Siege of Yorktown Proves Strength and Determination of Confederate Forces

When we last checked in on the Civil War, the USS Monitor had effectively warded off the CSS Virginia in the famous Battle of the Ironclads in March 1862. Although not an outright victory, Union forces hoped to ride the positive momentum to a quick and victorious end to the war.

In April 1862, General George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac (more than 100,000 troops), led his Union forces down the Chesapeake Bay to the James Peninsula, southeast of Richmond, Virginia. His strategy? Isolate the Confederate capital and win the war. But on April 5, McClellan and his forces unexpectedly met resistance outside Yorktown, where Confederate leaders, anticipating an attack, had erected defensive fortifications. Fooled into believing that Yorktown was held by more than the 11,000 troops actually there, McClellan ordered a siege rather than a full assault.

We believe that McClellan is a gentleman, humane in his sentiments, and has some regard for the usages of civilized warfare; but his declaration months ago that the contest would be a short and desperate one, and his late grandiloquent address to his soldiers, are in striking contrast to his actual performances. We now hear that he declared some ten days ago that Richmond would be in his hands within thirty days. It remains to be seen whether that prediction will be fulfilled. Ten days have already elapsed, and perhaps twenty will pass with no other result than to prove McClellan a false prophet.

That prediction, printed in the Richmond Dispatch on April 7, 1862, proved partially accurate: Though woefully outnumbered, the Confederate forces succeeded in halting the Union advance for a full month before abandoning Yorktown on May 4, 1862.

Digital Color Postmarks (click to order)

This post is one in a continuing series here on Stamp of Approval about the Civil War. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service launched a stamp series to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the conflict that engulfed the nation from 1861 to 1865. A souvenir sheet of two stamps is being issued through 2015 for each year of the war, and during that time we too will be taking a close look at the events of the war. The 2012 souvenir sheet, which depicts the Battle of New Orleans and the Battle of Antietam, will be issued on April 24 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The sheets and other Civil War products are now available for preorder online.

Battle of the Ironclads Marks a Turning Point in the Civil War

One hundred fifty years ago today, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia met at the battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was the first clash of ironclad ships and marked a technological turning point in the Civil War. Though armed with only two guns, the Monitor sat very low in the water (with less than two feet exposed above the surface) and made a very tough target to hit. The fierce battle ended in a draw, but the potential of ironclads had been forcefully demonstrated, and both sides would turn out dozens more before the war was through.

Digital Color Postmark (click to order)

In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service launched a stamp series to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which engulfed the nation from 1861 to 1865. A souvenir sheet of two stamp designs is being issued through 2015 for each year of the war. For 2011, one stamp depicted the beginning of the war in April 1861 at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, while the other depicts the first major battle of the war three months later at Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia. For 2012, one stamp depicts the Battle of New Orleans, the first significant achievement of the U.S. Navy in the war, while the other depicts the Battle of Antietam, which marked the bloodiest day of the war. The 2012 Civil War stamps will be issued April 24.