"Extraordinary Circumstances tells the story of the Seven Days Battles, the first campaign in the Civil War in which Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia. Listed by J. F. C. Fuller as one of the 51 decisive military campaigns in Western history, the Seven Days were fought in the area southeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond from June 25 to July 1, 1862. Lee and his fellow officers, including "Stonewall" Jackson, James Longstreet, A. P. Hill, and D. H. Hill, pushed George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac from the gates of Richmond to the James River. Along the way, Lee lost several opportunities to harm McClellan severely, but the Union forces, marching all night and fighting during the day, managed to reach safety. The campaign lifted Southern spirits, began Lee's ascent to fame, and almost prompted European recognition of the Confederacy. The Seven Days also began a string of events leading to the Emancipation Proclamation and the shift toward total war. McClellan's defeat meant that his dream of bringing the United States together as it was before the outbreak of the war was gone forever, and the country's very nature changed as a result."--BOOK JACKET.