Fremont’s Campaign
Fremont had officially taken command of the Army of the Potomac on March 15th, 1860. He first priority as commander was the recapture of Washington D.C. He wasted no time in planning a campaign to retake the city. Unlike his campaign in Missouri, this would not just be a straight line for D.C. The Confederates have increased the manpower holding the city and has built(although limited) fortifications around the city. There is an estimated 75,000 Confederate soldiers holding the city. Fremont knew he would need more then a direct attack to recapture the capital.
It would be a month before Fremont’s campaign would be launched. On April 15th, he landed a force of about 25,000 at the Confederate held Yorktown. Also, another force of about 25,000 made a landing at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. News of the landing at York Town reached General Johnston first. He and the ANV were not stationed in D.C. The Governor of Virginia didn’t want one of his best Generals stuck in a single location. The ANV marched east from Williamsburg down the peninsula toward Yorktown. A few hours later news of the landing at Harpers Ferry reached the governor. There was no major Confederate Army in that area, so he had no choice but to let it go.
A third US army, this one numbering about 35,000 landed along the Warwick river, and cut off the ANV from reaching the army attacking York Town. A small battle ensued there. The Union army, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, was defeated, but bought time for the army at Yorktown. Grant’s forces retreated toward Yorktown, where they met up with them and combined forces, putting them under overall command of Grant. Johnston’s army of about 45,000 encountered the combined Union armies at Yorktown, numbering about 50,000. This engagement became known as the Battle of Yorktown(some called it the 2nd battle of Yorktown). After several days of fighting, the Army of Northern Virginia was forced to retreat.
On April 18th, Fremont began his siege of D.C. He opened up with a heavy bombardment of D.C., trying to avoid government buildings, but it was nearly impossible. There were unfortunate casualties, both people and structurally. The capital building and the White House were, unfortunately, turned to rubble in the siege. After several days of bombardment, Fremont ordered an attack on the Confederate lines. 100,000 Union soldiers strike the grey shore in a tidal wave of blue. This goes on for days until the Confederate lines are broken, and just as in the First Battle of D.C., it turned into urban warfare; fighting from street, house to house, room to room. On May 1st, the last of Confederate forces are driven from the city.
The recapture of D.C. also came at the same time news as the capture of Williamsburg. Along with this, a campaign through the blue ridge mountains in western Virginia found that the people of that region were pro-Union. Some counties had even voted to remain in the Union and were acting as such. These pro-Union counties even tried to secede from Virginia. Scott wasn’t sure of allowing this, not wanting to legitimize secession. He would find a solution later that year, before the election.
After two battles, D.C. was in ruin. Most of the government facilities had been damaged or destroyed, including the Capital building and the White House. When Fremont was touring the ruins of D.C. he came across the location of the unfinished Washington monument. He noticed that the monument wasn’t hit at all during the battle, not a scratch was on it. A picture of this was taken and sent all across the north as a miraculous sign, that it was God’s will that they win.