He attended the University of Pennsylvania but . I feel I have done all that can be asked in twice saving the country. McClellan continued to believe intelligence reports that credited the Confederates with two or three times the men they actually had. 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]. [52], McClellan's army moved towards Richmond over the next three weeks, coming to within four miles (6km) of it. 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. 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. Nevertheless, McClellan received criticism from Washington for not counterattacking, which some believed could have opened the city of Richmond to capture. [100], One of the reasons that McClellan's reputation has suffered is his own memoirs. The first major battle, at Mechanicsville, was poorly coordinated by Lee and his subordinates and resulted in heavy casualties for little tactical gain. The controversy was not that his proclamation was diametrically opposed to the administration's policy at the time, but that he was so bold in stepping beyond his strictly military role. [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. Despite his successes and lucrative salary ($10,000 per year), he was frustrated with civilian employment and continued to study classical military strategy assiduously. He complained that he had arrived too late to take any part in the American victory at Monterrey in September. I have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in their own trap if my men are equal to the emergency. However, historians note that Lee's victory was in many ways pyrrhic as he failed to destroy the Army of the Potomac and suffered a bloody repulse at Malvern Hill. [43] On November 13, he snubbed the president, who had come to visit McClellan's house, by making him wait for 30 minutes, only to be told that the general had gone to bed and could not receive him. Thank you." There is no man in the Army who can man these fortifications and lick these troops of ours into shape half as well as he. His administration stressed the necessity of education in the conversion of unskilled labor to skilled labor and in industrial development generally by expanding the state library and calling for trades training for young men in public schools, as suited for the local economy. He was very popular with his men, despite having a number of serious shortcomings as a commander. 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. Historian James M. McPherson has pointed out that the two corps McClellan kept in reserve were in fact larger than Lee's entire force. [97] McClellan himself summed up his style of warfare in a draft of his memoirs: It has always been my opinion that the true course in conducting military operations, is to make no movement until the preparations are as complete as circumstances permit, & never to fight a battle without some definite object worth the probable loss. It was the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. [90], The concluding chapter of his political career was his strong support in 1884 for Grover Cleveland. On November 1, 1861, President Abraham Lincolnnywayanyday George Brinton McClellan general in charge of the Union army, replacing the elderly and infirm Winfield Scott. McClellan's pursuit began on September 5. In so doing, he missed three greatly superior passes in the near vicinity, which were eventually used for railroads and interstate highways. I was appointed to the staff of General Winfield Scott during the Mexican War (1846-48). Lee continued his offensive at Gaines's Mill to the east. George Brinton McClellan was born in Philadelphia on December 3, 1826, the son of a prominent surgeon, Dr. George McClellan, the founder of Jefferson Medical College. McClellan's army began to sail from Alexandria on March 17. He prevented the army's morale from collapsing at least twice, in the aftermath of the First and Second Battles of Bull Run. [13], McClellan's experiences in the war would shape his military and political life. : Westholme Publishing, 2015. allowing approximately 200,000 Black soldiers to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. The Fifth Corps under Porter from the Army of the Potomac would serve with Pope during the campaign. [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! 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. [49] The army's advance from Fort Monroe up the Virginia Peninsula proved to be slow. At Antietam, where there was nowhere for him to flee to, he fell into a paralysis of indecision. [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. Her father was of English origin, while her mother was Pennsylvania Dutch. [57] 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. A graduate of West Point, McClellan served with distinction during the Mexican-American War, and later left the Army to serve as an executive . "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." 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. I have never witnessed such a scene. McClellan worked on engineering projects in New York City and was offered the position of president of the newly formed University of California, which he declined. [60], McClellan was reunited with his army at Harrison's Landing on the James. 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. 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. With the assistance of his father's letter to President John Tyler, McClellan was accepted at the United States Military Academy in 1842 at the age of 15, with the academy waiving its usual minimum age of 16. Davis, Jefferson, and McClellan, George B. Leigh, Philip "Lee's Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War Controversies". [74], The Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, was the single bloodiest day in American military history. 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. McClellan wired to Washington, "Our victory was complete. During the Utah War against the Mormons, he considered rejoining the Army. The governors of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, the three largest states of the Union, actively pursued him to command their states' militia. The names are legendary: Thomas . He traveled by special train on the main Pennsylvania line from Wheeling through Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and on to Washington City, and was greeted by enthusiastic crowds that met his train along the way. [18] In March 1855, McClellan was promoted to captain and assigned to the 1st U.S. Cavalry regiment. McClellan was forced to repudiate the platform, which made his campaign inconsistent and difficult. Wiki User. 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. With nowhere to go, Joseph Johnston's army struck ou The Battle of Williamsburg on May 5 is considered a Union victoryMcClellan's firstbut the Confederate army was not destroyed and most of their troops were successfully moved past Williamsburg to Richmond's outer defenses while the battle was waged and for several days thereafter. [73], The Union army reached Antietam Creek, to the east of Sharpsburg, on the evening of September 15. 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. He made no use of his cavalry forces for reconnaissance. 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. The day before, at the Battle of Antietam, Lee's force had engaged in the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War against the army of General George B. McClellan. The General had his head uncovered, and received gracefully the salutations of the people. Lincoln's order was ambiguous as to whether McClellan might be restored following a successful campaign. 