He accepted the nomination, won the election, and served a single term from 1878 to 1881, a tenure marked by careful, conservative executive management and minimal political rancor. [81] McClellan developed a complex battle plan to defeat Lee's army, as Ethan Rafuse in McClellan's War outlines "It was an excellent tactical plan that took advantage of the merits of attacks on both the left and the right, ensured that McClellan had the ability to control his army and the flexibility to respond to events and cover all contingencies." Politically, this meant building strong private and public institutions and using them to impose order, discipline and rational direction on human activity to encourage economic and cultural modernization. Its historical significance … George Brinton McClellan was an American soldier, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician. Historians have faulted McClellan for accepting the 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. This, however, is easily disproven by the fact that his army was in motion all day on the 13th due to orders McClellan issued the previous day. I almost think that were I to win some small success now I could become Dictator or anything else that might please me—but nothing of that kind would please me—therefore I won't be Dictator. "[96] Doris Kearns Goodwin claims that a review of his personal correspondence during the war reveals a tendency for self-aggrandizement and unwarranted self-congratulation. The next morning at dawn, Union Major General Joseph Hooker led his corps to mount a strong assault on Lee's left flank. Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas): Significance, Facts and Strategies. McClellan blamed the story on "a set of scoundrels, who seek to keep up agitation on the frontier in order to get employment from the Govt. They expressed their confidence to varying degrees. Many classic histories have portrayed McClellan's army was moving lethargically, averaging only 6 miles (9.7 km) a day. Porter in the post-war period never claimed to have made the statement and it also fails to note the several Union corps at that time defending Washington. [1], Because of his political connections and his mastery of French, McClellan received the assignment to be an official observer of the European armies in the Crimean War in 1855. The Fifth Corps under Porter from the Army of the Potomac would serve with Pope during the campaign. Shortly after George B. McClellan’s death on October 29, 1885, one admirer predicted that “History will do him justice.” If what he meant by “justice” was that any mention of the general’s name during a battlefield tour or discussion of the war would prompt scorn and ridicule, then his augury has been vindicated. These include Fort McClellan in Alabama, McClellan Butte and McClellan Peak in the state of Washington, where he traveled while conducting the Pacific Railroad Survey in 1853, and a bronze equestrian statue honoring General McClellan in Washington, D.C. Another equestrian statue honors him in front of Philadelphia City Hall, while the McClellan Gate at Arlington National Cemetery is dedicated to him and displays his name. I think Lee has made a gross mistake, and that he will be severely punished for it. Edward Gorey, American writer and illustrator. 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. He reported to Washington that he faced 200,000 Confederates, perhaps due to a false report on the arrival of another Confederate army P.G.T. Bradford Argus. He claimed as a triumph the move to the James River that carried his army away from the gates of Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 and was actually aboard a steamboat while fighting raged at Glendale during the Seven Days’. McClellan's wife, Ellen, died in Nice, France in 1915 while visiting May at her home "Villa Antietam". Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, the first person to broadcast and receive radio waves. Meanwhile, Union soldiers accidentally found a copy of Lee's orders dividing his army, wrapped around a package of cigars in an abandoned camp. Lincoln also indulged in harsher rhetoric regarding the South and slavery. During a temporary armistice in which the forces of Gen. Zachary Taylor awaited action, McClellan was stricken with dysentery and malaria, which kept him in the hospital for nearly a month. 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. He also received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors. He witnessed Scott's success in balancing political with military affairs and his good relations with the civil population as he invaded, enforcing strict discipline on his soldiers to minimize damage to property. This put him in opposition with officials of the administration who believed he was attempting to implement the policies of the opposition party.[37]. The enemy is driven back into Virginia." [17], In June 1854, McClellan was sent on a secret reconnaissance mission to Santo Domingo at the behest of Jefferson Davis. Ethan S. Rafuse taught Civil War history at West Point, and is currently on the faculty at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout Movement. You have done your best to sacrifice this army. [102] And fourth, that Lincoln and Stanton deliberately undermined McClellan because of his conciliatory stance towards the South, which might have resulted in a less destructive end to the war had Richmond fallen as a result of the Peninsula Campaign. William Tecumseh Sherman (/ t ɛ ˈ k ʌ m s ə / te-KUM-sə; February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author.He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), receiving recognition for his command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the scorched earth policies he … It’s true that some of the general’s battlefield actions are the greatest obstacles to redeeming his reputation. [6] After two years at the university, he changed his goal to military service. First, McClellan proponents say that because the general was a conservative Democrat with great personal charisma, radical Republicans fearing his political potential deliberately undermined his field operations. The first major battle, at Mechanicsville, was poorly coordinated by Lee and his subordinates and resulted in heavy casualties for little tactical gain. 