HD "The Peninsula Campaign" @ HAMPTON ROADS ; "American Civil War

lincoln and scott are if i mistake not covered by other demonstrations the graves movement upon richmond suppose they should send suddenly up to york river as they can an army of thirty thousand or more there are no means at hand to repel them if their policies shown in maryland get putting here it will be a severe if not clear [Music] east and i pray you to a verdict if the peninsula is lost richmond will fall if richmond is lost virginia will fall and thus so will the southland since the disastrous union defeat at bull run on july 21 1861 president abraham lincoln desired that the army of the potomac would soon again strike against the confederate capital at richmond virginia when he turned to a new general to take command of the army he set in motion a series of events which would result in the civil war's greatest amphibious operation the peninsula campaign mcclellan always tried to use his intellect against his enemy he was a very smart man even lincoln admitted that he just was too slow in pursuit of his enemy goldsboro's objective was to keep the merrimack as he called her trapped in hampton roads so that she would not pose a threat to the chesapeake bay to washington dc to any of those northeastern cities even during the peninsular campaign there was this free sawn of tension between jefferson davis and joseph e johnson the commander in the field that significantly undermined the success of confederate arms not only on the peninsula but throughout the civil war major funding for this program was provided by the city of williamsburg the virginia war museum foundation and riverside health system additional funding was provided by the newport news warwick historic preservation association denis f and elaine r schwartz lee hall mansion and enview plantation this program was also made possible by the generous support of the city of hampton the philanthropy fund of mr and mrs charles r spencer jr and by linda and manfred c freeman jr on behalf of the pocosin museum peninsula campaign is also made possible by these generous donors and by viewers like you thank you lincoln selected the 34 year old west point graduate george britt mcclellan to command the army of the potomac in the hopes that he could revitalize the union war effort and restore the nation born in philadelphia pennsylvania in 1826 he graduated from the united states military academy at age 19. mcclellan was a talented engineer and organizer he was assigned to the corps of engineers in brevited to the rank of captain during the mexican war as one of three officers sent to study the european armies during the crimean war mcclellan was highly influenced by their strategies the siege tactics he witnessed there would later shape his decisions on the virginia peninsula [Music] during this european operation he modified saddles used by the prussians in hungarians and developed the mcclellan saddle which was employed by the us army until its calvary was disbanded in 1943. when the civil war erupted mcclellan returned to the u.s army he was named major general of volunteers and eventually given command of the department of ohio mcclellan organized a force of almost 20 thousand men and orchestrated the capture of western virginia little mack as he was fondly called earned instant fame and was one of the first northern heroes of the war when promoted to commander of the army of the potomac he immediately set himself to the task of rebuilding the demoralized military the army grew in size and confidence under mcclellan's guidance and he now also styled the young napoleon became the idol of his men mcclellan could be seen riding through the streets of washington on his horse devil dan webster rushing from camp to conference to camp displaying a dash and soldierly presence that impressed soldier and civilian alike mcclellan was full of confidence and believed himself to be the power of the land the young napoleon reached the apex of military power when lincoln named him on november 1st 1861 to replace the aged and infirmed lieutenant general winfield scott as general in chief of the federal armies lincoln worried that he had perhaps placed too great of a responsibility on the young soldier but mcclellan merely replied i can do it all mcclellan's skills as an engineer and organizer stood out as he developed the army of the potomac he strongly believed in siege tactics building blockades against enemy fortifications to compel them to surrender however pressure was beginning to mount for mcclellan to take some action against the nearby confederate army at manassas junction whispers were heard that mcclellan a democrat who had made no effort to disguise his politics or dislike of the anti-slavery movement was in league with the secessionists political social and military differences between the two men prompted the general to refer to president lincoln as the original gorilla in turn mcclellan's inaction prompted lincoln to call the army of the potomac mcclellan's bodyguard and was rumored to have asked the union general if you don't intend on using your army may i borrow it mcclellan responded with a unique amphibious operation concept he sought to avoid marching overland towards richmond which the young napoleon believed would result in extensive union casualties instead the union general proposed a move to strike richmond by way of urbana located on the rappahannock river before mcclellan could execute his plan confederate general joseph e johnston pulled his 45 000 men from manassas to fredericksburg on march 7 1862 joe johnston entered west point in 1825 and graduated in 1829 as one of only