Transcripts For CSPAN3 The 20240705

We are going to continue our wonderful afternoon with our next and it is my personal and absolute pleasure to introduce him to you my colleague, my friend, my mentor and the wonderful brains behind entire operation. This weekend, dr. Paul quigley. Dr. Quigley is the James Earl Robertson junior associate of civil war studies and, the director of the Virginia Center for civil war studies here at virginia tech. He is the author of shifting grounds nationalism. The american south, which received numerous awards including the association for american studies book prize and is currently writing a book on brooks. And i encourage you to ask about that. This afternoon he will be giving a talk entitled George Mcclellans expedition up the peninsula and into Early American History. Please join me in welcoming paul quigley. Thank you so much, mollie and thank you all for being here very much as can tell, i think from my title decided to go all in with theme of civil war journeys. Of course as the one who comes up with the themes. I of have to. But i decided to take on the Peninsula Campaign of. Spring 1862. And first of all, you know, most of you this already is just a fascinating military expedition and campaign in own right. While some Great Stories in the peninsula, but also it presented the opportunity to talk about a different kind of journey a journey back in time as well, back into colonial and revolutionary history, so much of which had happened right there on the peninsula. So im going to start with a map and i love this handdrawn war maps this one is by robert knox snedden, new york soldier and artist. And im going to show quite a day and this one depicts theuy ion confederate placements you can see on the top of the map can see the confe lines on the bottom, the union lines. You can see various earthworks ralls, battery labeled on the map. Onne and at the map and zoom in yourself, you can also see natural like the warwick river, the swamps around, the warwick river, some of them naturally, somef emreat by confederate dams that they created that as f the earthworks, kinds of natural features impeded the movement of facilitated movement. In other cases of, both sides during the Peninsula Campaign. And if we zoom in a bit, we can also see these two little notations, the center of the map. One of them says monument of 1781. Thother says, where the british laid down arms, 1781. So in case youre worried that im talking about the wrong war here, im still in the civil war. But as you all probably if you visited yorktown, they tend to make something of this. This was a place where revolutionary armies and, civil war armies fought over the same ground. And so the siege of april and may, 1862, around yorktown took place pretty much in the same place as as an earlier stage in 1781. The revolutionary war siege, which was basically the climax of the revolutionary war when washington and lafayette defeated cornwallis and won the americans their independence from the empire. And this was one of several historical connections that civil war soldiers discovered, as they fought along the virginia peninsula in 1862. So me, this raises a really interesting question. What did they make of all this . What did they do, how did they engage with this history as they found out on the peninsula in 1862 . And i think this may become the kernel of a future book for me . So im especially excited. Talk about it today and get some feedback and ideas from you all at the end well. The main reason, this action was taking place the peninsula in 1862, of course, was the george b mcclellan, who at this point was leading army of the potomac. Hes under great pressure from lincoln to mount an offensive on richmond and came up with a bold plan. So rather than do the obvious thing, which would be to march from Northern Virginia to richmond, he came up with the idea instead of conveying his troops by boat, fort monroe, which of cou on the r this depiction of the peninsula. So bringing the troops by to fort monroe and then marching the peninsula to attack richmond from, the south east, and to begin with actually went weh lots of help from union. Quatermass star montgomery maggs, among others. In march 1862, mcclellan manages to transport this Enormous Army and all that came with it to fort monroe. So in about three weeks they moved 400 plus ships, an estimated 121,000 men, 300 cannons, more than 1000 wagons, 15,000 animals. It just an amazing feat of military. So they there by april 4th theyre ready to begin moving up the peninsula but its when they begin to yorktown that they face problems as they begin to meet resistance this way, mcclellan starts to get worried. And at this point hes got about 55,000 men on the move. There are only 13,000 confederates at this point. And the beginning of their Campaign Around yorktown. But mcclellan, you know, and you know this about him already, he always thinks hes outnumbered and John Magruder, whos the confederate commander at yorktown in this early part of the campaign, he famously plays on fears by march, his troops around and around, around multiple times to make it look like he has many more troops than he really does and kind of feed into anxiety that mcclellans feeling so the whole the pressure from lincoln is continuing. Hes sending