150 years ago two armies -one Union, one Confederate- squared off with each other outside the capitol of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. This chapter in the saga of the American Civil War was known the Peninsula Campaign because operations took place on the Virginia Peninsula which stretches between Fort Monroe and Richmond bordered by the James River on its southwest side and the York River on its northeastern side; with Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay at its base.
The objective was the capture of Richmond. However, as Sears vividly narrates, it was a campaign that would fail to achieve that object due in large part to the hyper-cautious approach taken by Major General George B. McClellan, commander the fabled Army of the Potomac.
