Howdy folks, and welcome back to the good ol’ blog! Today’s tidbit about me is: I just recently recovered from my second-ever bout of food poisoning, and am pleased to say that in fact, I am NOT yet dead. Although to be fair, food poisoning does occasionally have the unfortunate side effect of making death seem preferable to continued existence.

Thanks, generic man with mustache! I'll avoid McDonalds for the foreseeable future!

On a cheerier note, 150 years ago today the Confederates were hatching a secret plan to counter-attack the invading Union army under General McClellan, and drive him from his position near Richmond. Several pieces of the plan had already fallen into place: General Lee had amassed and readied his forces, General J.E.B. Stuart had ridden around the entirety of the Union army and noted its location and disposition, and General Jackson had started marching out of the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce Lee. Once Jackson arrived, Lee’s plan was to combine arms and strike out at McClellan quickly and repeatedly, thereby shattering McClellan’s moral and forcing him to retreat.

This bunny is more daring than McClellan.

While the Confederates were biding their time until their plan came together, the Union forces were… well, they were waiting. McClellan’s plan was… to continue to wait. For more reinforcements. While the Lincoln administration desperately inquired into what exactly McClellan was doing with the army and what he hoped to accomplish, McClellan refused to divulge ANY information about his plans, timetables or future movements, and continued to call out for reinforcements. Since he had already been reinforced a few times, and still handily outnumbered the Confederates, one would think that McClellan could produce a plan to attack the capitol.

Hahaha good one!

Sadly for the Union, one would be wrong on that score – In the days ahead, the Confederates would spring their plan without any Union interference or action, and the Seven Days battles would be handily decided. And interestingly enough, the strengths and flaws of both General McClellan AND General Lee will be brought into focus. Tune in next time and you can perhaps read a continuation of this storyline, a posting from fellow bloggers Anna and Kasey, or even a completely random posting that will nonetheless remain Civil-War-related. Have a good weekend folks!