messages just get on it, please. Lets get this. But instead, mcclellan decided, take a step back, decided that he wanted to initiate a full on siege of yorktown so dig up his own system of earthworks around the town bring up the big siege guns rather than just going in there and moving quickly, getting the job done immediately. So this is another thing you probably already know about mcclellan hes notorious for overprepare saying hes always worried the obstacles that might derail entire journey. Thats just his m. O. And i think things dont change. There are still lots of people that around us today who over prepare for journeys. This is from a more recent newspaper. The in 2012 i think every family has got of these people and if you think yes doesnt that probably its you and i know its me and my family by the way but you get the point is the you know, the classic mcclellan joke that kind of brings us together, civil war historians, right. We love to laugh about mcclellan and his foibles. But you get the point about his general approach to this campaign on the peninsula so for the next month, the rest of april, the first few days may, mcclellans troops are away. Theyre preparing the best possible earthworks they can. They want to get closer to the confederate lines and eventually mount an offensive. In the meantime, on the other, general Joseph Johnston comes down to take control replace him magruder as the overall commander. And as soon as he gets to yorktown he realizes with all of the troops and the artillery, the resources, mcclellan has got, the confederates arent going to be able to defend this place once mcclellan actually gets ready to attack. So he makes his plans to withdraw the confederate troops. And just around the time when mcclellan is finally ready to actually on the offensive. Johnston begins to withdraw his troops from those around yorktown. That happens on the night of may 3rd and johnstons plan is to move back closer to richmond, stronger defenses and continue campaign that as theyre moving back theres an indecisive battle just outside williamsburg which slows confederates down a bit, but not in any serious. And then, you know, there are other engagements later in may further toward richmond in late june, come the seven days battles which ends in mcclellans retreat. So thats kind of the overview of the Peninsula Campaign. Mcclellan planned this really bold expedition and its easy to imagine it could have won the war. That was his hope. But of course it didnt. And instead it ultimately resulted in mcclellans retreat. And if you read mcclellans letters during this period, he comes across as he gives the message that this was everyones fault, except his he sees himself hes got very inflated sense of himself. Hes a missile like figure in his own mind. Im the only one who can save the union. Everyone else around me is an idiot, you know, putting all these obstacles in my way and making it too difficult to succeed. So he went into this Campaign Thinking he would earn himself heroic place in history, and that didnt happen. But even if he and his men didnt make history in the way they wanted to in spring 1862, they certainly encountered a lot of existing history as they made their way up the peninsula. As i mentioned before, at the beginning, yorktown is kind of the number one example of this, where the confederates and union forces in 1862 are fighting over the same ground. Many of the war earthworks actually pretty much intact. And beginning in 1861, John Magruder begun the process of fortifying yorktown. And it was obvious even before mcclellan along that this was going to be an important strategic defense point. So they begin to fortify and from the beginning follow the british lines. For the most part, its easy to do. They often use and enslaved labor to actually do the digging in terms of figuring out where do we put these earthworks. Its a fairly easy decision lets just follow the british lines. There are a few photos in the library of congress collections which depicts this revolutionary connection. This one claims to show the site. Cornwallis delivered up his sword and the history is a little bit dicey there. And im not convinced they got exact surrender spot. But still, the important point for me is that theyre thinking about the connection between what theyre in 1862 and what happened there in 81, another photo depicts one of the many places where confederates just literally the lines the british had 81 yea earlier and dug their own earthworks along that path and of course, its not surprising they did this. The topography of yorktown hadnt changed all that much since 1781. Some things have changed in military technology. They had bigger artillery pieces, for example, so they often needed to build these earthworks on a larger than had been the case before. But for the most part, the general principles were the same. And plus the whole reason why yorktown worth defending, was the same in 1862 as in 1781. And its got a deep water port this high ground overlooking port, overlooking a key possible route of waterborne invasion and waterborne as well. So it makes sense to fortify yorktown in much the same way as the british done in the 1780s. There are other in this area as well, by the way, fort boykin, for example, which across the james river from newport