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. For someone with roots in the former faction, the only explanation for the opinions on slavery adopted by an otherwise rational Lincoln would be crass political calculation. It became standard issue for as long as the U.S. horse cavalry existed and is still used for ceremonies. Further, he states that the two corps in question were not in reserve per existing doctrine as they were manning portions of the line. Yet dedicated Whig party leaders such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster had significant influence on McClellan, and the general’s professional role model was Winfield Scott, a military hero who became the last Whig candidate for president. McClellan and many other Whigs shifted their political loyalties to the Northern Democratic Party, which, led by Stephen A. Douglas, seemed the best hope for preventing extremists in both sections from tearing the country apart. A significant portion of his army, under General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, was at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His affiliation with the Democrats during and after the war inspired his son and the editor of his memoir McClellan’s Own Story to ignore the general’s earlier loyalties. "If I save this army now, I tell you plainly I owe no thanks to you or to any other persons in Washington. When the General came to the corner of the principal street the ladies thronged around him. [29], After the defeat of the Union forces at Bull Run on July 21, 1861, Lincoln summoned McClellan from western Virginia, where McClellan had given the North the only engagements bearing a semblance of victory. Lee divided his forces into multiple columns, spread apart widely as he moved into Maryland and also maneuvered to capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. George B. McClellan was a general who fought in the Civil War. George B. McClellan General who was given command of the Army of the Potomac. [50], McClellan had also placed hopes on a simultaneous naval approach to Richmond via the James River. Back in Washington, a reorganization of units created the Army of Virginia under Maj. Gen. John Pope, who was directed to advance toward Richmond from the northeast. Ohio Governor William Dennison was the most persistent, so McClellan was commissioned a major generalof vo… Such a villain as he is ought to bring defeat upon any cause that employs him. The great men theory says that history often rests upon shoulders of few chosen men, who stood taller from others. He graduated in 1846, second in his class. Those modern notions of war, however, conflicted with the values of a society that clung to a romanticized image of warfare and idealized citizen-soldiers over professional troops. 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. His first personal command in battle was at Rich Mountain, which he also won. Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts Senator, brother of John F. Kennedy. This was a strategic decision of grave … Although McClellan's subordinates can claim their share of responsibility for delays (such as Ambrose Burnside's misadventures at Burnside Bridge) and blunders (Edwin V. Sumner's attack without reconnaissance), these were localized problems from which the full army could have recovered. [69], The Union army reached Antietam Creek, to the east of Sharpsburg, on the evening of September 15. Let’s take a look at how the Peninsula campaign … He chafed at the boredom of peacetime garrison service, although he greatly enjoyed the social life. He claimed to have defeated an attempt at vote fraud by Republicans by ordering the delay of a train that was carrying men to vote illegally in another county, enabling Douglas to win the county. Instead, his subordinate officers testified, and their candid admissions that they had no knowledge of specific strategies for advancing against the Confederates raised many calls for McClellan's dismissal. As Lee recounted, McClellan was attempting to make "this a battle of posts" which would lock the Confederate army in an attritional battle with superior Union firepower. He was a superb organizer and drillmaster, and he injected splendid morale into the Army of the Potomac. McClellan is usually ranked in the lowest tier of Civil War generals. [56] Military historian Stephen W. Sears wrote, "When he deserted his army on the Glendale and Malvern Hill battlefields during the Seven Days, he was guilty of dereliction of duty. Thank you." : Westholme Publishing, 2015. Although McClellan was assuaged by supportive comments Lincoln made to him, in time he saw the change of command very differently, describing it as a part of an intrigue "to secure the failure of the approaching campaign".[47]. Admirable self-denial! He proposed that his army should be expanded to 273,000 men and 600 guns and "crush the rebels in one campaign". In early 1862, McClellan launched a second, much larger invasion of Virginia, this advancing on Richmond from the east, between the York and James Rivers. 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. Indeed, in early 1861 an associate from the Illinois Central wrote to McClellan to remind him of Abe’s shifting views: “You and I both know…L[incoln] is not a bold man. He later wrote that had it been his place to arrange the terms of peace, he would have insisted on gradual emancipation, guarding the rights of both slaves and masters, as part of any settlement. He served as the 24th Governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881; he eventually became a writer, and vigorously defended his Civil War conduct. Two authors who have made notable contributions to scholarship on these points are Edward Hagerman and Philip Shaw Paludan, who presented the general as a man caught in a time of transition in Western warfare. McClellan wired to Washington, "Our victory was complete. August 18, 2020. Lincoln, Stanton, and a group of officers who formed the "War Board" directed the strategic actions of the Union armies that spring. McClellan's plan for a rapid seizure of Yorktown was foiled by the removal of 1st Corps from the Army of the Potomac for the defense of Washington. Scott rejected both plans as logistically unfeasible. 