10. Timidity Kept This General From Seizing Richmond and Winning the Civil War in 1862
On April 5th, 1862, General George B. McClellan ordered a halt on his side of the Warwick River, had his men dig in, and set out to conduct a siege. Unbeknownst to him, he could have simply bulled through, swatted Magruder aside, and seized Richmond as it was his for the taking. For a month, McClellan methodically prepared for a huge attack to break through Magruder’s “strong defenses”. He concentrated men, guns, and munitions for a massive bombardment scheduled for May 5th, 1862, followed by an overwhelming attack.
Having already bought his side a month to prepare for the defense of Richmond, Magruder slipped away on the night of May 3rd, and left behind empty trenches for the enemy to occupy. McClellan resumed his advance on Richmond, but by then the Confederates had concentrated sufficient forces to thwart him. McClellan was halted at the gates of Richmond, then pushed back to his starting point with furious attacks during the Seven Days Battles. The Peninsula Campaign thus came to an ignominious end.