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The Civil War #5
Forward to Richmond
A gripping, comprehensive account of the Civil War, including eyewitness testimony, profiles of key personalities, period photographs, illustrations and artifacts, and detailed battle maps. Fully researched, superbly written.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 25, 2018
Volume 4 of the Time Life Civil War series, this one covers a relatively lengthy, and complex, period of time from the aftermath of First Bull Run and McClellan's taking of command of the battered Army of the Potomac, through to the Battle of Seven Pines almost a year later.
The author, Ronald H. Bailey, rightfully focuses this volume on one man: George B. McClellan. The author has to walk a fine line here as historiography has not been kind to Little Mac since before the War Between the States had even ended. While the revisionist military history that has come out in the last twenty odd years to rehabilitate McClellan was yet to be published, the author did a creditable job nonetheless on acknowledging the supreme obstacles in McClellan's way.
First of all the Army of the Potomac was a disorganized, and demoralized mess. McClellan however proved a master administrator and logistician as well as a trainer of men. One can argue that at no other time in the war was any army as well trained or equipped as was the Army of the Potomac in early 1862.
McClellan had to face considerable interference from the Lincoln Administration, including egregious interference from the President himself who was far more a burden on the Federal war effort than he was a help.
Sadly, McClellan's greatest failing was his inability to handle well political intrusions into the military sphere. He soured his relationship with Washington, badly, and ensured that a sizeable cabal of radical Republicans from Congress would actively seek to undermine him through the aegis of the near Communistic Committee for the Investigation into the Conduct of the War.
The Committee, led by Michigan Senator Zechariah Chandler, was an onus on the Federal military for much of the war and did far more harm than good.
One of the Committee's victims was Brigadier General Charles Stone, defeated badly at the mangled Battle of Ball's Bluff Virginia in October of 1861. The Committee locked him in prison for 18 months, despite the spurious nature of the charges, as an example to McClellan.
However McClellan was wildly popular with his men who adored him. And even the mildly insane radical Republicans on the Committee understood that actually arresting Little Mac would have met a visit to a brick wall and a conference with a rather visibly perturbed, impromptu firing squad.
McClellan was able to escape overly serious censure from the Committee, but was never able to escape the onus of a militarily ignorant and woefully inept Administration in Washington who repeatedly hampered his efforts.
In actual operations, the Army of the Potomac performed quite well.
In early April 1862, in the largest amphibious operation the United States Army would undertake until Operation Torch in 1942, the AoP landed at Fortress Monroe on the Virginia Peninsula (framed by the York and James Rivers), and began to besiege Yorktown held by a small Confederate division.
While Washington bemoaned the slow pace of operations, they were ignorant of the horrid topography and weather patterns of the Peninsula. Or the fact that the Peninsula was a utopia for chiggers and mosquitos who placed as many as a 3rd of the men in a regiment at any given time on the sick rolls. Also the peninsula was narrow, no larger than fifteen miles across at its widest, and was impossible country for the 120,000 men of the AoP to maneuver rapidly in.
However, this fit into McClellan's plan.
By landing on the Peninsula he outflanked Johnston's defensive line on the Rappahannock River, and drew the focal point of the war from the environs of Mannassas and Washington DC to the Rebel capitol of Richmond.
Johnston had no choice but to concentrate to protect the capitol and the vital arms industry there, and McClellan, an engineer by training, could mitigate casualties on both sides by choosing siege operations as opposed to pitched open fights.
As it was, it didn't go quite to plan.
Johnston managed to evade being pounded into mush by the heavy Federal siege artillery around Yorktown and at Williamsburg the Confederates showcased their hard hitting nature in a hard fought rearguard that was a hard earned Federal victory though a costly one. 2,600 Union and roughly 1,500 Rebels were losses at Williamsburg and the sharpness of the fighting, although a tactical Northern victory, allowed the Southerners to withdraw east in good order.
Johnston would hit McClellan hard around the Chickahominy River at Seven Pines on May 31-June 1. The battle was a draw, with roughly 6,000 Rebel and 5,000 Federal casualties for the two days. Johnston was wounded severely and placed out of commission for six long months.
And while he had sapped all the momentum out of the Federal offensive, McClellan was still inching forward to bring Richmond under siege.
However, Johnston's replacement had other ideas. Ideas that would forge a legend.
His name was Robert E. Lee.
All in all this was an excellent volume, and while these are relatively short at roughly 170 pages each, they are densely packed with excellent narrative depth.
I highly recommend this series.
The author, Ronald H. Bailey, rightfully focuses this volume on one man: George B. McClellan. The author has to walk a fine line here as historiography has not been kind to Little Mac since before the War Between the States had even ended. While the revisionist military history that has come out in the last twenty odd years to rehabilitate McClellan was yet to be published, the author did a creditable job nonetheless on acknowledging the supreme obstacles in McClellan's way.
First of all the Army of the Potomac was a disorganized, and demoralized mess. McClellan however proved a master administrator and logistician as well as a trainer of men. One can argue that at no other time in the war was any army as well trained or equipped as was the Army of the Potomac in early 1862.
McClellan had to face considerable interference from the Lincoln Administration, including egregious interference from the President himself who was far more a burden on the Federal war effort than he was a help.
