But it didn’t include march on Richmond so Lincoln overruled it. Union troops headed south, but were soon defeated by the Confederate forces at the Battle of the Manassas on July 21, 1861. After the defeat at the Battle of the Manassas George B. McClellan became the new Union General. McClellan led the Army of the Potomac down the Chesapeake Bay to Fort Monroe in the spring of 1862. During the Peninsula Campaign, he then marched between the York and James rivers in an attempt to take over Richmond from the south. McClellan fought the Confederate to a standstill at Yorktown and Williamsburg. At the Battle of Seven Pines-Fair Oaks Johnson, the confederate leader was badly injured. Robert E. Lee took over the Army of Northern Virginia, and defeated McClellan at the Battle of Seven Days fought near Richmond. He was helped by Stonewall Jackson, who quickly marched east after he had defeated Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley. Lee was not a popular general at first,but after the defeat of McClellan he started to win over the Confederate army. He defeated Union generals Nathaniel P. Banks at Cedar Mountain and John Pope at the Second Battle of the Manassas in August,and then invaded the