news that one was also built on top of revolutionary war fortifications that one also dated back even further to the early colonial days when colonists had built a fort to protect themselves from from native americans and spanish. So sometimes this history goes back even further. In 1860 to civil war, americans fairly frequently noted these connections was a fact of interest to them. You can see some of the newspaper headlines and clippings thile the Peninsula Campaign was underway, pape printed accounts of yorktown history, they drew parallels betweenhe t sieges. Is o example where newspaper printed a map of the siege of 1781. You. This was an opportunity to learn a little while the civil war is going on and it wasnt just newspaper editors. Its also. Soldiers and the letters after the war, their memoirs theyre talking about these noteworthy connection words because they realized, of course as they were doing it that that digging up that camped on their moving across was hallowed ground. Sometimes it was as simple as just remarking on the geographical coincidence. So for example, some Union Soldiers noted that kearneys and hookers in 1862 camps on the same ground where lafayette and washington had camped earlier. They also talked a fair bit about digging all kinds of debris and remnants that armies always leave them. And that includes bodies, also things like buttons, weapons, one soldier unearthed an antique sword with gold embellishments, an image of the British Crown on it, a good clue to which side that came. Others discovered timber that they believed washingtons men had used to build a bridge, a swamp. One unit was engaged, constructing a magazine, which is a place, store, ammunition and. In the process of doing that, they discovered a british magazine, the remnants of british magazine with some gunpowder in it. They were even able to out the gunpowder, dry it out, and it exploded. 81 years later, which is pretty remarkable. One of the things a lot of these guys commented was that proximity to that monument i mentioned at the of the talk, it was in the middle of, that historic map, the 17th 81 surrender monument. This was erected only in 1860. So long time after the revolutionary war. But ready had become something of landmark in the area. So, for example, in june 1861, when confederates were mobilizing to travel down to a big battle for the battle in 1861, they actually rendezvous just across the surrender monument. So this was a local landmark and. In 1862, when all of these flock into the area, they often write about being close to going on visits to the surrender monument. This is an example from a North Carolina and a soldier up on the sky, up on the screen. He talks about this quaint old town of rktown, points interest awakening, patriotic contemplation and. The surrender monument is the big example. This is the place they like to go and visit another soldier reported that his his comrades didnt always treat that with with much. There was lots of graffiti on it. Soldiers were carving initials and signatures into monument in 1862. They were also chipping off bits of the marble to take home as souvenirs and eventually they actually took away the entire monument was away by these relic hunters. And this was a fairly common pursuit, the civil war. People once said that kind of physical connection with with history, and that could include, you know, relics from pieces, the surrender monument. It could include the artifacts from 1781 that the soldiers dug up outside yorktown. It could also include more recent mementos from the civil war itself and already, by the spring of 1862. And this is going on. First, manassas provides a good example of that around the battlefield. There theres quite a lively trade buying and selling artifacts from the battle. Things like weapons and shells. That kind of thing that been discarded the previous summer. Theres even a couple of newspaper articles which i quite amusing which local boys around using vinegar to rust up pistols and knives so they could then sell them for higher price as historical artifacts that had been used at the battle. But that was bit of a detour to manassas. The point is that they approach during the Peninsular Campaign in terms of artifacts they want these relics they want these experiences of visiting this as well. Theyre talking points of interest places, visitation. So it all begins to sound a little bit like tourism, a way. And at yorktown and elsewhere are other examples of this in other parts of the country. The civil war did provide soldiers an opportunity to become Something Like tourists. And ive got the question mark up that just because i dont want to be flippant, you kno thats obviously not e purpose they were there. Need to remember what they were really doing. But at the same time, its important to remember that most of these guys had never traveled. So far from home before. They had many more days of boredom andamp than they did in active operations. So they did take advantage. You know, when they were in a place where they could go visit. A noteworthy monument location, a historical site. They did a. And the way they wrote about these sites, i think, was pretty similar to how other 19th century americans and after the civil war talked about recreational travel and heritage, tourism so that soldier