Peninsula Campaign Of 1862 (Great Campaigns Series) - Hardcover

Miller, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0938289098 ISBN 13: 9780938289098

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1992

Synopsis

In early 1862, as the beginning of the Civil War marked its first anniversary, Major General George Brinton McClellan developed a plan for one of the most daring and complex movements of the great conflict. The promising general known as "Young Napoleon" proposed a daring maneuver to take the Confederate capital at Richmond, not by the dangerous overland route, but by an amphibious movement to the peninsula between the York and the James Rivers. If successful, the whole enterprise would circumvent Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Northern Virginia and allow McClellan to seize Richmond from the east in one masterly campaign.
On 17 March 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac initiated McClellan's ambitious plan. It was the largest amphibious movement of the Civil War, consisting of 400 ships transporting 124,500 troops to Fort Monroe opposite Norfolk. Instead of becoming a brilliant campaign, it degenerated into a costly series of battles which had important implications for both sides. During the fights the reputations of several generals were ruined, other men began their rise to prominence and citizen soldiers threw down their lives attempting to learn their new trade.
The Peninsula Campaign remains one of the most intriguing and important campaigns of the Civil War. Its major battles, at Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, and Malvern Hill, were as important and bloody as many later and better known engagements. Despite the significance of the campaign, the personalities involved, and the enormity of the stakes to be won, a thorough accounting has never really been written on the Peninsula battles. Dr. David Martin, author of several books in the Great Campaigns series, undertakes the task of describing in detail the tactical, strategic and political aspects.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0938289098
• ISBN 13: 9780938289098
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254