The war began with both sides confident of an early victory. In May 1861, Union troops crossed the Potomac River, captured Alexandria, Va., and moved into northwestern Virginia. The major Confederate army, some 22,000 men under the command of Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard, was concentrated at Manassas Junction, Va., a key railroad center about 48 km (about 30 mi) southwest of Washington, D.C. Seeking to deliver a mortal blow to this army before reinforcements could reach it, Gen. Irvin McDowell (1818-85) led a Union force of 30,000 toward Manassas.
On July 21, in the First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederate troops, reinforced in time, won a resounding victory. The result was not strategically significant, but the setback forced a humiliated North to abandon hopes for a 90-day war and to raise a more substantial army. In contrast, the South left Bull Run with a sense of overconfidence that impeded proper preparation for the long conflict ahead.
McClellan's appointment
After Bull Run, Lincoln replaced McDowell with Gen. George B. McClellan as commander of the newly created Army of the Potomac.
An able administrator and drillmaster, McClellan proceeded to reorganize the army for what he expected to be an overwhelming demonstration of Northern military superiority. Popular with his troops, the 34-year-old commander was also a conceited, arrogant man, contemptuous of the president and already suspect among Republicans because he vigorously opposed any tampering with the institution of slavery. Ultimately, his tendency to overestimate the enemy and his excessive caution wore out Lincoln's patience.
The border states
Although a military stalemate prevailed for much of 1861, the North scored some critical successes in securing the border states of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri, where Unionist sentiment prevailed but where secessionists were also strong. Maryland's importance lay in its proximity to Washington and in Baltimore's position as a key railroad link to the midwest. Kentucky and Missouri were important to Northern war strategy because they controlled the approaches to the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland river valleys, through which Union forces could bring the war into the Confederate heartland. To ensure Maryland's loyalty, Union troops occupied Baltimore and imposed martial law. Kentucky sought to remain neutral, but in September 1861, when Confederate troops crossed into the state, Kentuckians enlisted overwhelmingly in the Union cause. In Missouri, Union troops helped to secure the state, while driving the pro-Confederate governor into exile. In Virginia, the western counties repudiated the ordinance of secession, formed a provisional government, and in 1863 were admitted to the Union as the new state of West Virginia.
The Peninsular campaign
With his reorganized Army of the Potomac, McClellan was finally prepared to take the offensive in the spring of 1862. Rejecting the strategy of an overland march on Richmond, he moved his army of 100,000 men into the peninsula between the James and York rivers. From this point, southeast of Richmond, he advanced on the Confederate capital. In the Battle of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines (May 31-June 1), a Confederate attack was repulsed, and Lee was chosen to replace the wounded Gen. Joseph E. Johnston as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. By June, McClellan's army approached Richmond. The cautious commander, however, overestimating Confederate strength, halted his march and waited for reinforcements. Meanwhile, Gen. Stonewall Jackson moved his Confederate army up the Shenandoah Valley and crossed the Potomac. Although turned back, he succeeded in convincing the Northern high command that he posed a threat to Washington. In response, the government withheld from McClellan the reinforcements he felt necessary for an attack on Richmond.
Seeking to exploit McClellan's excessive caution, Lee, reinforced by Jackson's men, marched an army of 85,000 against the Union forces massed near Richmond. In the Seven Days' Battle (June 25-July 1), neither side was capable of delivering a mortal blow to the other. Nevertheless, McClellan, believing himself vastly outnumbered, ordered a retreat to the James River, thus dismally concluding his PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN, (q.v.). A disappointed Lincoln named as his general in chief Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck, who had had some recent successes in the West. McClellan retained command of the Army of the Potomac, but Lincoln brought from the West Gen. John Pope (1822-92) to head a new army, consisting largely of troops that had been held back in northern Virginia to check Jackson.
An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2005 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws are prohibited.