i just quoted the last slide, talked about how they the monument awakened patrick after contemplation. Theres another example up there on the screen from a pennsylvania sdier. He tks about looking at the surrender site and it required effort of the igination. Bring up the great dead and to become witnesses of onof those events which have left a lasting impression on the world. So for brief moments like they did become tourists, heritage tourists as well as soldiers. And i think this cortege by marks up there suggests when they did so, it was an exercise that they as much as anything else, what they to do is stand in these locations, kind of commune with the history that happened, that commune with the past generation, who did these important things in these places. And its really striking how effort had been made between the revolution and the civil war to actually preserve of the locations of revolution and Early American History. The government did not see historic as its responsibility no National Park service yet of course, no private organizing like the American Battlefield trust existed yet. And i think this was partly because early americans had a reputation as being very future minded. So even the revolution itself was often as a kind of repudiation. The past. The past was european, the future was american. This was the mindset. Many early americans had. John quincy adams, famous said democracy has no monuments. So he meant with those words that democracy is about the future, not the past. Its about the people, not about a few leaders who you might put statues up. So i think this helps explain why, for example, there was little organized to commemorate battle fields like yorktown to to interpret them for public members of the public came to visit and, you know, there were a few exceptions. Certainly theres some interest visiting historical sites. Theres a little bit of infrastructure there, but just nothing like what you would expect, given the importance of these revolutionary battlefield sites. In yorktown, there was a lot of attention in 1824 and 25 to the history there, the marquis de lafayette came for a visit and he visited several the battlefields he had fought on, including yorktown. So theres a bit interest around there, but nothing permanent. And in fact, at yorktown, the Continental Congress had passed legislation in 1781, just a few weeks after the surrender there, which which facilitates that the construction of a monument to mark that spot. But that monument was not built until the 1880s. Its the victory monument that stands there today, which went up in 1880s. Until then, u. S. Federal government didnt do about commemorating yorktown, that surrender monument that was marked on the maps and that was chipped away at and destroyed. That been put only in 1860. And that was an effort virginians not by the federal government. So other exceptions include you know, people did like to go and visit some of the northern battlefields, saratoga these kinds of places in 1820s, thirties, forties, fifties and towards the end of that period, theres increased interest in southern battlefields like Kings Mountain and sullivans islands, carolina. But really, for the most part, if people want to go and visit a battlefield theyre on their own, you know, its up to them. Learn a little bit about the history. Theres going to be nothing there to see when they get there. They have to use their imagination. By the if you want to read more about this precivil war engagement with history this book by Thomas Chambers of war is is really, really good. So overall heritage tourism very limited. It was developing slowly by the time the civil war buildings represent a slightly different kind of story, though, of course, even if there were very few monuments that had been erected to colonial or revolutionary history, there were quite a buildings around the place that survived and civil war soldiers certainly noticed these. And civil photographers noted these. So the first example is the morehouse house outside yorktown. This caption suggests that lord cornwallis signed the surrender of 1781. E not quite accurate. He didnt actually. He sent an emissary instead. Didnt go. He sent an emissary instead. So the capture might not be quite accurate, but i think, again, the important thing is that the civil war, americans are finding these connections meaningful. And in this image, you can see some Union Soldiers gathered outside house. Another shot of the morehouse here appeared in alexander gardners sketchbook of the war. And i think that fact suggests how important the history of these places was to civil war americans. This a landmark. This is something that are a place that people want to visit, a place that people want to see in these kinds of photos. The Thomas Nelson house also dated back before the revolutionary war, had been d been used as a headquarters by the british in 1781, used as a Civil Hospital in 1862. And then there was cornwallis cave, socalled, b leger had a that cornwallis was actually head there to avoid bombardment by the arin and fren fces which is almost certainly not true. But its one of those myths where. It just kind of gained traction and, you know, more powerful the truth. So people still call it cornwallis escaped that cornwallis cave. And in the civil war this