints holding 480 cannons operated by 7,200 artillery troops.

When Winfield Scott stepped down on November 1, 1861, McClellan rose to become general in chief over every Union army. Lincoln voiced worry about the enormous burden of holding both positions at once, yet McClellan assured him, "I can do it all."

By January 12, 1862, McClellan disclosed his scheme to ferry the Army of the Potomac by sea to Urbanna, Virginia, situated on the Rappahannock, thereby bypassing Confederate defenders near the capital and marching some 50 miles overland toward Richmond. Fifteen days later, on January 27, Lincoln directed that every Union army begin offensive movements no later than February 22, Washington's birthday. Then on January 31 he added a further directive instructing the Army of the Potomac to march overland and strike Confederate positions at Manassas Junction and Centreville. McClellan responded swiftly with a lengthy, twenty-two-page letter that challenged the president's approach point by point and pushed instead for his own Urbanna concept, marking the first time he had laid out its specifics in writing for Lincoln. Though Lincoln remained convinced his own plan held greater merit, he felt relief that McClellan was finally willing to act, and he gave grudging approval. Still uneasy about McClellan's determination, Lincoln convened a war council at the White House on March 8, questioning McClellan's subordinate commanders about how much faith they placed in the Urbanna scheme. Their answers ranged in enthusiasm. Following this session, Lincoln issued yet another order designating particular officers to serve as corps commanders answering directly to McClellan, who had resisted making such appointments until he could judge his division leaders' performance under fire, despite the fact that this delay meant he was personally overseeing twelve divisions in the field.

Before McClellan's strategy could unfold, Confederate troops under Joseph E. Johnston abandoned their positions outside Washington on March 9 and repositioned south of the Rappahannock, rendering the entire Urbanna concept useless. McClellan then revised his approach, planning instead to land his forces at Fort Monroe, Virginia, and march up the Peninsula toward Richmond. Harsh criticism from newspapers and Congress soon followed once it emerged that Johnston's army had not merely vanished undetected but had spent months deceiving Union forces with fake Quaker Guns.

Complicating matters further was the appearance of the Confederacy's first ironclad vessel, CSS Virginia, which sparked alarm in Washington and cast doubt on the feasibility of naval operations along the James River. During the Battle of Hampton Roads, fought March 8 and 9, 1862, Virginia overpowered wooden Union warships enforcing the blockade there, sinking the frigates USS Cumberland and USS Congress on the first day and raising serious questions about whether any wooden vessel anywhere could withstand such an opponent. The next day brought the ironclad USS Monitor to the scene, where it faced off against Virginia in what became the celebrated first clash between ironclad ships. Though the engagement settled nothing decisively, it drew attention around the globe. In its aftermath, the shift toward ironclad vessels as the future of naval combat became unmistakable. Neither ship inflicted lasting harm on the other, and the sole tangible outcome was that Virginia could no longer prey upon wooden ships.

On March 11, 1862, Lincoln stripped McClellan of his title as general in chief, leaving him solely in charge of the Army of the Potomac, a move framed as freeing him to concentrate fully on the Richmond campaign. McClellan initially took comfort from Lincoln's encouraging words on the matter, but he later came to view the

Aftermath

For readers wishing to explore related subjects, several connected topics offer further context. These include the armies that fought throughout the American Civil War, general bibliographies covering the conflict, a list ranking the costliest land battles of the war, the Richmond National Battlefield Park, a broader survey of troop engagements from 1862, and the Union Army Balloon Corps.