He decided against attacking across his own natural defense line, the Chickahominy, and planned to capitalize on the Union army's straddle of the river by attacking the two corps south of the river, leaving them isolated from the other three corps north of the river.
Han besluttede sig til ikke at angribe over sin egen naturlige forsvarslinie, Chickahominy floden, og planlagde i stedet at udnytte Unionens skræven hen over floden ved at angribe de to korps syd for floden, og efterlade dem isolerede fra de øvrige tre korps nord for floden.