num_pages: 371
description: SWORD OVER RICHMOND, told largely in the words of participants and observers, recounts General George McClellan's attempt to outflank the Confederate forces early in the Civil War. He proposed to ferry his army down the Potomac and Chesapeake, then march up the Virginia peninsula and attack Richmond, the Confederate capital, from the east.Short, dapper and full of confidence, McClellan's appointment as commander of the Army of the Potomac came in the aftermath of the disastrous Union defeat at Bull Run. McClellan looked like another Napoleon and thought he was, but underneath he was overcautious, a fatal flaw in a war leader.In the end his campaign was a failure. It dashed all hope for a quick end to the conflict, and finally convinced Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
language: English
title: Sword Over Richmond: An Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign
publisher: HarperCollins Publishers