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. McClellan would leave two corps behind to defend Washington. Add an answer. This plan, which would require considerable patience of the Northern public, was derided in newspapers as the Anaconda Plan, but eventually proved to be the outline of the successful prosecution of the war. Early in the campaign, Confederate General John B. It contained two alternatives, each envisioning a prominent role for himself as commander. Gen. John Gibbon, and said, "Here is a paper with which if I cannot whip Bobbie Lee, I will be willing to go home." [7], At West Point, he was an energetic and ambitious cadet, deeply interested in the teachings of Dennis Hart Mahan and the theoretical strategic principles of Antoine-Henri Jomini. McClellan rejected the tenets of Scott's Anaconda Plan, favoring instead an overwhelming grand battle, in the Napoleonic style. He also received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors. Relations between the two generals became increasingly strained over the summer and fall. McClellan had hoped to use the 1st Corps to capture Glouchester Point and thus outflank the Confederate position. [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. Civil War CDV General McClellan and Wife . In, Rowland, Thomas J. [32] He reveled in his newly acquired power and influence:[30]. McClellan's daughter, Mary ("May") (18611945), married a French diplomat and spent much of her life abroad. [81], The deep division in the party, the unity of the Republicans (running under the label "National Union Party"), the absence of a large portion of the Democrats' base (the South) from the voter pool, and the military successes by Union forces in the fall of 1864, doomed McClellan's candidacy. The Confederate forces under General Joseph E. Johnston withdrew from their positions before Washington, assuming new positions south of the Rappahannock, which completely nullified the Urbanna strategy. Historian and biographer Stephen W. Sears observed that McClellan's actions would have been "essentially sound" for a commander who was as outnumbered as McClellan thought he was, but McClellan in fact rarely had less than a two-to-one advantage over the armies that opposed him in 1861 and 1862. George McClellan Birth of the USA American Constitution American Independence War Causes of the American Revolution Democratic Republican Party General Thomas Gage biography Intolerable Acts Loyalists Powers of the President Quebec Act Seven Years' War Stamp Act Tea Party Cold War Battle of Dien Bin Phu Brezhnev Doctrine Brezhnev Era 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. George Brinton Mcclellan Jr, McClellan, George B. McClellan, George B. [78] McClellan wrote to his wife, "Those in whose judgment I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly and that it was a masterpiece of art. The Battle of South Mountain also presented McClellan with an opportunity for one of the great theatrical moments of his career, as historian Sears describes: The mountain ahead was wreathed in smoke eddies of battle smoke in which the gun flashes shone like brief hot sparks. [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. $35.00 + $5.00 shipping . By delaying the Union army for almost a month, the Confederates had obtained valuable time to assemble and organize the forces that eventually beat McClellan back from the gates of Richmond and thwarted the Union's Peninsula Campaign. The document was verified at McClellan's headquarters in Frederick on September 13. The number of men McClellan was actually faced varies, with Joseph Harsh in Confederate Tide Rising placing Lee's army at 112,220 men compared with the 105,857 under McClellan. During his administration, two companies were equipped with Gatling guns, a new battalion was organized, regular rifle practice was instituted, and provisions were made to supply new uniforms. 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. 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. "[63] Lee had gambled on removing significant units from the Peninsula to attack Pope, who was beaten decisively at Second Bull Run in August. 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. [61] Lincoln and Stanton also offered command of the Army of the Potomac to Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who refused the appointment.[62]. [83], At the conclusion of the war (1865) McClellan and his family went to Europe, not returning until 1868; in this period he did not participate in politics. Congress's joint committee visited the abandoned Confederate lines and radical Republicans introduced a resolution demanding the dismissal of McClellan, but it was narrowly defeated by a parliamentary maneuver. At age 34, he outranked everyone in the Army except Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief. [86], McClellan was appointed chief engineer of the New York City Department of Docks in 1870. McClellan assessed local defensive capabilities for the secretary. Historian Allan Nevins wrote, "Students of history must always be grateful McClellan so frankly exposed his own weaknesses in this posthumous book. [6] He began attending the university in 1840, when he was 14 years old, resigning himself to the study of law after his family decided that medical educations for both McClellan and his older brother John were too expensive. "[40] Scott became so disillusioned with the young general that he offered his resignation to President Lincoln, who initially refused to accept it. He chafed at the boredom of peacetime garrison service, although he greatly enjoyed the social life. George B. McClellan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 3, 1826. . Before that time I hope to be on the Susquehanna. McClellan was removed from his command of Ohio volunteer armies in less than six months, becoming the Union army's leader. The battle was fought between the Union Army, led by General George B. McClellan, and the Confederate Army, led by General Robert E. Lee. However . A chronology of key events in the life of George B. McClellan (1826-1885), U.S. Army officer and governor of New Jersey. Upon their arrival on July 28, they were astonished to find that they had been given up for dead. "[95] This fierce discussion has continued for over a century. 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. 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. [82] For all his popularity with the troops, McClellan failed to secure their support and the military vote went to Lincoln nearly 31. George B. McClellan. 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]. He also considered service as a filibuster in support of Benito Jurez in Mexico. The class of '46 contributed 20 generals to the Union and Confederate armies. On September 2, 1862, Lincoln named McClellan to command "the fortifications of Washington, and all the troops for the defense of the capital". "[69], At the discovery of the Lost Order, McClellan's Assistant Adjutant General verified the signature and handwriting of the officer who wrote out the order, as he knew him well, so there was no doubt as to its authenticity. The testing of battle uncovered another McClellan failing - his management of his own generals. 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 Was general george b mcclellan union or confederate? The armies struggled to a . George B. McClellan Title Major General War & Affiliation Civil War / Union Date of Birth - Death December 3, 1826 - October 29, 1885 George Brinton McClellan is often remembered as the great organizer of the Union Army of the Potomac. One of the first large-scale offensive in the American victory at Monterrey in September in Mexico overwhelming battle. Of Docks in 1870 passes in the American victory at Monterrey in September on 3. 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