The Peninsula Campaign

In December of 1861 Congress, the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War and President Lincoln were becoming increasingly concerned with General George McClellan’s inaction. Later that same month when McClellan developed typhoid fever Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs suggested that Lincoln and some members of his cabinet meet with two of McClellan’s subordinates Brigadier Generals Irvin McDowell and William Franklin. At the meeting McDowell favored a land-based assault on Richmond through Manassas while Franklin proposed an attack via the York River. The group would meet again this time with the McClellan present. Franklin and McDowell reiterated their views while Lincoln advocated for a plan turning the Rebels right flank via the Occoquan River. McClellan continued to be vague about his own plans. Lincoln replaced Secretary of War Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton on January 13, 1862. Later that month in order to pressure McClellan to act Lincoln issued General War Order Number 1 that required an advance by the army and navy by February 22nd.

**General Order Number 1 from the Library of Congress**

The order had its desired effect in that after a meeting with Lincoln on January 22nd McClellan submitted his plan in writing to Stanton on February 3rd. McClellan’s plan, which came to be called the “Urbanna Plan”, laid out his rationale for a movement of his troops by the Navy to Urbanna, Virginia, 50 miles from Richmond on the lower Rappahannock River. The army would then march to West Point and from there to Richmond. In that communication McClellan also outlined a second, less preferable plan to transport his force from Alexandria via the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay to Fort Monroe and then advance up the Virginia peninsula.

**Sketch of a Union reconnaissance party at Urbanna, Virginia** **from Harper’s Weekly in December 1861**

A major concern of Lincoln’s, with the Confederate army potentially between McClellan and Washington, was the defense of the city. In order to maintain a supply line between Washington and troops in the Shenandoah Valley, McClellan built a bridge across the Potomac constructed of canal boats to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. However, the Union supply boats were too wide for the canal. This level of incompetence only worsened Lincoln’s concerns. On March 8th Lincoln issued several orders that divided the Army of the Potomac into five corps commanded by Irvin McDowell, Samuel Heintzelman, Erasmus Keyes, Edwin Sumner and Nathaniel Banks. Before McClellan could act Confederate commander Joseph Johnston decided to abandon his Centreville/Manassas line for the south shore of the Rappahannock River. McClellan was further embarrassed when Union forces moved into Confederate lines only to discover several “Quaker guns”, logs painted black to pose as real cannons.

**Centreville** **fortifications with Quaker guns-** **George Barnard- Link**

McClellan was relieved of command of all US Armies but would retain command of the Army of the Potomac. Johnston’s move south of the Rappahannock made the use of Urbanna as a deep-water port impracticable. In addition, another problem emerged for McClellan in March when the Confederate ironclad Virginia destroyed multiple Union wooden war ships and battled the Monitor to a draw. The presence of the Virginia in Norfolk ruled out using the James River as a supply route. McClellan would now land at Fort Monroe. The 121,500-man Union army would set sail on March 17th. McDowell’s I Corps would initially stay behind to guard the capital. Heintzelman, Keyes and Sumner’s Corps would sail to Fort Monroe. William Franklin’s division from McDowell’s Corps would join them later.

Hearing rumors of Union troop movements on the Maryland side of the Potomac Johnston gave the order to withdraw from the Manassas line on March 5th. On March 13th Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered General Robert E. Lee to come to Richmond to serve as his chief military advisor. Davis did not become aware of Johnston’s withdrawal until the 15th. He was stunned by the amount of munitions, provisions and camp equipment that was destroyed in the rapid withdrawal. On March 21st Davis aware that the Federals were headed for Fort Monroe met with Johnston at his new line behind the Rappahannock River. While there he ordered General Theophilus Holmes to head for Richmond with two infantry brigades and supporting batteries. Lee began looking for ways to reinforce Major General John Bankhead Magruder’s 13,000-man Army of the Peninsula. Johnston was ordered to leave a small force along the Rappahannock and proceed to Richmond with the rest of his army. On April 12th Johnston now in Richmond once again met with Davis where he was given command of all operations in Norfolk and the Peninsula. Johnston was in favor of moving all Confederate forces back to the outskirts of Richmond but was overruled by Davis and Lee. Lee did not want to give up any territory without a fight and that fight would now occur on the peninsula between the York and James Rivers.

**Robert Knox Sneden’s map of the lower peninsula LOC**

General Magruder constructed three lines of fortifications on the Peninsula. The first line went from Young’s Mill on Deep Creek across the Peninsula to Ship’s Point on the Poquoson River. The second line also called the “Warwick River Line” or “Warwick-Yorktown Line” crossed the peninsula from Mulberry Island and followed the Warwick River near Lee’s Mill to Yorktown. Three dams were added to the river that helped create a very difficult barrier to cross. This was the strongest of the three lines. The third line located at Williamsburg consisted of 14 redoubts between College and Queen’s creeks. Other fortifications included Fort Huger and Fort Boykin on the south side of the James River. A fort on Gloucester Point across the York River was built to prevent Union ships from reaching West Point.

**The three Peninsular lines of defense and the forts protecting the York and James Rivers**

After the standoff between the Virginia and the Monitor on March 9th (will be covered in a series of posts in the future) McClellan felt his troops could be safely transported to Fort Monroe. His first troops set sail on March 17th and the Peninsula Campaign was now underway. The series opens with three posts on Fort Monroe.

Part 1- Fort Monroe, Part 2- Fort Monroe- the Visitor Center, and Part 3-Fort Monroe- The Casemate Museum

Part 4- Up the Peninsula to Yorktown

Part 5- The Battle of Dam #1 and the Siege of Yorktown

Part 6- Fort Huger

Part 7- Fort Boykin

Part 8- Jamestown- A Civil War Traveler Goes to Jamestown?

Part 9- A Civil War Traveler Goes to Yorktown?

Part 10- The Gloucester Point Fort

Part 11- Endview- General McLaws and Toombs Headquarters

Part 12- The Battle of Williamsburg

Part 13- A Civil War Traveler Goes to Colonial Williamsburg?

Part 14- The Retreat Continues and the Battle of Eltham’s Landing