two virginians who graduated that year the other being robert e lee and they were good friends at the time and remained friends through their very long careers really up until the moment of of lee's death johnson outlived robert e lee before the war johnston had been promoted to quartermaster general of the united states army that made him a brigadier general in charge of basic supplies and service support when the war began confederate president jefferson davis named robert e lee a pre-war colonel general senior to joe johnston johnston felt slighted and friction grew there was always a tension between jefferson davis the commander-in-chief and joseph e johnson the commander in the field that derived in part from johnston's unwillingness to provide jefferson davis with the regular and fulsome reports from the field the kinds of letters that said mr president do you have any advice for me this is what i'm thinking what are your ideas on this johnston refused to write those kinds of letters because in his mind asking advice from the president would be giving up his responsibilities as army commander so he kept his mouth shut he did not keep jefferson davis informed so this poor relationship one might even say dysfunctional relationship between president and field commander significantly undermined the success of confederate arms not only on the peninsula but throughout the civil war johnston's retreat from manassas ruined mcclellan's urbana plan prospects by keeping the union from moving on richmond behind confederate troops the young napoleon immediately put forth his secondary concept we can take fort monroe as a base and operate with complete security although with less celerity and brilliancy of results up the peninsula this movement if successful gives us the capital should we be beaten in battle we have a perfectly secure retreat down the peninsula upon fort monroe with our flanks perfectly secured by the fleet the young napoleon's plan was a sound strategic concept as it employed a shrewd exploitation of union naval superiority gunboats could protect his flanks and transports to carry his troops up the james and york rivers towards the confederate capital as mcclellan shared the merits of his plan with lincoln he strove to calm the president's fears about leaving washington undefended suddenly this massive campaign started to unhinge on the morning of march 8 1862 the north atlantic blockading squadron was a squadron to be envied by any navy in the world by that evening flag officer goldsboro who was in a very different position the css virginia had come out and changed everything the emergence of the powerful ironclad ram into hampton roads sent shockwaves through the union command in one afternoon the virginia had sank two federal warships and damaged several others the destruction of the uss cumberland and congress off newport news point threatened union control of hampton roads president lincoln viewed the march 8 events as the greatest since bull run members of lincoln's cabinet were in distress a sense of hope returned as they realized the new union iron clan the uss monitor would arrive in hampton roads that evening on the next day the two ironclads fought to a draw both sides claimed victory the monitor was successful in stopping the confederate ironclad from destroying the federal fleet the virginia which had been built from the burnt out hull of the uss merrimack blocked the james river and closed this approach to the union navy goldsberg's objective was to keep the merrimack as he called her trapped in hampton roads so that she would not pose a threat to the chesapeake bay to washington dc to any of those northeastern cities may i rely on the monitor to keep the merrimack in check so that i can make fort monroe a base of operations monitor is more than a match for the merrimack but she might be disabled in the next encounter the monitor may and i think will destroy the merrimack in the next fight but this is hope not certainty the performances of the merrimack place a new aspect upon everything and may very probably change my whole plan of campaign just on the eve of execution with the james river blocked by the css virginia mcclellan now could only move ships and troops up the york river yet another change in plans caused more dreaded delays lincoln was compelled to relieve little mack as general in chief of the entire union army forcing mcclellan to focus on the army of potomac's march against richmond confident that the monitor could protect his army's transports mcclellan decided to proceed with his campaign he began shipping his huge army which was larger than the population of any city in virginia on march 17th major general george brent mcclellan brought with him the largest concentration of altering history up to that time period he had 101 heavy siege guns 44 batteries of field artillery they brought with him from washington dc down the potomac into the chesapeake when they landed at fort monroe the heavy artillery ranged in size from 8 to 13 inch seacoast mortars to 100 to 200 pound parrot rifles to 30 or 20 pound parrot rifles these are heavy guns they're capable of firing large projectiles either solid shot or exploding shot at least to 2500 yards the field artillery was usually about 12 pound napoleons or 10 pound parrot rifles there were six guns in each battery so he had a very formidable artillery arm when he came by early april mcclellan had assembled the entire army of the potomac on the tip of the peninsula he intended to use this massive force to move against richmond by way of the york river mcclone arrived here at fort monroe on april 2nd happy to be free of that sink