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. Isaac Stevens, governor of the Washington Territory, became dissatisfied with McClellan's performance in his scouting of passes across the Cascade Range. Some regiments were left behind at Yorktown. An English observer remarked that it was the "stride of a giant". McClellan served with distinction under Winfield Scott in the Mexican War. This caused him to decide on a siege of the city, which required considerable preparation. During Little Mac’s formative years in the 1830s and 1840s the Whigs, as historian Joel Silbey has noted, waged vigorous campaigns against the Jacksonian Democrats even as three distinct segments of their party emerged in the North. For President Abraham Lincoln. "[55] Fortunately for McClellan, Lincoln never saw that inflammatory statement (at least at that time) because it was censored by the War Department telegrapher. [59], McClellan was reunited with his army at Harrison's Landing on the James. 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. [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. On January 27, Lincoln issued an order that required all of his armies to begin offensive operations by February 22, Washington's birthday. 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. The Battle of Seven Pines took place May 31, 1862, during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and represented the farthest advance of Major General George B. McClellan's 1862 Peninsula Campaign. McClellan was unable to command the army personally because of a recurrence of malarial fever, but his subordinates were able to repel the attacks. Glendale and Malvern Hill found him at the peak of his anguish during the Seven Days, and he fled those fields to escape the responsibility. He and his family then embarked on another three-year stay in Europe (1873–75). 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}47°20′11″N 121°25′57″W / 47.3365°N 121.4324°W / 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. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. In so doing, he missed three greatly superior passes in the near vicinity, which were eventually used for railroads and interstate highways. The result was a level of extreme caution that sapped the initiative of McClellan's army and dismayed the government. General George B. McClellan Who: George B. McClellan What: A general for the Union Where: the Union When: 1861-1862 Significance: George Brinton McClellan was an American soldier, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician. [92] He has been universally praised for his organizational abilities and for his very good relations with his troops. Statesmen Whigs feared that the “Age of Jackson” would endanger the political, cultural and economic institutions that fostered social harmony and gave statesmen the ability to provide rational order and direction to national development. Lincoln’s tough stance toward the South and slavery did in fact unify Illinois Republicans behind his candidacy and establish him as a national figure. Additionally, friends of Horatio Seymour insisted on placing his name before the convention, which was held in Chicago, Illinois, on August 29–31, 1864. McClellan Park in Milbridge, Maine, was donated to the town by the general's son with the stipulation that it be named for the general. [46] The second crisis was the emergence of the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, which threw Washington into a panic and made naval support operations on the James River seem problematic. Basing artillery on a strategic bluff high above a bend in the river, and sinking boats to create an impassable series of obstacles in the river itself, the Confederates effectively blocked this potential approach to Richmond. [14], 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. Known within the family as Max, he too became a politician, serving as a United States Representative from New York State (1893–1903) and as Mayor of New York City from 1904 to 1909. And he was famously unwilling to accord sufficient respect to his commander in chief, Abraham Lincoln. To restore reason and moderation to ascendancy, McClellan believed the North needed to adopt a policy of taking the time to raise and thoroughly prepare massive armies capable of persuading Southerners that resistance to the Union was illogical by demonstrating that it was impossible. During the summer and fall, McClellan brought a high degree of organization to his new army, and greatly improved its morale with frequent trips to review and encourage his units. But McClellan was also tacitly acknowledging that he would no longer be able to invest Richmond, the object of his campaign; the heavy siege artillery required would be almost impossible to transport without the railroad connections available from his original supply base on the York River. Towanda, Pa. Thursday, October 6, 1864. McClellan resigned his commission January 16, 1857, and, capitalizing on his experience with railroad assessment, became chief engineer and vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad, and then president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860. [31] But this was also a time of tension in the high command, as he continued to quarrel frequently with the government and the general-in-chief, Lt. Gen. Scott, on matters of strategy. The platform called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy. 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."