Forward to Richmond
by Time Life Civil War

This volume serves nicely as an introduction to General McClellan and his role in re-building the shattered Union Army after the First Battle of Manassas in the summer of 1861. It does a great job of describing the build-up to McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

"Forward to Richmond" is certainly an ironic title for this volume in the Time-Life Civil War series that focuses on the Peninsular Campaign since this particular military fiasco was General McClellan's attempt to do an end run around the Confederate army. Because the topic is limited to a single volume, Ronald H. Bailey (and the Editors of Time-Life Books) cannot go into much depth in terms of the specific battles of the campaign, so you do not get as much detail as you do in those volumes on specific battles like Shiloh or Gettysburg.

  • Chapter 1, "A Young Napoleon," provides a concise biography of the Union Army's commanding general as well as his efforts to train his troops to become soldiers.
  • Chapter 2, "Clash at Ball's Bluff," relates the second defeat in battle suffered by the Federals (after First Manassas) because of unseasoned officers, failures of communication and a poorly run command structure.
  • Chapter 3, "The Troublesome Commanders," looks at how the South was as much troubled by Beauregard's inactivity with the Confederate army as Lincoln was plagued by McClellan's slows with the Federals.
  • Chapter 4, "'Stride of a Giant,'" covers the beginning of the Peninsular Campaign, with the Army of the Potomac finally breaking out of its confinement south of Yorktown.
  • Chapter 5, "Victory Within Reach," makes a strong case for how McClellan snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
  • Chapter 6, "Stalemate in the Swamp," relates how the Battle of Seven Pines ended in a stalemate that still forced the Army of the Potomac to end the campaign.

    • All of these volumes make excellent use of contemporary photographs and illustrations, but "Forward to Richmond" contains many fine examples of watercolors from the time period.

    Ordering via EMAIL is easy.

    Click Here

    Orders may also be sent via U.S. Snail to:
    Eastern Digital Resources
    5705 Sullivan Point Drive
    Powder Springs, GA 30127