Very nearly. General Joseph Johnston was perplexed by the situation. General John Magruder had fallen into bad order as a result of the fall of Yorktown. General Robert E. Lee, acting as military adviser to President Jefferson Davis, appeared out of sorts. His men had recently given him the title of “King of Spades,” referring to his constant commands to them to entrench their positions.

Jefferson Davis, perhaps, kept the clearest and coolest head. He had sent Joseph Johnston and his men down the Peninsula in March, and he now saw them coming back. To Davis, this was a moral victory in that the Union advance had been slowed for nearly two months.