Existing comment:
Seven Days That Changed The War:
Military Front:
General Robert E. Lee followed up his success in the Seven Days with another victory at Second Manassas in late August and then marched his army into Maryland. After three months in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee had defeated two Federal armies and invaded the North, truly changing the momentum of the war.
Home Front:
The Seven Days' Battles resonated beyond the battlefield. In the North, morale dropped as the largest, best equipped Federal army had been pushed away from the Southern capital. One observer described the July 4th holiday that year as "the gloomiest since the birth of this republic. Never was the country so low." Confederates celebrated the first major victory since Manassas; however, there was little time for joy in Richmond as the wounded poured into the city. "We lived in one immense hospital, and breathed the airs of the charnel house," wrote one Richmond resident. The casualties shocked both home fronts. In a week's time, the two armies had suffered 36,000 casualties, including more than 5,000 dead.
Diplomatic Front:
Despite the Union's success in the western theater, some Europeans saw the South as deserving recognition following the Seven Days. President Lincoln's frustration poured out in a letter to a French diplomat on August 4, 1862: "It seems reasonable that a series of successes, extending through half-a-year, and clearing more than a hundred thousand square miles of country, should help us so little, while a single half-defeat should hurt so much."
Political Front:
After the military reversal in the Seven Days, Northern war policy moved closer toward total war. Within a month of the defeat, Lincoln put out a call for 300,000 more troops, allowed for the confiscation of Confederate property, including slaves, and had drafted the Emancipation Proclamation. Many soldiers agreed with this new policy. One officer wrote, "The iron gauntlet must be used more than the silken glove to crush this serpent."
After the Seven Days:
* Lee Emerged As the South's Premiere General
* The Move Toward Emancipation Began
* The Scale of the War Expanded |