Hey everyone, welcome to episode number 162 of our Civil War podcast.

I'm Tracey. Hello y'all, thanks for tuning into the podcast. With the end of the last show,

we left off with the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Gaines Mill, which took place on Friday,

June 27th, 1862. Near the end of that episode, we also assessed the performance that day of each

of the commanding generals, saying that while Robert Lee started off the battle on the wrong foot,

his personal control of the ensuing action meant that he ended up getting a passing grade for

his actions at Gaines Mill. But at least counterpart doesn't get a passing grade for his actions on

June 27th. George McLean left everything north of the Chica hominy to Fitz-John Porter. Unlike Lee,

who abandoned his headquarters in order to direct events from the field, Little Mac never budged

from his headquarters at the Trent House south of the river. When word came that night that Porter

was defeated and would have to retreat across the bridges over the Chica hominy under cover of

darkness, McLean took it hard and became despondent. He also became angry and bitter, convinced that he

was in this difficult position because the government in Washington hadn't heated his repeated calls

for more troops. Sometime between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. that night, McLean gathered his core commanders

together, except Erasmus Keys, who he had already ordered to begin retreating southward through

White Oak Swamp. Little Mac acted as if he were considering leading a great assault across the

Chica hominy to retake the ground that Porter had lost, but McLean's performance was just that

an act. In fact, he had already committed to retreat south to the James River as he had told his

staff the night before, but in this conference with his top subordinates, he tried to look like the

aggressive commander, itching to come to grips with the enemy army. It was pure theater, however.

Little Mac painted the possible consequences of defeat in such dire terms that his core commanders

urged him not to risk it, but to save the army instead. In this way, McLean cleverly manipulated

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