Contrasts in Command

The Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31–June 1, 1862

Victor Vignola

• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781611216837
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

"The author's new and important study concentrates on the Fair Oaks part of the battle. His research is thorough, he has walked the ground, and his narrative brings the battle to life." — Doug Crenshaw, author & historian The bloody two-day battle was fought on the doorstep of the Confederate capital. It was the first major combat in the Eastern Theater since Bull Run/Manassas almost a year earlier, left more than 11,000 casualties in its wake, and cost the primary Southern field army its commander. The possession of Richmond hung in its balance. Yet, almost nothing has been written about Seven Pines/Fair Oaks. Victor Vignola's Contrasts in Command: The Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31–June 1, 1862, which focuses primarily on the Fair Oaks portion of the battle, is a major contribution to the historiography of the war. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan marched his Army of the Potomac up the Virginia Peninsula during the early spring of 1862 and placed his inexperienced IV Corps at the tip of the spear south of the flood-prone Chickahominy River. McClellan's opponent Joe Johnston took the opportunity to strike and crafted an overly complex attack plan for his Virginia army to crush the exposed corps. A series of bungled marches, piecemeal attacks, and a lack of assertive leadership doomed the Southern plan. One of the wounded late in the day on May 31 was Johnston, whose injury led to the appointment of Robert E. Lee to take his place—a decision that changed the course of the entire Civil War. Vignola's use of primary and archival sources, many of which have never been used, helped craft a wholly original tactical and leadership study that directly challenges conventional accounts. His stunning reassessment has led to renewed interest in Fair Oaks and the acquisition of a significant parcel of land by the American Battlefield Trust. Contrasts in Command: The Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31–June 1, 1862, will be hailed as one of the most important tactical studies ever published.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: A Storm Approaches
• Chapter 2: The Rising of Colonel Micah Jenkins’s Star
• Chapter 3: Couch Faces a Predicament
• Chapter 4: Sumner Answers a Challenge
• Chapter 5: Turning the Table and the Tide
• Chapter 6: The Inverted Salient Yields a Result
• Chapter 7: Artillery Commands the Field
• Chapter 8: A Tangled Soldier’s Fight Emerges
• Chapter 9: Concentration Yields a Result
• Chapter 10: The Suffering for Soldiers Is Only Beginning
• Chapter 11: Contrasts in Command
• Chapter 12: Picking Up the Pieces
• Appendix 1: Understanding the ‘Misunderstanding’ Between Joseph Johnston and James Longstreet
• Appendix 2: Advance of the 20th Massachusetts at the Adams House
• Appendix 3: Major General Gustavus Smith’s Maps
• Bibliography
• About the Author