The Army adopted McClellan's cavalry manual and also his design for a saddle, dubbed the McClellan Saddle, which he claimed to have seen used by Hussars in Prussia and Hungary. The camp was the training grounds for recruits and a hospital for the wounded. McClellan, not wishing to abandon his campaign, delayed the return of the Army of the Potomac from the Peninsula enough so that the reinforcements arrived while the northern Virginia campaign was already underway. [103], Robert E. Lee, on being asked (by his cousin, and recorded by his son) who was the ablest general on the Union side during the late war, replied emphatically: "McClellan, by all odds! On May 14, he was commissioned a major general in the regular army. When the public heard about the Galena, it was yet another great embarrassment, comparable to the Quaker Guns at Manassas. [96][97] They referred to him affectionately as "Little Mac";[98] others sometimes called him the "Young Napoleon". The men cheered him until they were hoarse and some broke ranks to swarm around the martial figure and indulge in the 'most extravagant demonstrations'. And he was far too willing to accept cautious advice about saving his reserves, such as when a significant breakthrough in the center of the Confederate line could have been exploited, but Fitz John Porter is said to have told McClellan, "Remember, General, I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic."[76]. Editorial cartoons published in the course of the 1864 presidential campaign lampooned McClellan for having preferred the safety of a ship while a battle was fought in the distance. Unlike some of his fellow Union officers who came from abolitionist families, he was opposed to federal interference with slavery. Like other observers, though, McClellan did not appreciate the importance of the emergence of rifled muskets in the Crimean War, and the fundamental changes in warfare tactics it would require.[19]. However, he died before it was half completed and his literary executor, William C. Prime, editor of the pro-McClellan New York Journal of Commerce, included excerpts from some 250 of McClellan's wartime letters to his wife, in which it had been his habit to reveal his innermost feelings and opinions in unbridled fashion. [75], The battle was tactically inconclusive, with the Union suffering a higher overall number of casualties, although Lee technically was defeated because he withdrew first from the battlefield and retreated back to Virginia, and lost a larger percentage of his army than McClellan did. The reason for McClellan's reluctance was that, as in previous battles, he was convinced he was outnumbered. Civil War CDV General McClellan and Wife . He also received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors. McClellan had hoped to use the 1st Corps to capture Glouchester Point and thus outflank the Confederate position. [23], On May 3 McClellan re-entered federal service as commander of the Department of the Ohio, responsible for the defense of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and, later, western Pennsylvania, western Virginia, and Missouri. For the first time, he revealed his intentions to transport the Army of the Potomac by ship to Urbanna, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River, outflanking the Confederate forces near Washington, and proceeding 50 miles (80km) overland to capture Richmond. Not only did McClellan's decision allow the Federals to gain control of the time and place for the battles that took place in late June and early July, it enabled them to fight in a way that inflicted terrible beating on the Confederate army.More importantly, by the end of the Seven Days Battles, McClellan had dramatically improved his operational situation."[55]. However the battle had a significant impact on McClellan's nerve. McClellan was also fortunate that the failure of the campaign left his army mostly intact, because he was generally absent from the fighting and neglected to name any second-in-command who might direct his retreat. [49] The army's advance from Fort Monroe up the Virginia Peninsula proved to be slow. [113], 1864 Democratic National Convention:[114], New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1877:[115], "George McClellan" redirects here. An English observer remarked that it was the "stride of a giant". He called a council of war at the White House in which McClellan's subordinates were asked about their confidence in the Urbanna plan. Scott rejected both plans as logistically unfeasible. On January 31, he issued a supplementary order for the Army of the Potomac to move overland to attack the Confederates at Manassas Junction and Centreville. Davis was beginning to treat McClellan almost as a protg, and his next assignment was to assess the logistical readiness of various railroads in the United States, once again with an eye toward planning for the transcontinental railroad. He also was not helped by the party's choice for vice president, George H. Pendleton, a peace candidate from Ohio. [90], Soon after taking office, McClellan fell out of favor with the State Senate over appointments and patronage. George B. McClellan. He also wrote a manual on cavalry tactics that was based on Russian cavalry regulations. Then, however, McClellan came under extreme criticism in the press and Congress when it was learned that Johnston's forces had not only slipped away unnoticed, but had for months fooled the Union Army with logs painted black to appear as cannons, nicknamed Quaker Guns. george b. mcclellan, in full george brinton mcclellan, (born december 3, 1826, philadelphia, pennsylvania, u.s.died october 29, 1885, orange, new jersey), general who skillfully reorganized union forces in the first year of the american civil war (1861-65) but drew wide criticism for repeatedly failing to press his advantage over confederate Before that time I hope to be on the Susquehanna. McClellan spent the next three weeks repositioning his troops and waiting for promised reinforcements. After the meeting, Lincoln issued another order, naming specific officers as corps commanders to report to McClellan (who had been reluctant to do so prior to assessing his division commanders' effectiveness in combat, even though this would have meant his direct supervision of twelve divisions in the field).