Lincoln feared for Washington's safety and held McDowell near the Federal capital. This was the biggest battle so far in the war. It makes the culmination of the Peninsular Campaign. The next day, June 1, 1862, Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Confederate forces around Richmond. In 1864-5, General U.S. Grant laid siege to nearby Petersburg. Newport News, Norfok, and Portsmouth, VA  |  Mar 8 - 9, 1862, York County and Newport News, VA  |  Apr 5 - May 4, 1862, York County and Williamsburg, VA  |  May 5, 1862, Henrico County, VA  |  May 31 - Jun 1, 1862. He had been in Yorktown supervising the embarkation of Brigadier General William B. Franklin's move up the York River, which threatened to block Johnston's withdrawal to Richmond. The Peninsula campaign was a sprawling military operation that had enormous significance in the greater sweep of the war. In the spring of 1862 during the American Civil War, Union armies invaded the South on nearly every front. The Battle of Seven Pines, also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks or Fair Oaks Station, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of … On May 15, 1862, hastily constructed Confederate batteries perched atop Drewry's Bluff repelled the Union naval advance. As McClellan shared the merits of his plan with Lincoln and strove to allay the President's fears for the defense of Washington, his campaign started to unhinge The emergence of the powerful ironclad ram C.S.S. Battlefield Guide – A. Wilson Greene . ", pressed the general into presenting some plan of action against the Confederate capital in Richmond. Merrimack, scuttled when the Federal forces evacuated Norfolk in 1861. CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 . The poorly coordinated assaults on May 31 failed to destroy the exposed Union corps. We suggest checking online or calling ahead as you plan your visits. Consequently, the Virginia was destroyed by its crew off Craney Island on May 11, 1862. 1. The army then was blocked by Magruder's 13,000-strong command entrenched along a 12-mile front. ISBN 978-1-61121-355-3. The American Battlefield Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 1. Nevertheless, the Union general immediately offered a second amphibious operation to strike at Richmond by way of the Virginia Peninsula. Drive the tour of the Peninsula Campaign, beginning at Fort Monroe in Hampton and ending on the bloody battlefields near Richmond. The Confederates repelled the first Union assaults and then pressed the Federals back down the Hampton Road. Virginia on March 8, 1862, sent shockwaves through the Union command. However, his delays on the lower Peninsula once again altered his plans. Emerging Civil War Series. Enrollment fee is $575 (Does not include lodging) CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 . Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler was the first Federal commander to try to exploit this avenue of advance against Richmond. Travel the roads the soldiers used as they marched ever-so-slowly toward Richmond over the swampy ground of the Virginia Peninsula. The high stakes of the Peninsula campaign—the fate of Richmond and with it, perhaps, the Confederacy—drove leaders on both sides to seek every advantage in battle, including using some of the latest military technology on land, sea, and in the air. Probably the most famous new weapon of the Peninsula campaign was the ironclad warship. Major General Benjamin Huger, threatened by the Union advance, was forced to abandon the port city on May 9. The American Battlefield Trust and our members have saved more than 53,000 acres in 24 states! S. Virginia might attack the Union fleet while it attempted to silence the Confederate guns at Yorktown and Gloucester Point. McClellan believed that Richmond held the fate of the Confederacy, yet he eschewed the notion of marching overland toward the Confederate capital. Hampton Roads. The Southern assaults at Seven Pines confirmed McClellan's opinion that his army was outnumbered. such as the “Battle of the Ironclads” in Hampton Roads. McClellan had established a major supply base near West Point and appeared ready to invest Richmond with his siege artillery. Although able to secure a beachhead at Eltham's Landing on May 6, Franklin's timid move inland on the next day was halted by elements of G. W. Smith's command led by William C. H. Whiting and John Bell Hood. Finally, just as McClellan made his last preparations to unleash his heavy bombardment on the Confederate lines, Johnston abandoned the fortifications during the evening of May 3. General McClellan’s major Union offensive against Richmond in the spring and summer of 1862 unfolded on the peninsula located between the James and York Rivers. The only obstacle was the C.S.S. Probably the most famous new weapon of the Peninsula campaign was the ironclad warship. The end of the war seemed near at hand. Lincoln directed Flag Officer Louis N. Goldsborough and Major General John E. Wool to end the Virginia's control of Hampton Roads by occupying its base. The Army of the Potomac was the largest army to conduct an amphibious operation in North America. The next day, the Army of the Potomac assumed its march only to find its path to Richmond slowed by heavy rains, which turned the already poor roads into a muddy morass. The Virginia was converted from the U.S.S. This comprehensive exhibit tells the story of the events that took place on the Peninsula in 1861 and 1862, including the June 10, 1861 Battle of Big Bethel. General George B. McClellan’s army was the largest and most dangerous. As McClellan's men built gun emplacements for the 103 siege guns he brought to the Peninsula, General Joseph E. Johnston began moving his entire Confederate army to the lower Peninsula. Fort Monroe, the largest moat-encircled masonry fortification in North America, was the only fort in the Upper South not to fall into Confederate hands and commanded the entrance to Hampton Roads. Podcast of the Battle of Roliça. Sign up to receive email updates about our Warrior Legacy programming for veterans, active duty military and their families. The Confederates repelled the first Union assaults and then pressed … Joe Johnston's retreat ruined the Urbanna Plan's prospects. Hide List. McClellan provided his troops with the best training, armaments and organization then known to military science and had replaced the aged Winfield Scott as General-in-Chief of the Union army. The training was over; this would prove the ultimate test. Federal Identification Number (EIN): 54-1426643. Please note that the locations and events listed on our itineraries do not reflect any potential closures due to COVID-19. By mid-afternoon the Union lines were in disarray when Brigadier General Philip Kearny personally led his command into the fray shouting, "I am a one-armed Jersey Sonof- a-Gun, follow me!" USS Monitor and The Mariners' Museum, Newpor… Virginia to hold Hampton Roads, and Major General John Bankhead Magruder's small "Army of the Peninsula" to delay the Union juggernaut's advance toward Richmond. The result was the bloody, indecisive May 5 Battle of Williamsburg. A Union fleet, including the ironclads Galena and Monitor; slowly moved up the river to within seven miles of Richmond. The American Battlefield Trust’s map of the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 From April 4 to June 1, 1862, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac moved up the Virginia peninsula between the York and James Rivers toward Richmond. The door to the Confederate capital via the James River now lay open. More men due to the Peninsula Campaign and Education Museum, Newpor… the Seven ’. 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