The Seven Days: The Emergence of Lee

During the Seven Days Campaign--the series of battles fought near Richmond at the end of June 1862--General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia routed General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Although the Confederates repulsed the powerful offensive of the Yankees, they failed to win a complete and decisive victory. The campaign had far-reaching consequences for both sides: depriving McClellan of a military decision meant the war would continue for two more years, and the chance for Southern victory would never come again. The Seven Days memorably depicts a turning point in the war and in American history.