At the beginning of the last week of June, 1862, the American Civil War briefly appeared as though it might be on the point of ending in a Union victory. The Army of the Potomac, under Gen. George McClellan, stood at some points within about six miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Had McClellan and the Union forces been able to make good those six miles, the result would have been catastrophic for the Confederate cause. For a variety of reasons that will be outlined more fully below, Richmond was of immense strategic importance to the south, and its loss might well have brought a swift end to the war.
McClellan failed to sieze the opportunity, however; instead, though faced by inferior numbers, he began a retreat. In the course of that retreat, he was again offered a chance to sieze the initiative and go on the offensive, when Robert E. Lee, then newly appointed to command of the Army of Northern Virginia, launched an over-hasty and disastrous frontal assault against a strong Union position at Malvern Hill. Instead of taking that opportunity, however, McClellan simply proceeded with his retreat. Richmond was saved for the Confederacy. Lee, in spite of his errors, was launched on the career that would make him a legend. McClellan, having lost the confidence of Lincoln if not of his troops, was presently relieved of his command--though his successors' shortcomings, much greater than his, would usher in a period of Union setbacks on this crucial central front that would be fully reversed only when Ulysses S. Grant was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. Of the seven men who commanded the Army of the Potomac at various times, only McClellan, Meade, and Grant were up to the task, and only Grant would fully master it.
The events near Richmond in the last week of June, 1862, were thus one of the greatest lost opportunities for the Union side in the whole course of the war. The discussion tha...