of inequity washington and determined to achieve success he learned from the union department of virginia commander major general john ellis wool about the confederate defenses on the peninsula wolves provided mcclellan with an estimated confederate troop strength of fifteen thousand men as well as precise information of the rebel works between the york and james rivers since moving up the james river was no longer an option mcclellan planned to outflank the confederates at their yorktown defenses thereby forcing a confederate retreat alan pinkerton the famous detective reported that the confederate right flank was unsecured the federal commander thought he could interpose his troops across the confederate line of retreat thus corning major general magruder's army of the peninsula at yorktown maps provided by general wool indicated good roads and no water barriers so mcclellan seemed sure of a quick victory on the lower peninsula which would open the door to richmond's capture the union army began its march on april 4th brigadier general samuel peter heinzelman's third corps and brigadier general edwin vos sumner's second corps marched up the hampton york highway towards yorktown meanwhile brigadier general erasmus darwin kaye's fourth corps moved up the hampton road towards the halfway house to block magruder's retreat from yorktown mcclelland's army occupied magruder's first peninsula defensive line at big bethel and youngs mill on april 4th without any bloodshed the confederates had fallen back from the line after a brief demonstration of strength kay's is troops were amazed at the extensive confederate fortifications at young's mill [Music] we drove the enemy from a position they had fortified and that night occupied the place ourselves the rebels left quite a village of huts or barracks and from appearances they had enjoyed much more comfortable quarters during the winter than we had ourselves it was the same story at big bethel heitzelmann's troops expected a strong defense at the scene of the union defeat the year before but instead of a line of fire run along their breast works not a sound came from them and not a man could we see we came up to the front and our color guard leaped the ditch and planted the flag on the fortifications so long disgraced by the rebel rag great bethel was ours and not a man hurt [Music] mcclellan's plan appeared destined for success the next day the army of the potomac resumed its march only to find its path slowed by heavy rains which turned the already poor roads into a muddy morass the march was then blocked by magruder's small army entrenched along a 12-mile front between the james river and yorktown the fourth corps was the first to be stopped when they encountered 1800 confederates defending a strong position here at the lees mill crossing of the warwick river neither lee's mill the warrick river's course across the peninsula nor the extensive confederate fortifications were noted on maps available to the union command magruder is in a strongly fortified position behind the warwick river the fords to which have been destroyed by dams and the approaches to which are through dense forests swamps and marshes no part of this line as discovered can be taken without an enormous waste of life mcclellan's hesitation along the wall rick river set the stage for a carefully organized confederate ruse magruder despite being heavily outnumbered began shuttling his soldiers to and fro to create an illusion of many troops arriving on his line and moving into positions of great strength the whole line was nearly 15 miles in length the assuming and maintaining the line by magruder with this small force in face of such overwhelming odds was one of the boldest exploits ever performed by a military commander and he had so maneuvered his troops by displaying them rapidly at different points as to produce the impression on his opponent that he had a large army indeed prince john magruder earned his title the master of ruses and strategy for his desperate yet dramatic defense that baffled the union commander along the warwick river april 5th was just a bad day for mcclellan his plans for a rapid movement to capture yorktown were foiled by the unexpected confederate defenses furthermore president lincoln refused to send mcclellan reinforcements and the u.s navy fearful the ironclad css virginia refused to attack the confederate york river water batteries since mcclellan's reconnaissance provided by detective alan pinkerton and professor thaddeus lowe's balloons confirmed his belief that he was outnumbered by the confederates he decided to besiege his defenses magruder was amazed by the union response to his bold yet weak defensive line he soon realized why mcclellan hesitated to attack we stopped and held in check over 100 000 of the enemy every preparation was made in anticipation of another attack by the enemy the men slept in the trenches and underarms but to my utter surprise he permitted day after day to elapse without an assault [Music] in a few days the object of his delay was apparent in every direction in front of our lines through the intervening woods and along the open fields earthworks began to appear once his engineers completed their surveys of the confederate defenses mcclellan decided to concentrate his siege engineering on yorktown his plan was to assault the confederate works in the vicinity of the historic town once his heavy artillery had reached them little mac laid out batteries for the heavy 8 and 13 inch sea coast mortars an enormous hundred and two hundred pounder parrot guns he had brought to the peninsula his men were put to work under constant fire from the