Peninsular+Campaign


 * __Major people__**
 * General Robert E. Lee 85,000 confedrate troops. He was the advisor for President Davis at this time.
 * Major General George B McClellan had the command of 200,000 union troops and was prepared to take the confedrate capital.
 * Major General John Bankhead Magruder had command of 70,000 confedrate troops and had total command of all the troops in the region at the time.

__**Battle Summary **__
 * March 1862: McClellan decides to move his forces aginst the confedrate capital, Richmond Virgina, vis the Yorktown Peninsula.
 * Magruder had set up a long defensive line protecting Yorktown's left flank and a secondary line 10mi back wich was right in front of williamsburg.
 * Lee thought that his defensive lines would be out flanked so he constructed a third line 10mi infront of Richmond and flanks anchored on the Chichaominy and James rivers.
 * Magruder had little resources but used them to their fullness and bluffed about howmany troops he had.
 * McClellan has some problems himself. He had learned that Fort Monroe had been taken out of his command and that McDowells army wouldn't be joining him. Also the union government had put a stop to federal recuriting efforts.
 * These new developments made McClellan decide that a seige on Yorktown was now the solution.
 * General Johnston ordered a evacuation of Yorktown because he didn't want to face bombardmont from heavy artillery. In doing so he left behind 56 heavy seige guns of his own ammunition.
 * Lee learned that McDowell was moving south to the confredate capital with his army of 40,000, and with McClellend to the East opposed by only Johnston and his small army. This was disaterious for the confedrates.
 * McClellan split his own forces to cross the river.
 * Meanwhile Lee was improving his defenses and digging trenches to get to richmond and capture it. Heavy rains stopped McClellan in his tracks because he coludn't move his artillery train.
 * Lee mustered up enough reinforcements to equal about 85,000. He was going to leave 30,000 at
 * in the newly constructed trenches to hold McClellan's 75,000 troops on that side of the river. The remaining 55,000 troops were going to go destroy the 30,000 federals on the North Bank.
 * McClellan thought he was facing a massive confedrate army of about 200,000 and that he was massively outnumbered. To McClellan, Lee's attack on the North Bank was going to be merely a diverson from the main attack that would come from the south. Thinking this he fell back to James River and Harrison's Landing.
 * When Lee relized that McClellan was falling back to James River and Harrison's Landing he planed to intercept them at White Oak Swamp Creek.
 * When Lee got there he tried to set up his artillery but noticed that he was out-gunned. Also a misunderstanding in orders led to the uncoordinated assults by Huger, Magruder, and Hill resulting in 5,500 more casualities for the confedrates. Lee accomplished his task by reliving Richmond of McClellan's forces, but at a high cost Confederate losses 20,614 casualties compared to Federal losses of 15,849.

[|Http://www.civilwarhome.com/peninsul.htm]__**
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