[46]. With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, northern civilian leaders encouraged McClellan to re-enter federal military service. So it was that George McClellan imagined three Rebel soldiers for every one he faced on the Antietam battlefield. [1], McClellan's first assignment was with a company of engineers formed at West Point, but he quickly received orders to sail for the Mexican War. He performed well in both jobs, expanding the Illinois Central toward New Orleans and helping the Ohio and Mississippi recover from the Panic of 1857. Her father was of English origin, while her mother was Pennsylvania Dutch. [44], On January 10, 1862, Lincoln met with top generals (McClellan did not attend) and directed them to formulate a plan of attack, expressing his exasperation with General McClellan with the following remark: "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time. "[10] He served as an engineering officer during the war, was frequently subject to enemy fire, and was appointed a brevet first lieutenant for his services at Contreras[11] and Churubusco[12] and to captain for his service at Chapultepec. The governor ordered McClellan to turn over his expedition logbooks, but McClellan steadfastly refused, most likely because of embarrassing personal comments that he had made throughout his adventures. He told Ellen, "I will not fight for the abolitionists." I think Lee has made a gross mistake, and that he will be severely punished for it. [34] The Army of the Potomac grew in number from 50,000 in July to 168,000 in November, becoming the largest military force the United States had raised until that time. McClellan is usually ranked in the lowest tier of Civil War generals. On January 27, Lincoln issued an order that required all of his armies to begin offensive operations by February 22, Washington's birthday. [65] McClellan's reception in Frederick, Maryland, as he marched towards Lee's army, was described by the correspondent for Harper's Magazine: The General rode through the town on a trot, and the street was filled six or eight deep with his staff and guard riding on behind him. In this event, it would not only be in the direction of his plan to make no attack, but it would play into his hands that his opponent should accumulate his forces on the Peninsula. His closest friends were aristocratic southerners including George Pickett, Dabney Maury, Cadmus Wilcox, and A. P. Hill. [91] Few concrete measures passed and those that did, such as the abolition of the state tax and improvements to the National Guard, were widely popular. Ellen accepted Hill's proposal in 1856, but her family did not approve and he withdrew. I almost think that were I to win some small success now I could become Dictator or anything else that might please mebut nothing of that kind would please metherefore I won't be Dictator. McClellan Fitness Center is a United States Army gym located at Fort Eustis, Virginia near his Peninsula Campaign. [16], Returning to the East, McClellan began courting his future wife, Mary Ellen Marcy (18361915), the daughter of his former commander. Gen. George B. McClellan, his wife, infant daughter, nurse, and mother-in-law at his headquarters near Alexandria, Va.Courtesy Brian C. Pohanka, Alexandria, VA. After the disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run the same month, McClellan was placed in command of what was to become the Army of the Potomac. The names are legendary: Thomas . McClellan's antipathy to emancipation added to the pressure on him, as he received bitter criticism from Radical Republicans in the government. Despite significant advantages in manpower, McClellan was unable to concentrate his forces effectively, which meant that Lee was able to shift his defenders to parry each of three Union thrusts, launched separately and sequentially against the Confederate left, center, and finally the right. In the battle of Malvern Hill, he was on a gunboat, the USSGalena, which at one point was ten miles (16km) away, down the James River. It was a scene which no one could forgetan event of a lifetime. [54] Ethan Rafuse notes "McClellan's change of base to the James, however, thwarted Lee's attempt to do this. The surprise appearance of Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's troops in the battle (when they had last been reported to be many miles away in the Shenandoah Valley) convinced McClellan that he was even more outnumbered than he had thought. He complained that he had arrived too late to take any part in the American victory at Monterrey in September. He marched toward Maryland with six of his reorganized corps. Although Lincoln had intended to issue the proclamation earlier, he was advised by his Cabinet to wait until a Union victory to avoid the perception that it was issued out of desperation. Numbers vary as to the size of McClellan's force with its paper strength at 87,164. But all of these opportunities were impossible, given the opposition within the administration and the knowledge that McClellan posed a potential political threat. McClellan returned to West Point to command his engineering company, which was attached to the academy for the purpose of training cadets in engineering activities. When he discovered that the Confederates had fortified a line across the Peninsula he hesitated to attack and instead played it safe. Because McClellan failed to pursue Lee aggressively after Antietam, Lincoln ordered that he be removed from command on November 5, 1862. McClellan was unable to command the army personally because of a recurrence of malarial fever, but his subordinates were able to repel the attacks. Scott (as well as many in the War Department) was outraged that McClellan refused to divulge any details about his strategic planning, or even such basic information as the strengths and dispositions of his units. In June 1851, he was ordered to Fort Delaware, a masonry work under construction on an island in the Delaware River, forty miles (65km) downriver from