was another site visitation that confederates also used. By the way as a as a store of ammunition. So whether its a building a battlefield old a set of earthworks when the war americans encountered a historical place actually something to them emotionally intellectually even there wasnt the same level of infrastructure and interpretation and preservation we see to today. A lot of these guys really felt link between them and the revolution, every generation in particular. It was only about 80 years had gone by. So its a similar time frame as the distance between us today, world war two. So a lot of civil war americans knew that their grandfathers had fought in the revolutionary armies, for example, other relatives. And the connection felt is really nicely in this artifact act that you see up on your screen. Now, you might not immediately realize what it was given. Its unusual shape, but it was a canteen, water canteen, really looking item. Its in the collections, the American Civil War museum and richmond. And it was in the revolutionary war by the soldier, john ward. Actually, he was on the american side. He carried it at the 7081 surrender ceremony. And then it was used by his grandson a confederate lieutenant named robert. And ive looked into a little bit. I dont the grandson actually around yorktown in 1862 that would have been just too uncanny to think about this canteen being used in both these Yorktown Campaigns. But he did fight in the seven days battles around just a little bit later. So i just really love the story. This artifact and the reminder that the connection between the war generation and the revolutionary was often very direct, very emotionally meaningful and and sometimes very personal as well. Or whether or not they had kind of direct connection. Many unions soldiers felt as though they were fighting the same for the same cause as the soldiers had fought for them. They thought about this as a second american revolution. And you see this thinking throughout the war. Lots and lots of examples of this line of thought. But yorktown specifically just encapsulated, really perfect. This historical parallel between, the union forces and the revolutionary forces. Dont forget the confederate earthworks lay on the british lines. The union earthworks were mapped roughly on top. Washington and lafayettes position. So its really a perfect analogy. And you see that in a lot of newspaper and soldiers writings. Well. So the article all the clipping youp on thecreetalks about history repeating. This wasmon frain in, 1862, and talks abou outcome of the Yorktown Campaign 186hopefully will be the same as 1781. The triumph of liberty ts enemies. And there are a couple of examplre fm soldiers as well, including martin haynes, who New Hampshire a s andis tking in his memoir after the war about ho work this was to dig th earthworks outside yorktown. But even amid all this hard work, he found these historical to be incredibly evoc and in his words, oftentimes the same dirt which has been thrown up b our to establish the or shoved over by to perpetuate that another union soldier, charles hayden, made a similar kind of point hes finding in aspiration in the sacrifices of the revolutionary generation. If they were able to endure these privations. Surely we can do whats necessary to defend what they. Thats the kind of the kind of idea you see really often in 1862. So the union side and of course the confederates had their own version of this. They also saw themselves fighting the second american revolution. And again, this is all over the place in civil war history. Lots and lots examples we could talk about, but it did come up around yorktown as well for the confederates. Now for them, it was a lot more difficult to make case because they had to concede the fact that they were actually in the physical position of the british in 1781. So wasnt quite as neat. But nonetheless, they still use that revolutionary history to try to inspire other and to explain and rationalize what they were doing, what they were fighting for. So you can see in john mccrae does address to his troops at the top that hes really try to steal tourage with the example of the revolutionary soldiers who had beaten the peninsula. Right on the he mentions that theyre thing the same air, treading thee soil, and he asks his troops shall we . Their sons imitate e, basely by the neck to the yoke of the oppressor. Siy a richmond newspaper ran a story called the british and yankee of virginia. The basic idea is the title of the headline suggests is that yo that the way that the british had invaded and attacked theinies and an revolutionary war was comparable to what the union forces were doing with their attacks on virginia territory in 1862. These the enemies and and we hope the outcome will be the same. So on both sides history is as often accurate and objective. They want to go to these places, want to learn about history. But its also a way to understand what theyre doing and to inspire each other. Its a weapon in some ways that thats used by both sides. They try to identify themselves. The American Revolutionary generation, and identify the people on the other side as the with the british. So wasnt just yorktown of course with historical importance. Im sure most of us have visited the peninsula and familiar with