confederates building roads rifle pits and gun emplacements necessary to pound the confederates into submission observing all the immense labor by their northern counterparts confederate soldiers expected an assault at any time why they do not attack us is strange for they have a heavy force and every day's delay only gives us the opportunity to strengthen our defenses despite mcclellan's siege mentality many union officers believe the confederate line could be broken at several weak points along the warwick river baldy smith wanted to attack break through the line and force the confederate retreat back toward richmond dam number one was a weak point it was in the middle of the confederate defenses for once the union army had the high ground he believed there was only a light force of confederates that were vastly outnumbered by their large army and they figured if he could just break through at a weak point that the whole thing would collapse and then they would be able to pursue them up toward richmond the vermonters crossed the ward under heavy fire and forced the 15th north carolina to abandon their trenches the north carolinians fled like a flock of sheep and their commander colonel robert mckinney was killed while striving to rally his men the green mountain boys however were in a difficult position most of their ammunition was wet and useless expected reinforcements never came baldi smith had taken his second fall from his horse and was senseless some observers said he was drunk they only sent 192 men of colonel breed in hyde's third vermont infantry across the warwick river which had been swollen by recent reigns and by damning and the obstructions were in there so they sent these men across to capture the earthworks and to break through so you have an entire division of at least 10 to 15 000 men across the river that could be supporting them when you're only sending 192 men over into the welcoming arms of the confederate army the confederate lines stirred like a hornet's nest brigadier general howell cobb a former governor of georgia and commander of cobb's legion organized a counter-attack we all run in and shot when we had the chance and never formed a ride some of the boys never fired a gun somebody behind logs as close to the ground as young rabbits till the battle was over it did not frighten me as bad as i expected it would but i tell you when the bullets would whistle around my head i felt sort of ticklish the battle of dam number one was over with 165 federal and 145 confederate casualties they were all green they had no prior experience there were farmers or up north they were iron workers or small subsistence farmers shopkeepers very few of them including the officer corps had any real practical military experience whatsoever it was on the job training [Music] one confederate private georgia regiment said that some men laid down like frightened rabbits and others screamed wildly running straight at the vermonters without even firing their guns two medals of honor were awarded for gallantry on april 16th captain samuel pingree later governor of vermont received his for assuming command to the third vermont while under attack and leading his troops to safety the other was presented to musician julian scott the 16 year old scott recrossed the warwick river at least two times rescuing nine of his fallen comrades one of the men julian scott attempted to save was the mortally wounded private william scott known as the sleeping sentinel scott had been pardoned by abraham lincoln in late 1861 from a firing squad his reprieve had led him to say i will show president lincoln that i am not afraid to die for my country scott fulfilled his pledge at damn number one despite the heroism many union soldiers called the battle nothing but a damn failure general smith merely concluded thus a fair opportunity to break the warwick line was missed the battle at damn number one reinforced mcclellan's belief that it would be only through siege engineering that they would break down the confederate defenses it was at this point that confederate president jefferson davis and his military advisor general robert e lee directed general joseph e johnston to the peninsula well when johnston looks at those lines along the warrick river between the york and the james river that magruder had set up he already has a preconception in his mind that this is not the right place to fight the battle johnston felt he knew mcclellan what he felt he knew was that mcclellan would make no mistakes that he would proceed cautiously that he would proceed leaving no openings for johnson to take advantage of along that narrow front and given that given that it would be a war of siege warfare of artillery along a narrow front with mcclellan commanding an army of superior numbers who would fight siege warfare johnson's role is this is not the right place to fight the battle the lines that magruder had prepared were actually pretty good but i think johnson's preconception that this is not the right place led him to write that missive saying these lines are not not what we need to defend this position labor enough has been expended here to make a very strong position but it has been wretchedly misapplied by the young engineer officers no one what mclaren could have hesitated to attack the fight for yorktown must be one of artillery in which we cannot win the result is certain the time only doubtful he had already decided in his mind that defending richmond from the lower peninsula was a bad idea that it would be better to withdraw the army from the lower peninsula and make a grand defense of richmond outside the capital in that way you would