Peninsula campaign

The Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a> was a major <a href="/facts/Union_(American_Civil_War)/KW6wJt7J">Union</a> operation launched in southeastern <a href="/facts/Virginia/g2kucGdn">Virginia</a> from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Theater_of_the_American_Civil_War/Y4Nlqzl6">Eastern Theater</a>. The operation, commanded by <a href="/facts/Major_general_(United_States)/mhMeTCFj">Major General</a> <a href="/facts/George_B._McClellan/EEJnBvgg">George B. McClellan</a>, was an amphibious <a href="/facts/Turning_movement/F5sRUjwU">turning movement</a> against the <a href="/facts/Confederate_States_Army/XlqneAzz">Confederate States Army</a> in <a href="/facts/Northern_Virginia/VaGqB5aV">Northern Virginia</a>, intended to capture the <a href="/facts/Confederate_States_of_America/jMSDM4q3">Confederate</a> capital of <a href="/facts/Richmond,_Virginia/RPT22L8B">Richmond</a>. Despite the fact that Confederate spy <a href="/facts/Thomas_Nelson_Conrad/oCFlFRbW">Thomas Nelson Conrad</a> had obtained documents describing McClellan's battle plans from a double agent in the <a href="/facts/War_Department/CTcUopgq">War Department</a>, McClellan was initially successful against the equally cautious General <a href="/facts/Joseph_E._Johnston/EA7eyyty">Joseph E. Johnston</a>, but the emergence of the more aggressive General <a href="/facts/Robert_E._Lee/6ooHzprY">Robert E. Lee</a> turned the subsequent <a href="/facts/Seven_Days_Battles/eKNWQ6wy">Seven Days Battles</a> into a humiliating Union defeat.
McClellan landed his army at <a href="/facts/Fort_Monroe/ArMKQ8Ke">Fort Monroe</a> and moved northwest, up the <a href="/facts/Virginia_Peninsula/dvFwArdv">Virginia Peninsula</a>. Confederate <a href="/facts/Brigadier_General_(CSA)/72y8t9vN">Brigadier General</a> <a href="/facts/John_B._Magruder/XfzYjzM7">John B. Magruder</a>'s defensive position on the <a href="/facts/Warwick_Line/cMKflPsJ">Warwick Line</a> caught McClellan by surprise. His hopes for a quick advance foiled, McClellan ordered his army to prepare for a <a href="/facts/Siege_of_Yorktown_(1862)/C9r11TsV">siege of Yorktown</a>. Just before the siege preparations had been completed, the Confederates, now under the direct command of Johnston, began a withdrawal toward Richmond. The first heavy fighting of the campaign occurred during the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Williamsburg/y27vMJtu">Battle of Williamsburg</a> in which the Union troops managed some tactical victories, but the Confederates continued their withdrawal. An amphibious flanking <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Eltham%27s_Landing/911EoBFb">movement to Eltham's Landing</a> was ineffective in cutting off the Confederate retreat. During the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Drewry%27s_Bluff/BeR8fsPt">Battle of Drewry's Bluff</a>, an attempt by the US Navy to reach Richmond by way of the James River was repulsed.
As McClellan's army reached the outskirts of Richmond, a minor battle <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Hanover_Court_House/sWnkrftg">occurred at Hanover Court House</a>, but it was followed by a surprise attack by Johnston at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Seven_Pines/QwE53LPy">Battle of Seven Pines</a> or Fair Oaks. The battle was inconclusive, with heavy casualties, but it had lasting effects on the campaign. Johnston was wounded by a Union artillery shell fragment on May 31 and replaced the next day by the more aggressive Robert E. Lee, who reorganized his army and prepared for offensive action in the final battles of June 25 to July 1, which are popularly known as the Seven Days Battles. The result was that the Union army was unable to enter Richmond, and both armies remained intact.

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Peninsula campaign