the concepts of the historic triangle of yorktown, jamestown, williamsburg. This whole area, these historical associations in the 1860s looking back to colonial and revolutionary times and williamsburg played role in this campaign. I already mentioned that it was heavily fortified in 1861 to 62, just like yorktown. And then when the confederates retreat retreat in early may from they fight this this battle just outside williamsburg on may 5th. So soldiers stationed at williamsburg work, theyre passing through there fighting williamsburg. And often they come in on the historical significance t town as well. And is things like the college of william my nd to comment on the distinct ern, monroe and so on. E. They also comment on the old iaapitol building, which had been burned down by this point. T ere are a few remaining. And ar soldiers like to talk about how that site was, such an importanin colonial histo for example, the site of patrick henrys first speech when he first emerging as a politician. So these are the kinds things that meant something to the civil war generation. And then of course, theres jamestown, the First Permanent english settlement, the eagle eyed among you. Among you will know that the quite right on this map. D is n well, forgive robert knox maiden. Hes such a great artis we cant expect g everything exactly right. But jamestown, of course, another histla, the peninsula that these soldiers engaged when they told stories of captain smith and pocahontas. Just like they told stories of of washington and cornwallis and in fact, jamestown was the one place that ive been able to find where George Mcclellan talked about history during campaign. When he got to he wrote a letter to, his wife reflecting on the significant bonds of the history of the place and specifically the one remaining building from the early colonial, which was this church drawn here by alfred. In 1864. There was also a graveyard behind the church and mcclellan and lots of other people commented on the age of the gravestones, the church, and just really kind contemplated the power of Early American History while they were there. So Jamestown Island actually has a pretty interesting civil history. It was privately owned. The whole thing was privately owned at time by a guy named william allen. And he volunteered the confederacy immediately in 61. He recognized course the strategic importance of Jamestown Island, just like yorktown on the other side of the peninsula. Jamestown is obviously going to be a place you want to fortify and use for defense. So in 1861, he began to build fortifications. He enlisted the labor of over 100 enslaved men to do a lot of that digging. And these men, as they were digging, exposed artifacts from some of the earliest settlers. So they found things like commas, armor, coins, timber all of this kind of thing. And so in 1861, they built a small fort on the edge of Jamestown Island, and they called it for pocahontas. Their awareness of the history that happened there in may 1862, as the confederates from yorktown and and move on up towards richmond. And they also retreat from jamestown. And after may 1862, for most the rest of the war anyway, it serves two purposes. One is, as a Communications Link for the u. S. Military so the navy, the army, they they are both using island militarily but it also becomes a refuge for africanamericans in the area who are escaping from slavery and union owned or occupied territory is where they fought. Of course, they know that this means possible freedom. And so, like many places in this area and other parts the south as well, Jamestown Island becomes a kind of refugee camp, a settlement of formerly enslaved africanamericans. For a significant of the war, its just a fascinating story. And jamestown was not the only place on the peninsula with these kinds of connections to africanamerican story. This fascinating photo example is is called contrabands. Headquarters of general. So the house cous used by headquarters in the revolutionary war by lafayette in 1862. s been used as a u headquarters. And there are several pictured here and left to wonder. We dont really as much doary evidence about the way africanamericans these in the pi and counted this history this history as they moved around the peninsula in 1862. Ld be fascinating to have a record of what they were thinking as they as they with places like lafayettes. There are lots other really important connections between Peninsula Campaign and the story emancipation. This picked it up by Glenn Brasher tells a really important story about the connections between the Peninsula Campaign and the progress of emancipation policy in. U. S. Politics. Because he shows the Peninsula Campaign and the way it played out influence Congress Decision to pass second confiscation act of july 1862, which kind of a stepping stone along the way . Emancipation. And then also influenced lincolns decision to release the preliminary emancipation proclamation that september and the way he makes this connection is by pointing how important black people in this campaign to both sides. So on the confederate side, i mention a couple of times theyre often coerced into doing a lot of digging of the earthworks, which so important to the confederate defenses. On the union side, theyre often invaluable intelligence to the us military as they fight their way up the peninsula. And they also, in escaping from slavery and going to places around the peninsula including fort monroe. Ill mention in a minute they put pressure just with their physical movements to the union army camps. They put pressure on the Union Leadership to actually do something about slavery, to decide what kind of place emancipation is going to have the Union War Effort. So leaders in the north realized, partly because of this peninsula, that they could turn this into a war of emancipation. They could therefore removed, some of that important black labor from the confederate war effort add black labor to Union War Effort and that could make all the difference. And they were really onto something as this story turned out, for monroe. I mentioned is obviously im sure many of you are thinking of it already as an important place where these two histories connected as well for monroe of course just happened to be on the set of land as comfort markedp as old point come up. And this was why the first recorded africans arrived in t british maian colonies in 1619. Anits alsthplace where Union General Benjamin Butler in 1861 comes up with a novel response to the escaped slaves who are presenting themselves his doors, basically at fort monroe. He decides to deny the slaveholders who are trying to come and get back what they see as their property. He denies that and instead refers to the enslaved people as contraband of war. He uses that kind of legal term to denote the importance of and slave labor to the rebellion thats going on. So this one small bit of land for monroe. Combines these two amazing stories. Its the place where slavery began in america and its also the place where it began at least to come to an end in 1861 and 62. And youll see the book cover there is actually wrieny one of our speakers, dr. Cassandra newby alexander. Anthats a great place to, to learn more about the history. Also, you can just stay exactly where you are for about 2 hours and listen to her talk where i show where i shall explain a lot. The history of africanamerican fans in this area of virginia. So some white soldiers notes that this connection between, you know, contraband policy and the civil. And 16, 19 or a couple of examples on the screen. The first is from an iowa soldier whos writing home to hiwife, makg the point that here we are camped at this place where history happened in 16, 19 and some new kind of history is happening right now in 1861 and 62 with general butlers actions. The second is a soldier from massachusetts. He wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly where he talks about it being, fitting that the system from that sve ship had been spreading the continent for nearly two centuries and a half should yield for the first time to the logic of military law almost the spot of its origin. So the knowledge is out there in 1861 and 62. Some people are making these connections by which he found relatively few references as among the writings that whites civil war Soldiers Left behind. So this connection compared to the connections they noted between whats going on around and washington and lafayette and cornwallis and what theyre doing in 1862. This is not nearly as much their minds. In 1862. So as i start to some things up here, i want to really emphasize the limitations of this. Im not suggesting that when these soldiers came the peninsula, whether that confederates are Union Soldiers, im not suggesting that the main thing they were thinking about was the history. These were scattered. The majority of soldiers, you know, didnt write about this in the letters and diaries. They were much more focused on fighting and surviving, as you expect. They were also talking more, as i mentioned, about mcclellan, if they talked about history more often, theyre talking about the history that theyre making. They recognize that this is a historic moment, that theyre part of. So that sometimes overshadowed was the importance of revolutionary colonial history. But still i do think its very revealing that some of these soldiers dead sometimes take the opportunity to step step back, reflect on the past and its connection to the present. And i think that that they were involved in significant historical event, the civil war actually, the empathy they felt for the generations that had gone before. And it reminds me a lot personally of the experiences we went through in spring 2020, the beginning of the covid pandemic. We realized fairly quickly that we were living a historic moment. And for me and of the students i was teaching at the time, that enabled us to understand the situation. The civil war generation faced that little better sharing that experience living through a crisis, not knowing what was going to happen next week, not knowing whether wed ever get back to normal. But but knowing that way or another, our experiences were going to be in the history books of the future. So i think thats what civil war soldiers felt as well as theyre fighting. That deepens their connection. The revolutionary generation and the way they talked about history really clarified was important to them. What they thought they were doing. And most of all, they wanted to connect what they were doing in 62 with the revolution our heritage. And this is