stretch out the logistic support lines of the enemy you draw them away from their protecting gun votes and you could bring to richmond reinforcements from north carolina from the shenandoah valley and their fight and hopefully win the battle that would save richmond that was the strategic template he had in mind robert e lee disagreed with johnston's appraisal and ordered him to hold the warwick yorktown line conditions were difficult the weather was bad confederate and union soldiers alike suffered from exposure and poor food many nights while below the dam we would sit with water up to our knees and sleep under the inspiring music of the frogs whoever thought there was music in the hollowing and croaking the frogs under certain circumstances there is it is a well-known fact that frogs will not hollow when the water is disturbed and in the fact leave the music as long as they kept up their music we knew the yankees were not frosting the swamp [Music] the siege's monotony was occasionally broken by the side of balloons floating over the lines professor thaddeus lowe's two gas balloons intrepid and constitution were launched almost daily during the siege from war courthouse and near yorktown george armstrong custer enjoyed the dubious honor of making several ascents in the constitution to observe confederate defenses between lee's mill and dam number one the confederates responded with the first anti-aircraft guns as major e porter alexander elevated his artillery to shell the union aerial observers the confederates also launched their own crude hot air balloon [Music] with the two armies confronting each other along the 12-mile line the soldiers had a constant fear of the daily rifle fire many a poor yankee has fallen in view of us how the devil's squall when they are shot and how strange it may seem i rejoiced at it the wheels of shells and bullets sound as natural as the bark of a dog the union deployed several companies from colonel hiram berdan sharpshooters along the warwick river they were hidden in rifle pits or concealed in treetop positions the sharpshooters were audacious and deadly sharpshooters are the greatest terror to the enemy and well they may be for no sooner does one of them rebels show himself then plunk goes a bullet the siege also had its informal truces between opposing forces witnessing varying levels of bantering and some relief from the gunfire as they have only a large swamp between them they can talk as well as if in a room together they throwing up bull run to our boys and we for donaldson and other places such lapses of aggression were usually temporary yet they reinforced the ironic utility of this war between the states [Music] is it not odd to think that magruder one of my best friends is one of the chief men here this is a most unnatural war the union army and the confederate army both were officered by men who knew each other your enemies were your former classmates your former instructors mcclellan's former math instructor from west point was his fourth court commander erasmus darwin case that's john porter was a friend of his he was a division commander in the third corps franklin was another division commander in the third quarter that was a friend of his mcclellan knew robert e lee he knew john bank had magruder he knew joseph johnston these are both pluses and minuses because the confederates knew their enemies just as well as the union army knew their enemies they had all either attended west point together fought the mexican war or had served in constabulary duty on the western plains after the mexican war by the end of april general johnson advised richmond that he could not hold the peninsula while johnston planned his evacuation generally endeavored to prompt the virginia to attack the federal fleet near yorktown the virginia's commander flag officer josiah tatenaw would not risk his ironclad as he considered the virginia too unseaworthy to steam past four monroe to engage the union fleet tetanus advisedly that the virginia would be handled with proper prudence [Music] the union soldiers were jubilant that the siege was now over soldiers raced to win everlasting glory by placing their unit's colors first atop the confederate earthworks as the federal soldiers entered the confederate positions they were shocked to discover the torpedoes left behind to slow their advance developed by brigadier general gabriel raines these land mines were actually eight or ten inch columbia shells buried a few inches under the soil and set with primers so they exploded when stepped on or moved it was the first use of this controversial weapon during the civil war and these buried shells injured numerous union soldiers [Music] mcclellan was dismayed to learn that the confederates had slipped away again on the eve of his assault [Music] he immediately ordered a pursuit which was delayed by heavy rains the rain also slowed the confederate withdrawal the roads were long strings of guns wagons and ambulances mixed in with infantry artillery and cavalry splashing and bogging through the darkness in a river of mud with frequent long halts when some stalled vehicles blocked the road [Music] mcclellan's advance against the retreating confederates was placed under the command of brigadier general edwin vos sumner as the army of the potomac's commander stayed in yorktown preoccupied with the embarkation of brigadier general william buell franklin's division little mack hoped that by rushing franklin's troops up the york river to eltham's landing johnston's army would be intercepted and route to richmond a confederate gloucester point water battery commanded by naval officer captain thomas jefferson