Question

What were the major battles that occurred during the first part of 1862. Why were they so significant?

Answer 1

On March 8 President Lincoln, impatient with the inactivity of General McClellan, issued an order reorganizing the Virginia Army and relieving McClellan of supreme command. McClellan was given command of the Potomac Army, and ordered Richmond to be struck. That marked the start of the Peninsular Campaign.
Confederate engineers converted a scuttled Union frigate, the U.S.S. Merrimac, into an iron-sided vessel that rechristened the C.S.S. Virginia in an attempt to reduce the North 's great naval advantage. On 9 March, the Monitor fought the Virginia at a draw in the first naval engagement between ironclad ships, but not before two wooden Union warships had been sunk off Norfolk, Virginia

Confederate forces attacked Union forces at Shiloh, Tennessee on 6 April under General Ulysses S. Grant. The federal troops were close defeated by the end of the day. Nevertheless, reinforcements arrived during the night and the Union dominated the field by the next morning. The depleted federal forces did not act as Confederate forces withdrew. Casualties were heavy 13,000 dead out of 63,000 Union soldiers, and 11,000 killed out of 40,000 Confederate troops.

In less than two days, General Quincy A. Gillmore battered Fort Pulaski, the imposing masonry structure near the mouth of the Savannah River. The indefatigable Timothy H. O'Sullivan reported his work promptly.

General McClellan's troops left northern Virginia in April to start the Peninsular Campaign. They 'd occupied Yorktown, Virginia, by May 4. Confederate forces at Williamsburg prevented McClellan from meeting with the main part of the Confederate Army and McClellan stopped his troops, awaiting reinforcements.

General Thomas J. Confederate In late March, "Stonewall" Jackson, commander of the Shenandoah Valley, attacked Union forces, forcing them to retreat across the Potomac. Union troops were then rushed to protect Washington, D.C.

The Confederate Army invaded federal forces at Seven Pines on May 31 and nearly defeated them; last-minute reinforcements saved the Union from a severe defeat. Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston was severely wounded, and Northern Virginia Army command fell to Robert E. Lee.

The slow movements of General McClellan, combined with the escape of General Lee and continued Confederate cavalry raiding, were dismaying many in the North. Lincoln replaced McClellan on 7 November with Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside. In a series of attacks on entrenched Confederate forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, Burnside's forces were defeated, and General Joseph Hooker was replaced by General Burnside.