Philadelphia. [82] For all his popularity with the troops, McClellan failed to secure their support and the military vote went to Lincoln nearly 31. In this, McClellan was perhaps influenced by his questioning of Confederate deserter Edward B. McMurdy, whose testimony was not accepted by Lincoln, Secretary of State Seward, or General-in-Chief Scott, but reaffirmed for McClellan the numbers he had convinced himself of. On August 20, several military units in Virginia were consolidated into his department and he immediately formed the Army of the Potomac, with himself as its first commander. McClellan was forced to repudiate the platform, which made his campaign inconsistent and difficult. Wiki User. george brinton mcclellan (december 3, 1826 - october 29, 1885) was an american soldier, civil war union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of new jersey.a graduate of west point, mcclellan served with distinction during the mexican-american war (1846- 1848), and later left the army to serve That approach failed following the Union Navy's defeat at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, about 7 miles (11km) downstream from the Confederate capital, on May 15. He began to write another draft of what would be published posthumously, in 1887, as McClellan's Own Story. He favored a war that would impose little impact on civilian populations and require no emancipation of slaves. [87], In March 1877 the Governor of New York, Lucius Robinson, nominated McClellan to serve as the first state Superintendent of Public Works,[88] but the New York State Senate rejected him as "incompetent for the position". His nomination was largely an effort by key party members to prevent the leading candidate, Leon Abbett, from gaining the nomination. [3] His mother was Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz Brinton McClellan (18001889), daughter of a leading Pennsylvania family, a woman noted for her "considerable grace and refinement." [109], Several geographic features and establishments have been named for George B. McClellan. [5], McClellan initially intended to follow his father into the medical profession, and attended a private academy, which was followed by enrollment in a private preparatory school for the University of Pennsylvania. What name was given to the attempt in 1860 to get southern states to stay in the Union. George B. McClellan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 3, 1826. . He sought the position of Secretary of War in Cleveland's cabinet, but Senator John R. McPherson, who had opposed McClellan for governor in 1877, succeeded in blocking his nomination. At age 34, he outranked everyone in the Army except Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief. If he can't fight himself, he excels in making others ready to fight."[65]. Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside assumed command of the Army of the Potomac on November 9, 1862. : Westholme Publishing, 2015. A major contributing factor in this decision was McClellan's failure to pursue Lee's army following the tactically inconclusive but strategic Union victory at the Battle of Antietam outside Sharpsburg, Maryland. He did not share his overall battle plans with his corps commanders, which prevented them from using initiative outside of their sectors. As with the decisive battles in the Seven Days, McClellan's headquarters were too far to the rear to allow his personal control over the battle. About 10 miles away from the capitol of the Confederacy, George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac was within striking distance of ending the year old Civil War. (The information was not used until 1870 when President Ulysses S. Grant unsuccessfully attempted to annex the Dominican Republic.) Two more crises would confront McClellan before he could implement his plans. I attended the University of Pennsylvania and then went on to study at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. This caused him to decide on a siege of the city, which required considerable preparation. McClellan maintained his estrangement from Abraham Lincoln with his repeated call for reinforcements and by writing a lengthy letter in which he proposed strategic and political guidance for the war, continuing his opposition to abolition or seizure of slaves as a tactic. allowing approximately 200,000 Black soldiers to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. But Lincoln told his secretary, John Hay, "We must use what tools we have. I graduated second in my class at West Point in 1846. In December, the Congress formed a Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which became a thorn in the side of many generals throughout the war, accusing them of incompetence and, in some cases, treason. McClellan ordered his units to set out for the South Mountain passes and was able to punch through the defended passes that separated them from Lee. [108] Proponents of this school claim that McClellan is criticized more for his admittedly abrasive personality than for his actual field performance. [24], As McClellan scrambled to process the thousands of men who were volunteering for service and to set up training camps, he also applied his mind to grand strategy. [102] His original draft was completed in 1881, but the only copy was destroyed by fire. [61] Lincoln and Stanton also offered command of the Army of the Potomac to Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who refused the appointment.