page continued to shell the yorktown waterfront throughout the morning of may 4. this action delayed mcclellan's amphibious movement until paige abandoned his guns at noon and fell back to richmond mcclellan always tried to use his intellect against his enemy he was a very smart man even lincoln admitted that he just was too slow in pursuit of his enemy he either wanted to use siege craft or engineering in order to force the confederates to surrender or to blast his way through to minimize casualties on his side he wanted to fight limited war versus total war they had not progressed far enough down and had some of the huge battles that they had like antietam and fredericksburg and gettysburg so by the time you get to 64 they're ready to wipe the confederates off the face of the earth he still saw them as his brethren he did want to bag the confederate army but i doubt he wanted to put everyone to the sword he just wanted to capture him on mass so that he could end the rebellion the union advance guard cavalry and horse artillery commanded by brigadier general george stoneman finally caught up to the confederate rear guard near where the two main peninsula roads converged on williamsburg the southern cavalry commanded by brigadier general jeb stewart was under considerable pressure by the union advance as darkness began to shroud the crossroads and federal infantry arrived on the scene the confederates were able to take refuge behind a series of readouts known as the williamsburg line the williamsburg line also referred to as the third peninsula line had been constructed in the summer of 1861. this defensive system consisted of 14 readouts situated on a four mile wide plane with ravines marshes mill ponds and streams queens creek and college creek to the east and west benjamin stoddard yule first conceived this defensive line however it took magruder lafayette mclaws and alfred reeves to place the concept into reality when completed the williamsburg line reached four miles between tutter's millpond where readout 1 was constructed to cub run creek where read out 14 was positioned the 14 earthworks stood 600 to 800 yards apart with the largest fort magruder also known as readout six strategically located where the two main highways the yorktown hampton and the hampton roads converged fort magruder was the line center and its strongest work the readout formed an elongated pentagon 600 yards in circumference its walls rose 15 feet from a flooded moat fort magruder and other readouts with their supporting rifle pits had been constructed exactly for the purpose at hand to provide cover for the confederates if they had to abandon the warwick yorktown line unfortunately magruder who had devised the confederate peninsula defensive system was ill on may 4th and 5th four readouts on the northern end of the williamsburg line were therefore overlooked by johnson and longstreet as they prepared to repel the expected union assault the next morning this era would have bloody consequences for the confederates at dawn on may 5th hooker investigated the union line of attack his lead brigade was already skirmishing with the southern defenders when the artillery arrived positioning six guns along the hampton road they began shelling the confederate works confederate counter battery fire however was so effective that the union artillerists abandoned their guns hooker ordered more troops to advance westward toward the smaller readouts defending the confederate left flank union soldiers suffered heavy casualties 65 year old brigadier general edwin bull sumner had been in the army since 1819 and was not noted for his imagination he had been temporarily detached from his second core to command the union pursuit while hooker's men assaulted fort magruder sumner failed to commit reinforcements from the over 20 000 available soldiers by late afternoon hooker's men had retreated over a mile from fort magruder when sumner at last ordered a brigadier general philip carney's division from yorktown carney a new jersey native who had lost his left arm during the mexican war brought his men on the double quick into the fray clenching his horse reigns but twitched his heat and waving his saver with his right arm shouting i am a one-armed jersey son of a gun follow me men i want you to drive those black guards to hell at once as confederate musketry struck into the union line kearney exclaimed don't flinch boys they're shooting at me kearney's men would capture the federal batteries thereby forcing the confederates back into their fortifications earlier that afternoon sumner had learned from a runaway slave about the confederate unprotected left flank those vacant redoubts guarded an important passage on cub run creek upon orders baldi smith sent his most able brigade commander brigadier general winfield scott hancock to investigate hancock occupied read out 11 placing the federals behind fort magruder and they began shelling the confederate positions as the sound of the battle grew louder joe johnston returned to williamsburg and decided to seize the initiative old pete longstreet organized an attack against the union left flank through hilly terrain which would become known as the bloody ravine by midday the federals were in danger of being flanked the confederates sensed the federal route and pressed forward with his troops already committed into the action in front of fort magruder longstreet noticed the federal flanking position on his left he requested support from divisional commander major general daniel harvey hill hill sent brigadier general jubal anderson early's brigade the brigade marched into the dense wet woods toward the sound of hancock's cannon fire the units lost their alignment and direction as they struggled in the rain through the underbrush early's men were the first to gain the clearing on the custis farm but they were over 600 yards in front rather than on the flank of hancock in readout 11. early instead of waiting for the rest of the brigade wheeled as men about and marched towards the federals [Music] the confederates were immediately hit with a telling fire jubal early was shot through the shoulder and had to be removed from the field faint from the loss of blood while urging his men onward the north carolina regiments emerged onto the field and attempted to support the virginians bill quickly ordered a halt to the fatally destructive and disjointed assault southerners suffered heavy casualties and fell back in route as hancock's men surged forward daniel harvey hill called the scene one of the most awful things i ever saw george armstrong custer captured a confederate battle flag among the dead wounded in over 150 prisoners this part of the engagement had lasted less than 30 minutes but had given the union victory as hancock's men cleared the field in front of readout 11 wild cheers erupted from summer's headquarters mcclellan had at last arrived on the battlefield it was almost dark and the battle was over during the evening long street's command slipped out of williamsburg enroute to richmond mcclellan called the battle of williamsburg an accident caused by too rapid a pursuit the confederates suffered 1603 casualties and the federals 2239 hancock was superb mcclellan wired lincoln mcclellan's army had at last fought a major battle and he declared that the victory is complete the confederate command had a different interpretation of the engagement joe johnston would later refute mcclellan writing had the enemy beaten us on the fifth as he claims to have done our army would have lost most of its baggage and artillery williamsburg was a mismanaged battle by both commands though the federals were able to force the confederates to abandon the lower peninsula long streets rear guard gave time to move the confederate army towards richmond the confederates had once again escaped mcclellan's grasp president abraham lincoln was disenchanted with mcclellan's progress up the peninsula he decided to go to fort monroe on may 5th to prompt the virginia creeper as he called mcclellan into greater action mcclellan's forces continued pressing up the peninsula toward richmond upon lincoln's arrival at fort monroe he immediately met with major general john ellis wool and flag officer louis goldsboro to plan operations against norfolk and the confederate ironclad in order to open the james river a two-prong attack was decided upon to overcome the css virginia's control of hampton roads on may 8 squadron commanded by commander john rogers including the ironclad uss colina entered the james river and shelled fort's boykin and eugene meanwhile the ironclad monitor and naugatuck supported by several wooden warships attacked the confederate sewells point battery lincoln went to fort wool in the middle of the entrance to hampton roads to observe the action shortly after the shelling began the css virginia steamed down the elizabeth river to attack the union vessels while it appeared that a second battle between the ironclads might occur goldsboro commanded the federal ships to withdraw to their anchorage beyond fort monroe the css virginia steamed around hampton roads for the next two hours striving to bait the monitor into battle finally the commodore any tune of deepest disgust give the order mr jones fire a gun to windward and take the ship back to her buoy it was the most cowardly exhibition i have ever seen goldsboro and jeffers are two cowards the uss monitor was under orders to not engage the css virginia that was in large part because the monitor had some serious vulnerabilities the union command knew this and did not want to risk their celebrated vessel the uss monitor to be endangered by the css virginia but that didn't keep the virginia from trying to draw the monitor out and one of the officers on board the monitor talked about how this comedy would be reenacted every day because the two just were not destined to engage lincoln quickly realized that norfolk could not be taken by naval action lincoln went out in a small boat to conduct his own reconnaissance and selected ocean view as the site to land troops the president according to a northern correspondence infused new vigor in both naval and military operations here on the afternoon of may 9th wolves sent 6 000 troops to ocean view and the next day norfolk surrendered the confederates then burned gospel navy yard and abandoned the region forever once norfolk was occupied the css virginia was left without a base and the ironclad's commander was faced with a difficult decision tetenal wanted to attack the union fleet with his ironclad destroying several union vessels before sinking in a blaze of glory however the need to help defend richmond led to an effort to lighten the deep draft vessel so that she could steam up the james river the reduction in draft proved to be futile it couldn't survive in the open chesapeake or open ocean so the only option its crew had left or the only option they believed they had left was to destroy the ship to prevent it from falling into the hands of the yankees and and what a tragedy that was for the confederacy because so much effort energy manpower money and iron had been poured into this one vessel that destroying it before it had had a chance to reach its full potential was really a terrible blow to the maritime hopes of the confederacy the