Siege of Yorktown, 1862

Siege of Yorktown, 4 April to 4 May 1862

Today we add an article on the Siege of Yorktown, the first serious fighting during General McClellan's Peninsula Campaign of 1862. McClellan' failure to attack the Confederate lines around Yorktown when he first encountered them gave the Confederates a precious month in which to move troops back to defense Richmond.

Preparing this article also demonstrated the danger of making assumptions. As a British historian I am familiar with the Peninsular War against Napoleon's invasion of Spain. Following that pattern I've been refering to the Peninsular Campaign, only to find that McClellan's campaign lacked the final 'R'. Time to go make some corrections I think!

Peninsular Campaign of 1862

Peninsular Campaign of 1862

Today we begin our coverage of the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, George McClellan's main attempt to outflank the Confederate Armies in Northern Virginia by landing a large army at the end of the Peninsular. The failure of the campaign is one of the most controversial episodes of the entire Civil War.

Vegetius

Today we add an article on Vegetius, a late Roman author who gives us our best view of how the Roman army worked.

Written at a time of decline, Vegetius tells us how Romans felt their army should work, but by the time he was writing, the Western empire was in terminal decline.

Kirkdale and Gillamoor Walk on the North York Moors

Walk up Kirkdale to Gillamoor

Something of a change of pace this! The North York Moors are my closest national park, and are the subject of another of my websites (www.yorkshiremoors.co.uk), where I am starting to post a series of walks around the moors.

The maps are created in a similar way to some of my maps at HistoryofWar, and are based on the 1914 Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain. Its amazing how little has changed on the moors since 1914!

Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee

Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee

Today we post our first full length primary source, the Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee, collected and linked by his son, Robert E. Lee Jr. Lee died before he could write his own autobiography, and so this book provides one of the best insights into Lee as a man.

We have split this source into sections within the chapters, allowing you to either browse the book or search the full contents of the book