Sadly, McClellan's greatest failing was his inability to handle well political intrusions into the military sphere. He soured his relationship with Washington, badly, and ensured that a sizeable cabal of radical Republicans from Congress would actively seek to undermine him through the aegis of the near Communistic Committee for the Investigation into the Conduct of the War.
The Committee, led by Michigan Senator Zechariah Chandler, was an onus on the Federal military for much of the war and did far more harm than good.
One of the Committee's victims was Brigadier General Charles Stone, defeated badly at the mangled Battle of Ball's Bluff Virginia in October of 1861. The Committee locked him in prison for 18 months, despite the spurious nature of the charges, as an example to McClellan.
However McClellan was wildly popular with his men who adored him. And even the mildly insane radical Republicans on the Committee understood that actually arresting Little Mac would have met a visit to a brick wall and a conference with a rather visibly perturbed, impromptu firing squad.
McClellan was able to escape overly serious censure from the Committee, but was never able to escape the onus of a militarily ignorant and woefully inept Administration in Washington who repeatedly hampered his efforts.
In actual operations, the Army of the Potomac performed quite well.
In early April 1862, in the largest amphibious operation the United States Army would undertake until Operation Torch in 1942, the AoP landed at Fortress Monroe on the Virginia Peninsula (framed by the York and James Rivers), and began to besiege Yorktown held by a small Confederate division.
While Washington bemoaned the slow pace of operations, they were ignorant of the horrid topography and weather patterns of the Peninsula. Or the fact that the Peninsula was a utopia for chiggers and mosquitos who placed as many as a 3rd of the men in a regiment at any given time on the sick rolls. Also the peninsula was narrow, no larger than fifteen miles across at its widest, and was impossible country for the 120,000 men of the AoP to maneuver rapidly in.
However, this fit into McClellan's plan.
By landing on the Peninsula he outflanked Johnston's defensive line on the Rappahannock River, and drew the focal point of the war from the environs of Mannassas and Washington DC to the Rebel capitol of Richmond.
Johnston had no choice but to concentrate to protect the capitol and the vital arms industry there, and McClellan, an engineer by training, could mitigate casualties on both sides by choosing siege operations as opposed to pitched open fights.
As it was, it didn't go quite to plan.
Johnston managed to evade being pounded into mush by the heavy Federal siege artillery around Yorktown and at Williamsburg the Confederates showcased their hard hitting nature in a hard fought rearguard that was a hard earned Federal victory though a costly one. 2,600 Union and roughly 1,500 Rebels were losses at Williamsburg and the sharpness of the fighting, although a tactical Northern victory, allowed the Southerners to withdraw east in good order.
Johnston would hit McClellan hard around the Chickahominy River at Seven Pines on May 31-June 1. The battle was a draw, with roughly 6,000 Rebel and 5,000 Federal casualties for the two days. Johnston was wounded severely and placed out of commission for six long months.
And while he had sapped all the momentum out of the Federal offensive, McClellan was still inching forward to bring Richmond under siege.
However, Johnston's replacement had other ideas. Ideas that would forge a legend.
His name was Robert E. Lee.
All in all this was an excellent volume, and while these are relatively short at roughly 170 pages each, they are densely packed with excellent narrative depth.
I highly recommend this series.
August 14, 2022
When I was visiting Newport News,VA seeking Civil War sites, I stopped into the Virginia War Museum. The whole thing was hilariously slanted- it was like the Fox News of the Civil War. However, the giftshop had some used books for sale, including loose volumes from an extensive Time-Life Books collection from the Civil War. Not only that, but even as I retraced McClellan's invasion up the VA peninsula, the volume they had for sale--for $5 cash only--was this relatively slim volume fixated on that campaign. Obviously and I had to get the book, and I devoured it quickly, especially as many of the big pages are filled with period photos, artists' representations, and glorious maps. It's really nice, and laser focus on the peninsular campaign (and the sites I was visiting at the time of purchase), so much so that it ends abruptly in the middle of the 7 Days Battle that follow. Besides McClellan and Lincoln (and to a lesser extent Butler at Fort Monroe), one-armed Philip Kearny emerges as an unlikely-though-colorful hero here, opposite Lee, Davis, Jackson, and special guest star Prince John Magruder.
January 12, 2023
This volume offers an exciting and succinctly detailed description of the events of the Peninsular Campaign. It began with a short biography on General George McClellan, the Federal debacle at Ball’s Bluff, the slow methodical advance of the Union forces up the Peninsula (giving the flanked Confederate forces plenty of time to fortify their positions at Yorktown and later Richmond), and then the very bloody Battle of Seven Pines which brought Union forces within seven miles of the Confederate capital. One wonders if Grant, Sherman, or Sheridan had been in charge instead of the timid McClellan, how much shorter the war may have been? Richmond would probably have been taken and the war ending much sooner than it did. With the wounding of Confederate Joseph Johnston, a new leader was chosen to replace him - Robert E. Lee. This is where this volume ends. The illustrations were great as well!
June 12, 2020
Part of Time-Life Civil War series.
September 11, 2021
Covers only the first part of the Peninsula Campaign (up to the Seven Days) but also the first few months of McClellan's command of the Army of the Potomac. Not too bad as an overview but also very brief; it's not as detailed as Stephen W. Sear's
To the Gates of Richmond
.
March 19, 2015
Good series, easy and comprehensive
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews