Hey everyone, welcome to episode 134 of our Civil War podcast.

My name is Rich.

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Thanks for tuning into the podcast. We used the last

episode to look at the first major engagement of the peninsula campaign,

which was the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th, 1862. As the Confederate

Army led by Joseph E. Johnston, retreated away from Yorktown and up the

peninsula toward Richmond, the fighting at Williamsburg was really just meant

to be a delaying action by the Rebel Rear Guard, which was commanded by James

Longstreet. The Williamsburg fight was intense, considering the relatively

small numbers of troops involved. The battle was best remembered for the fighting

that took place on the Confederate left flank, where a union force led by

Winfield Scott Hancock, crossed CUB Creek and secured a lodgement. At that spot,

a feudal Confederate charge, led by Jubal Early and D. H. Hill, was smashed, as

the 24th Virginia and 5th North Carolina were stopped and hurled back by the

Federals. While George McClellan, the commanding general of the army of the

Potomac, managed to absent himself from the battle at Williamsburg and his

subordinates, for the most part, badly bungled the management of the fight.

Winfield Scott Hancock nevertheless managed to emerge from the battle with a

nifty nickname, Hancock the superb. Another engagement that occurred during the

Confederate Army's retreat at the peninsula, took place on May 7th at Eltham's

Landing on the York River. On May 3rd, McClellan, in an attempt to cut off the

Rebel retreat, had ordered William Franklin's division to be loaded onto

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