[62]. Working with Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, the Army's general-in-chief, the . "Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearlynot only will we abstain from all such interference but we will on the contrary with an iron hand, crush any attempted insurrection on their part." [9] He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. [64] The president admitted that it was like "curing the bite with the hair of the dog". Upon graduation, George McClellan was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Lincoln, Stanton, and a group of officers who formed the "War Board" directed the strategic actions of the Union armies that spring. The General took the gentle hands which were offered to him with many a kind and pleasing remark, and heard and answered the many remarks and compliments with which the people accosted him. As noted by historians such as Stotelmyer, the significance of the Union victory at South Mountain should not be underestimated. Lee continued his offensive at Gaines's Mill to the east. Bouquets, beautiful and fragrant, in great numbers were thrown at him, and the ladies crowded around him with the warmest good wishes, and many of them were entirely overcome with emotion. [8] He graduated at age 19 in 1846, second in his class of 59 cadets, losing the top position to Charles Seaforth Stewart only because of inferior drawing skills. Malaria would recur in later years; he called it his "Mexican disease. [2] His father's family was of Scottish and English heritage. [90], McClellan also applied his military experience to improve the discipline, organization, and armament of the New Jersey National Guard. "[79], Secretary Stanton ordered McClellan to report to Trenton, New Jersey, for further orders, although none was issued. As the war progressed, there were various calls to return McClellan to an important command, following the Union defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, as Robert E. Lee moved north at the start of the Gettysburg campaign, and as Jubal Early threatened Washington in 1864. Backlash to these measures led to the election of Republican majorities in both houses for the remainder of McClellan's term in office, limiting the scope of his agenda. Johnston was wounded in the battle, and General Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. He accomplished this by marching small groups of men repeatedly past places where they could be observed at a distance or were just out of sight, accompanied by great noise and fanfare. Making an amphibious clockwise turning movement around the Confederate Army in northern Virginia, McClellan's forces turned west to move up the Virginia Peninsula, between the James River and York River, landing from Chesapeake Bay, with the Confederate capital, Richmond, as their objective. Ohio Governor William Dennison was the most persistent, so McClellan was commissioned a major general of volunteers and took command of the Ohio militia on April 23, 1861. In so doing, he missed three greatly superior passes in the near vicinity, which were eventually used for railroads and interstate highways. On May 31, as McClellan planned an assault, his army was surprised by a Confederate attack. This put him in opposition with officials of the administration who believed he was attempting to implement the policies of the opposition party. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. McClellan worked for months on a lengthy report describing his two major campaigns and his successes in organizing the Army, replying to his critics and justifying his actions by accusing the administration of undercutting him and denying him necessary reinforcements. Due to his experience and abilities, the Army appointed him a major general on May 14, 1861. The first major battle, at Mechanicsville, was poorly coordinated by Lee and his subordinates and resulted in heavy casualties for little tactical gain. Old ladies and men wept for joy, and scores of beautiful ladies waved flags from the balconies of houses upon the street, and their joyousness seemed to overcome every other emotion. You have done your best to sacrifice this army. [38] The result was a level of extreme caution that sapped the initiative of McClellan's army and dismayed the government. It was an armada that dwarfed all previous American expeditions, transporting 121,500 men, 44 artillery batteries, 1,150 wagons, over 15,000 horses, and tons of equipment and supplies. McClellan selected Yakima Pass (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}472011N 1212557W / 47.3365N 121.4324W / 47.3365; -121.4324) without a thorough reconnaissance and refused the governor's order to lead a party through it in winter conditions, relying on faulty intelligence about the depth of snowpack in that area. [106] Third, that historians eager to jump on the bandwagon of Lincoln as America's greatest political icon worked to outdo one another in shifting blame for early military failures from Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to McClellan. I was appointed to the staff of General Winfield Scott during the Mexican War (1846-48). With nowhere to go, Joseph Johnston's army struck ou It was the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. McClellan wired to Washington, "Our victory was complete. In doing so, he demonstrated a tendency for insubordination toward senior political figures. [30], Carl Sandburg wrote, "McClellan was the man of the hour, pointed to by events, and chosen by an overwhelming weight of public and private opinion. Lincoln's order was ambiguous as to whether McClellan might be restored following a successful campaign. Ellen, or Nelly, refused McClellan's first proposal of marriage, one of nine that she received from a variety of suitors, including his West Point friend, A. P. Hill. McClellan immediately replied with a 22-page letter objecting in detail to the president's plan and advocating instead his Urbanna plan, which was the first written instance of the plan's details being presented to the president. It contained two alternatives, each envisioning a prominent role for himself as commander. He refused to give any specific details of the proposed campaign, even to his friend, newly appointed War Secretary Edwin M. Stanton. These associations gave McClellan what he considered to be an appreciation of the southern mind and an understanding of the political and military implications of the sectional differences in the United States that led to the Civil War. McClellan was removed from his command of Ohio volunteer armies in less than six months, becoming the Union army's leader. Union general George B. McClellan had a number of accomplishments that have gone unnoticed due to his replacement as the general in charge of Union forces early in the US Civil War .. 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