thumb|left|Lee mounted on his horse Traveller in September 1866 In the spring of 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign, the Union Army of the Potomac under General George B. McClellan advanced on Richmond from Fort Monroe. Progressing up the Peninsula, McClellan forced Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of Virginia to retreat to a point just north and east of the Confederate capital.
thumb|left|Lee mounted on his horse Traveller in September 1866 In the spring of 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign, the Union Army of the Potomac under General George B. McClellan advanced on Richmond from Fort Monroe. Progressing up the Peninsula, McClellan forced Gen. Joseph E Johnston and the Army of Virginia to retreat to a point just north and east of the Confederate capital.