virginia was run aground off craney island on the morning of may 11th and destroyed by our own crew crew member richard curtis noted it was a sad finish for such a bright beginning the federals observe the virginia's demise as sr franklin noted it was a beautiful sight to us in more sense than one she had been a thorn in our side for such a long time and we were glad to have her out of the way the james river door to richmond was now opened and a union squadron would set up the river toward richmond including the ironclad's monitor galena and nagatuk the federals found their way blocked on a bend in the river eight miles below richmond the fortifications atop the 80 foot high prominence known as drui's bluff five heavy cannon man by the crew the css virginia the south side heavy artillery and the bedford artillery on may 15 1862 the u.s navy's advance against richmond was repulsed the monitor could not adequately elevate her guns and did not play a major role in the engagement the galena was severely damaged by plunging shot from the confederate guns the confederate defense here at drury's bluff saved richmond from capture by way of the james river meanwhile mcclellan's army had moved to the outskirts of richmond general mcclellan's effort to cut off the confederate retreat from the lower peninsula with brigadier general william buell franklin's division on may 6 had failed john bell texas brigade fought a brief engagement at eltham's landing which blocked franklin's advance inland on may 7. by the end of may mcclellan began his operations outside of the confederate capital he extended his right to meet expected reinforcements from northern virginia lincoln however was concerned about stonewall jackson's successful operations in the shenandoah valley and he held those reinforcements around fredericksburg protecting washington from any confederate advance mcclellan now found his army divided by the swampy chickahominy river in spite of heavy rains he sought to maintain the various crossings to bring his army together confederate commander joe johnston was under pressure from president jefferson davis to do something about the approaching federals taking advantage of the heavy rains which had made the chickahominy nearly impassable johnston attacked mcclellan's army south of the river around fair oaks the poorly coordinated assault on may 31st failed and johnston was seriously wounded the next day the battle continued as robert edward lee assumed command of the confederate forces and then broke off action lee ordered brigadier general jeb stewart to investigate the army of the potomac's right flank stewart discovered that the union flank was exposed but he exceeded his instructions and rode completely around the federal army it was a spectacular maneuver which unfortunately for the confederates alerted mcclellan to his weak position as a result the union general moved his base to harrison's landing on the james river the federal army's retreat from their position 10 miles outside of richmond gave the confederates time to develop a plan of assault may we step to the gates of hell the bodies of those who would seek to invade our country and steal our freedom amen amen these offensive called the seven days battles began on june 25th when elements of the union army advance against magruder's division south of the chickahominy at oak grove magruder's demonstration was successful in keeping federal attention away from their exposed right flank lee then unleashed his combine forces against an isolated union corps above the chickahominy near mechanicsville the june 26 attack called the battle of beaver dam creek began a series of engagements which forced mcclellan to retreat across the peninsula to the james river the seven days battles ended on july 1 1862 when the union army repulsed several bloody and uncoordinated confederate assaults at maverick hill mcclellan's army reached safety at harrison's landing but lee's offensive although costly and men achieved its objective richmond was saved despite all his advantages mcclellan's peninsula campaign ended in failure richmond's redemption provided hope for the young confederacy in the spring of 1862 mcclellan had a tremendous opportunity if he had pressed on richmond and captured the confederate capital mcclellan might have won the war and our history might well have taken a very different course instead the civil war lasted for three more bloody years once the confederates retreated from williamsburg and norfolk the hampton roads region would remain under union control for the rest of the war the loss of gosport navy yard and the agricultural areas around hampton roads would be a heavy blow to the confederacy the federals in turn had gained hampton roads harbor from which they could continue to support operations against richmond and the southern coastline the impact of this loss to the southern cause can be best expressed as remembered by one of magruder's staff officers hugh thomas douglas i shall never forget the morning that general magruder lying on his sick bed worn out by the arduous duties of three weeks a strain enough to have killed any ordinary man summoned me to his room and directed me to prepare for the move the tears course down the old man's cheeks and rising on one arm with dramatic effect he pointed to his little army and said sick transit gloria peninsula we leave the peninsula with fleeting glory major funding for this program was provided by the city of williamsburg

Channel: Civil War FLIX

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Id: KC1GOUGhAsY

Length: 56min 16sec (3376 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 31 2020