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. "[15] The class of '46 contributed 20 generals to the Union and Confederate armies. 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. Every decision he made that September 17 was dominated by his fear of counterattack by phantom Confederate battalions. Beginning in 1872, he also served as the president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. Military Officer and Politician. McClellan assessed local defensive capabilities for the secretary. Appointed in 1861 by Ohio Governor William Dennison, West Point graduate George Brinton McClellan quickly rose from retired captain to major general in the Union army. At Antietam, where there was nowhere for him to flee to, he fell into a paralysis of indecision. [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. It was a remarkable achievement, in which he came to personify the Army of the Potomac and reaped the adulation of his men. [107] 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. McClellan was thus required to give chase without any benefit of the heavy artillery so carefully amassed in front of Yorktown. Randolph B. Marcy at Fort Smith, Arkansas, to serve as second-in-command on an expedition to discover the sources of the Red River. George B. McClellan was a prominent nineteenth-century American military and political leader. A planned attack on September 16 was put off because of early morning fog, allowing Lee to prepare his defenses with an army less than half the size of McClellan's. McClellan's rapid promotion was partly due to his acquaintance with Salmon P. Chase, Treasury Secretary and former Ohio governor and senator. [49] The army's advance from Fort Monroe up the Virginia Peninsula proved to be slow. [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. 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. When the public heard about the Galena, it was yet another great embarrassment, comparable to the Quaker Guns at Manassas. Davis, Jefferson, and McClellan, George B. Leigh, Philip "Lee's Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War Controversies". 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. George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 - October 29, 1885) was a major general during the Civil War, famous (and notorious) for organizing and commanding the Army of the Potomac. The second would use the same force to drive south instead, crossing the Ohio River into Kentucky and Tennessee. [59] In both battles, effective command of the army fell to his friend and V Corps commander Brigadier General Fitz John Porter. 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]. In the fall of 1852, McClellan published a manual on bayonet tactics that he had translated from the original French. He learned that flanking movements (used by Scott at Cerro Gordo) are often better than frontal assaults, and the value of siege operations (Veracruz). 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. 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. By June the expedition reached the source of the north fork of the river and Marcy named a small tributary McClellan's Creek. What name was given to the attempt in 1860 to get southern states to stay in the Union. The armies struggled to a . 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. 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. "[95] This fierce discussion has continued for over a century. Will send you trophies. Thank you." He realized that McClellan was a strong organizer and a skilled trainer of troops, able to recombine the units of Pope's army with the Army of the Potomac faster than anyone. [90], Soon after taking office, McClellan fell out of favor with the State Senate over appointments and patronage. Civil War CDV General McClellan and Wife . Was general george b mcclellan union or confederate? [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. He waved the order at his old Army friend, Brig. Working with Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, the Army's general-in-chief, the . 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. He wrote a letter to Gen. Scott on April 27, four days after assuming command in Ohio, that presented the first proposal for a strategy for the war. 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. [80], McClellan was nominated by the Democrats to run against Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 U.S. presidential election. Cemetery Name: Riverview Cemetery. 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. The stubborn Confederate defenses gave Lee enough time to concentrate many of his men at Sharpsburg, Maryland. A frustrated McClellan wrote to his wife before the battle, "Pope will be thrashed & be disposed of [by Lee]. [84] Prior to his return in September 1868, the Democratic Party had expressed some interest in nominating him for president again, but Ulysses S. Grant became the Republican candidate in May 1868, and this interest died. [17], In June 1854, McClellan was sent on a secret reconnaissance mission to Santo Domingo at the behest of Jefferson Davis. McClellan would leave two corps behind to defend Washington. George McClellan was a U.S. Army engineer, railroad president and politician who served as a major general during the Civil War. In fact, the general-in-chief position was left unfilled. I have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in