By the next morning, however — after finding that McClellan’s
long siege of Yorktown had finally forced the Confederate army
to retreat toward Richmond — he was organizing an impromptu
military expedition that forced the surrender of Norfolk. Just
how closely Lincoln directed this unexpected Union success can
be seen in the few hundred yards that separated his vessel from
Federal warships during the fiery May 8 bombardment that
silenced the rebel guns at Sewell’s Point. The following
afternoon the president steamed to Ocean View, where he tread
upon the “sacred soil” of Virginia while reconnoitering the
enemy-held coast for an amphibious landing. » The latest on
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— and never since — had any sitting commander in chief been so
personally involved in planning and directing a military
mission. But if Lincoln hadn’t taken charge, one of the Civil
War’s most unusual operations might not hav