[54]. George Washington, Commander-in-chief of Continental forces during the American Revolution and first U.S. President. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 58 at Orange, New Jersey, after suffering from chest pains for a few weeks. 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. Little Mac must have asked himself how a man so eminently reasonable in his professional life, and who was clearly not a fanatic, could be so divisive, sectionalist and unstatesmanlike politically. McClellan claimed he could not trust anyone in the administration to keep his plans secret from the press, and thus the enemy. He established a supply base on the Pamunkey River (a navigable tributary of the York River) at White House Landing where the Richmond and York River Railroad extending to Richmond crossed, and commandeered the railroad, transporting steam locomotives and rolling stock to the site by barge.[52]. They delivered the order to McClellan's headquarters in Frederick on September 13. George McClellan was a native of Philadelphia, where he was born on December 3, 1826, and attended the University of Pennsylvania. George Brinton McClellan was born into a prominent Philadelphia family on December 3, 1826. It contained two alternatives, each envisioning a prominent role for himself as commander. The two had their differences even then, as this letter from Lincoln to the general indicates. When the fate of the nation was in President Lincoln’s hands three years later, the general could not have had much reason for optimism based on his earlier observations in Illinois. Beagle, Jonathan M. "George Brinton McClellan." McClellan rejected the tenets of Scott's Anaconda Plan, favoring instead an overwhelming grand battle, in the Napoleonic style. Before 1850, the two men would have been on the same side of the political fence, unified by their antipathy toward the values of the Democratic Party. Historian Allan Nevins wrote, "Students of history must always be grateful McClellan so frankly exposed his own weaknesses in this posthumous book. Bailey, Ronald H., and the Editors of Time-Life Books. It had become clear that as a Whig he could not hope to gain the support of the anti-Douglas forces in Illinois, which were abandoning the Whigs in favor of the new Republican Party. In, Rowland, Thomas J. On March 11, 1862, Lincoln removed McClellan as general-in-chief, leaving him in command of only the Army of the Potomac, ostensibly so that McClellan would be free to devote all his attention to the move on Richmond. The governors of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, the three largest states of the Union, actively pursued him to command their states' militia. 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]. [51], McClellan's army moved towards Richmond over the next three weeks, coming to within four miles (6 km) of it. Early in the campaign, Confederate General John B. The opposing battle lines on the heights were marked by heavier layers of smoke, and columns of Federal troops were visible winding their way up the mountainside, each column ... looking like a 'monstrous, crawling, blue-black snake' ... McClellan posed against this spectacular backdrop, sitting motionless astride his warhorse Dan Webster with his arm extended, pointing Hooker's passing troops toward the battle. A sensational story had reached the press that the expedition had been ambushed by 2,000 Comanches and killed to the last man. As he quickly implemented plans to invade the region, he triggered his first serious political controversy by proclaiming to the citizens there that his forces had no intentions of interfering with personal property—including slaves. Johnston saw that the Union army was split in half by the rain-swollen Chickahominy River and hoped to defeat it in detail at Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. Lincoln's Cabinet met on October 18 and agreed to accept Scott's resignation for “reasons of health”.[40]. Traveling widely, and interacting with the highest military commands and royal families, McClellan observed the siege of Sevastopol. [101] 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. As Swinton notes "It is possible, however—and there is a considerable volume of evidence bearing upon this point—that General McClellan, during all the earlier portion of the month before Yorktown, had it in his mind, even without McDowell's corps, to undertake the decisive turning movement by the north side of the York. "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 clearly—not 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." The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, .. On August 26, 1862, General George B. McClellan and most of the Army of the Potomac left the Peninsula. Yardley, Penna. McClellan's antipathy to emancipation added to the pressure on him, as he received bitter criticism from Radical Republicans in the government. Originally published in the June 2009 issue of Civil War Times. George B. McClellan. "[31] On July 26, the day he reached the capital, McClellan was appointed commander of the Military Division of the Potomac, the main Union force responsible for the defense of Washington. I find myself in a new and strange position here—Presdt, Cabinet, Genl Scott & all deferring to me—by some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land. On May 31, as McClellan planned an assault, his army was surprised by a Confederate attack. McClellan’s Whig outlook was reinforced by his experiences at the U.S. Military Academy and the subculture of the antebellum Army officer corps. From 1848 to 1851 he taught military engineering at West Point. That fall, for example, Confederate forces ranged from 35,000 to 60,000, whereas the Army of the Potomac in September numbered 122,000 men; in early December 170,000; by year end, 192,000. He had received intelligence reports on May 26 that the critical Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridges in that portion of the state were being burned.

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