The First Battle of Bull Run Union troops gathered around Washington D.C. in hope of claiming Manassas, VA, but the Confederate troops waited for them at the creek at Bull Run. This was the first large battle of the war. The Confederate troops won. The Peninsular Campaign General McClellan was in command of Union Army. He decided to approach Richmond from the Atlantic coast. McClellan landed troops in Yorktown, which is a peninsula between the York and James River, east of Richmond. There were battles fought there throughout July of 1862. The Confederates defeated the Union in the battles, led by General Joseph E. Johnston, then General Robert E. Lee. The Battle of Gettysburg Almost accidentally, Confederate troops discovered Union calvary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Confederates attacked, paving the way for the largest battle of the war, lasting three days. The Union Army won the Battle of Gettysburg, destroying Lee's hopes of carrying the fighting further up North. Fall of Atlanta General Sherman took command of the Union Army during the Fall of Atlanta. Sherman led troops through Georgia, seizing and burning Atlanta, a vital city and railroad junction, on September 2, 1864.