To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign

by Stephen W. Sears

Book Overview

To the Gates of Richmond charts the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, General George McClellan's grand scheme to march up the Virginia Peninsula and take the Confederate capital. For three months McClellan... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0899197906
• ISBN13: 9780899197906
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Stan Clark Military Books
• Length: 468 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Another great one from Sears.

"To the Gates of Richmond" should be on any Civil War (or American History) enthusiast's bookcase. It is a true page turner and I read it in under a week (which for me is an oddity). My only complaint about this book is the lack of quality maps. There are maps, but not very good ones. This does not detract from the quality of the text however. I have yet to find any books on this particular campaign in the Civil War, and now I don't think I will have to look any farther than this.

Excellent History of Failed Opportunities

In To The Gates of Richmond : The Peninsula Campaign, Stephen W. Sears once again proves that he is the preeminent author of Civil War histories. Like his histories of the The Battle of Antietam in Landscape Turned Red or of the Battle of Chancellorsville, Sears has an enviable way of setting forth both the feel of the battles and the raw history that one needs to fully understand the battles and campaigns of the Civil War. In To The Gates of Richmond, Sears does a masterful job of describing the thought process of McClellan and Lee as well as the line soldiers on both sides. If one wants to get a true feel of what it was like to be on the Peninsula in 1862, then this is the book for you.The theme of the book is lost opportunities for both the Union and the Confederacy. The Peninsula Campaign is probably the only time in the history of the Civil War where each side had an ability to end the conflict on terms that were advantageous. For the Union, a victory and the capture of Richmond, probably would also have resulted in the destruction of the main Southern Army. For the Confederacy, if Lee had been able to cut off and destroy the Union Army, as Lee wanted to do, the Union would have been left with no effective force to stop an advance on Washington. However, errors on both sides led to three more years of death and destruction.For Lee it was the problem of a new command, with subordinates not of his own choosing and with many of those subordinates failing to live up to expectations. For Stonewall Jackson, the Peninsula Campaign was far from his finest hour. From failing to communicate with Lee, to not having his troops arrive on time, to not pushing forward where there was a clear advantage, Jackson?s failures assisted the Union Army in escaping the ?traps? that were being set by Lee. However, the blame is not placed solely on Jackson and his fellow Generals. Sears properly criticizes Lee for his overly complicated battle plans, especially given his unfamiliarity with the command. Sears greatest criticisms are rightfully saved for McClellan. Like in the Battle of Antietam, McClellan great caution turned a real numerical superiority into an imaginary disadvantage. Where McClellan should have been driving forward and bringing Lee to battle, his incorrect belief that he was outnumbered two to one forced him to take the defensive and almost led to the destruction of the Army that he truly loved. The plain fact is that McClellan may have been the right General to have formed the Army of the Potomac, but as a battlefield leader he was a disaster. From his ordering retreats when they were not necessary, to his failure to establish a clear chain of command during battles, to his penchant for not being in the field when battles were taking place, and for his failures to take advantage of opportunities presented him, Sears systematically outlines the deficiencies of the General that was once known as the Young Napoleon.This is a very goo

Impressive modern scholarship on Peninsula battles...

The Civil War Virginia Peninsula Campaign of 1862 set the tone for the Union implementation of the war for the subsequent 2 years and Stephen Sears chronicles this series of battles magnificently in "To the Gates of Richmond". The overwhelming thrust of this book descrbes in great detail how inept a battle general George McClellan was and how his poliicies led to the ultimate withdrawal of the "Army of the Potomac" from the Richmond front. The reader gets a true feeling of frustration at McClellan right from the beginning as the campaign starts with the siege at Yorktown. The Federals far outnumber the Confederates in this initial phase, but McClellan opts to entrench his army in the face of a much weaker and somewhat exhausted "Army of Northern Virginia" just completing it's march down to the Peninsula from Manassas. Sears does a good job of documenting McClellan's lack of ability to obtain military intelligence but does a better job showing McClellan's lack of "the will to fight". And this isn't more evident than in the following battles at Williamsburg and Seven Pines/Fair Oaks...the Federals really had victory in their grasp, but because of the "defensive minded" leadership, the campaign continued on. An interesting debate on how long this faceoff at Richmond would have lasted can be had if Joe Johnston hadn't gotten wounded at Seven Pines and R.E. Lee hadn't taken over. Johnston was fairly "defensive-minded" himself and I'm sure that the campaign would not have followed the course that it ultimately did. Lee then, of course, initiated an offensive that started with Jeb Stuart's cavalry ride around the Federal entrenchments, proceeded on to the battles at Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Savage's Station and Glendale before ending with the blood-bath at Malvern Hill and subsequent Union withdrawal to Harrison's Landing on the James River. Sears descibes each battle with just the right amount of military tactics and "real-person" accounts from the many journal/diary entries enclosed to give the reader a real feel for the action. His discussions of Longstreet's subversion of the plan at Seven Pines, the mysterious actions of Stonewall Jackson throughout the campaign, the bloody fighting and ultimate breakthrough by the Confederates at Gaines Mill and the standoffs at Savage's Station and Glendale adroitly precede the brilliant climax of the book at the "Guns of Malvern Hill" chapter and the amazing decision (by McClellan) to retreat to Harrison's Landing following the Malvern Hill victory. Sears continues his brilliant writing as he closes the book with the entrenchment at Harrison's Landing and subsequent withdrawal (ordered by Halleck and protested by McClellan) back up the Potomac. Sears proves himself to be one of the pre-eminent Civil War historians around today with this book and he should be considered an "essential" author in any reading of the conflict...I definitely look forward to reading his other books and would recommend this book v

Clear and Informative Description of the 7 Days Battles

Sears brings facts and a clean writing style that provides an informative and flowing read on the battles of the Seven Days. Each description of the battles and the leaders are written in not too much minutia so that they are easy to follow while providing the major personnel conflicts and battle movements, strategy and tactics. Each battle is accompanied by straight forward maps that make easy reference to Sears' accurate descriptions of the battle. Sears' long study of McCllelan provides insight that many historians may not have been aware such as his personal abandonment of the battlefields of Glendale and Malvertn Hill. Sears also has some scoops such as finding that their were two bridges at issue for Jackson in his approach to Savage Station not just the Grapevine Bridge. The detail is so well done that one can envision Stonewall falling asleep with a biscuit in his mouth while the pivitol battle of Gelndale is coming to a close just a mile or so to the south. I took this book with me while taking a wonderful Richmond National Park service guided bus tour and although the maps were not as detailed as the historians, I always had a quick reference to the lay of the battlefield. The famous artilery officer for Longstreet, General Porter Alexander has said that the confederates "knew as much about the battle terrian as they did about Africa"; however, Sears' book gives you a far greater advantage.

Excellent as usual

I've come to expect great things from Mr. Sears since his triumphant "Landscape Turned Red". Here he continues to excite and interest readers with the "Prequel" if you will of the Antietam Capaign for the Army of the Potomac; The Peninsular Campaign. Sears give us a sweeping narrative made up of both the generals, officers and the enlisted ranks. He combines primary sources with eloquent narrative prose to give an excellent account of the campaign.