their own trap if my men are equal to the emergency. For this reason, some of his Southern colleagues approached him informally about siding with the Confederacy, but he could not accept the concept of secession. [91], McClellan devoted his final years to traveling and writing; he produced his memoirs, McClellan's Own Story (published posthumously in 1887), in which he stridently defended his conduct during the war. A sensational story had reached the press that the expedition had been ambushed by 2,000 Comanches and killed to the last man. (1826-1885), Civil War general.McClellan was born to a wealthy family in Philadelphia; at the age of fiftee Union Army, The Union army grew steadily throughout the war, from 186,751 in July 1861 to 1,000,516 in May 1865. [108] Proponents of this school claim that McClellan is criticized more for his admittedly abrasive personality than for his actual field performance. McClellan was removed from his command of Ohio volunteer armies in less than six months, becoming the Union army's leader. In his inaugural address, he said the most urgent matter before the state was relief from the Panic of 1873. 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".[48]. He married Mary Ellen Marcy, on May 22, 1860. MG George B. McClellan (1861-1862) MG Henry W. Halleck (1862-1864) . [25], McClellan's first military operations were to occupy the area of western Virginia that wanted to remain in the Union and subsequently became the state of West Virginia. In March 1852, he was ordered to report to Capt. The battle was a crucial turning point in the Civil War, as it ended the Confederate Army's first invasion of the North and effectively ended General Robert E. Lee's campaign in Maryland. 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. [72] After the war, McClellan held to the claim that he acted immediately to put his armies on the move.[71]. The New York Evening Post commented in McClellan's obituary, "Probably no soldier who did so little fighting has ever had his qualities as a commander so minutely, and we may add, so fiercely discussed. If he can't fight himself, he excels in making others ready to fight."[65]. 2012) "In defense of McClellan at Antietam: A contrarian view", Commanding General of the United States Army, Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Mexican War Diary of George B. McClellan, Manual of Bayonet Exercise, Prepared for the Use of the Army of the United States, The Report of Captain George B. McClellan, One of the Officers Sent to the Seat of War in Europe, in 1855 and 1856, The Armies of Europe, Comprising Descriptions in Detail of the Military Systems of England, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sardinia, European Cavalry, Including Details of the Organization of the Cavalry Service Among the Principal Nations of Europe, Exploration of the Red River of Louisiana in the Year 1852, Regulations and Instructions for the Field Service of the U.S. Cavalry in Time of War, McClellan's Own Story: The War for the Union, The Soldiers Who Fought It, The Civilians Who Directed It and His Relations to It and to Them, The Life, Campaigns, and Public Services of General George B McClellan, The Democratic Platform, General McClellan's Letter of Acceptance, The Army of the Potomac, General McClellan's Report of Its Operations While Under His Command, Report of Major General George B McClellan, Upon the Organization of the Army of the Potomac and Its campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, Letter of the Secretary of War by George Brinton McClellan, West Point Battle Monument, History of the Project to the Dedication of the Site, List of American Civil War generals (Union), "This week in history: McClellan becomes the Army's commanding general", "Civil War Gen. George McClellan: Deemed a savior, then a failure", "Facts, information and articles about George McClellan", "Milbridge Historical Society Presentation", "Joint Base Langley-Eustis McClellan Fitness Center", "Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York", "Our Campaigns US President D Convention Race Aug 29, 1864", "Our Campaigns NJ Governor Race Nov 06, 1877", Report of the Secretary of War Communicating the Report of Captain George B McClellan, One of the Officers Sent to the Seat of War in Europe in 1855 and 1856, Life and Campaigns of George B. McClellan, Major-General U.S. Army, Georgia's Blue and Gray Trail McClellan timeline, Mr. Lincoln and New York: George B. McClellan, Harper's Weekly political cartoon, October 27, 1877, "All Quiet on the Hudson", McClellan caricature in the campaign for governor of New Jersey, McClellan's May 30th, 1885 Decoration Day Oration, New Jersey Governor George Brinton McClellan, American Heritage on George McClellan's appointment, Newspaper articles about reaction to Lincoln appointing McClellan head of the Army of the Potomac, Unsuccessful major party candidates for President of the United States, United States Senate Democratic Conference Secretary, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, National Democratic Redistricting Committee, List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials, List of memorials to the Grand Army of the Republic, Confederate artworks in the United States Capitol, List of Confederate monuments and memorials, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. 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