whichever side on theyre all trying to do that trying to deepen that connection with George Washington and his men. The silences also reveal what was not so important. Alternatively, maybe what was just too difficult to address, which was dealing with the Great American paradox of slavery and freedom which would have been so apparent at places like fort monroe if only theyd been interested enough civil war americans knew on some level that in over what the american future should look like. They were also fighting the american past. The mission of those first settlers at jamestown the contradiction represented those first African Americans that Point Comfort the true legacy of washingtons soldiers at yorktown and throughout the civil war. Both sides were fighting over the ideological legacies of Early American History. And again you see that in all kinds of ways. Whats different here in Peninsula Campaign is that also fought over the sacred ground of American History at the same time. Thank you. Thank you very much. Questions. Thank thanks very much. Could you comment on the mcclellans urban plan for landing troops and supplies at urbana . Yes. The this was kind of untangled. An important issue in the Peninsula Campaign that i didnt mention, which was control of the rivers, the james and yorke rivers and at various points as as mcclellan was coming up with his plan and the places where it would have been possible to land all of his all of these union and equipment evolved over time. Many of you will that the battle of the clouds took place as in the planning process of all of this and the outcome of the of the iron clouds influenced the decision to to choose fort monroe as the beginning point of the campaign and the control of the rivers continue to influence what mcclellan could do where he could go. And one of the key moments comes in may as hes on the peninsula when the confederate iron clad s. S. Virginia is basically destroyed by the confederacy because the union forces have taken norfolk. And that enables mcclellan to have greater control over the rivers as hes moving his way up the peninsula which important towards the end of the campaign because it determines where they can evacuate from harrisons landing. So thats a long way to say the rivers were very important and affected whether mcclellan land at one place or another with his troops. You. Will general mcclellan was afraid of the big that he wanted to win by maneuverable was his take on the butler taken the contraband and everything. What was his take on that . Yeah. Well, he was extremely opposed. Mcclellan was one of the, you know, very significant portion of american of white americans in, the north, who believed that they should not make slavery an issue in the civil war. They should get back to reunification as quickly as possible. They shouldnt adopt emancipation, a war goal. They should, with the goal of reuse, fighting the states with slavery intact. That was always his belief. And of course, he ran against lincoln 1864, along similar kinds of lines, even though that was after the emancipation proclamation. So yeah, he he was very much against the idea of turning the Union War Effort into a war of emancipation. Go ahead. So listen. A different reason, but more war. Americans were fighting on the war, ready to go forward. Henry ford and marilyn kitchens. So i thats a little bit outside the scope. Todays lecture i suspect they were. I havent gone in and done the but i think they must have been because you know like like i they did become in very limited kind of way to us traveling around the country. And you mentioned some good examples of places where they encountered the history of other in the american past. And i mentioned at the beginning this could become the of a future book project. And if it does i think thats the kind of work that ill trying to do is you know looking at soldiers letters and diaries and newspaper articles and looking at what kinds of connections they made with different kinds of history. Thank you. You can ask one of the front here. Thank you. Could you talk about John Magruder . There was a little bit of scope here, but hes pretty and he pretty much shipped out after this campaign, didnt he . Exile out west. Yeah. So he was doing a fairly good job, all accounts in 1861 to fortify independence. But he, you know, and as i mentioned, he he was kind of central to making mcclellan believe that he couldnt win at yorktown without doing all of this extra work. In that sense, his his fortifications around and williamsburg, his kind of performance of the troops around and around and around were actually very effective in the Peninsular Campaign. But joe johnston, when he came and took over during the siege, yorktown, he did really appreciate all of that work that magruder had done. Took one look basically at the that magruder had produced and didnt like what he saw was convinced that as soon as mcclellan attacks this fight is going to be over. And so, yeah, i think that fed into disapproval of John Magruder after the spring of 1862. Anything else. All right, well, maybe youre too hungry to think of any more questions, and thats absolutely fine. I really appreciate the questions and attention. And now is served upstairs in the same room as the other. May also have a good lunch. Thanks again