MAY 6, 1862:
The
Union occupies Williamsburg, Virginia. Although Williamsburg, a relative
bloodbath, was a strategically minor and tactically unimportant battle, General
George B. McClellan promoted this victory for all it was worth, reporting that
his soldiers "…threw [our] caps into
the air and cheered [him] to the echo, for he was [our] 'Little Mac,' [our]
'Napoleon,' [our] 'Little Corporal'."
The Northern Press tended to follow McClellan’s line in
calling it a major Union victory, as in the Currier & Ives print. Although
heavily stylized, the 1893 color rendering by Kurz & Allison is more
accurate.
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