That night, McClellan decided to withdraw his army to a safer base, well below Richmond, on a portion of the James River that was under control of the Union Navy. The battle was fought between the Union Army, led by General George B. McClellan, and the Confederate Army, led by General Robert E. Lee. McClellan surveyed the western portion of the northern corridor along the 47th and 49th parallels from St. Paul to the Puget Sound. 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. "[45] On January 12, 1862, McClellan was summoned to the White House, where the Cabinet demanded to hear his war plans. [85] He told one of his generals, "He is an able general but a very cautious one. Lee continued his offensive at Gaines's Mill to the east. The document was verified at McClellan's headquarters in Frederick on September 13. $35.00 + $5.00 shipping . Such a villain as he is ought to bring defeat upon any cause that employs him. On May 14, he was commissioned a major general in the regular army. [90], In addition to tax reduction, McClellan's economic agenda included the institution of a Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries and the creation of an agricultural experiment station to modernize growing and farming practices. It ruined Lee's plans to invade Pennsylvania and took the initiative away from the Confederate commander. 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. George B. McClellan - Ohio History Central (1826-85) Graduated in the West Point class of 1846 and fought in the Mexican 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. 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. Dec 3, 1826 - Oct 29, 1885. [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. 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. [26], His forces moved rapidly into the area through Grafton and were victorious at the Battle of Philippi, the first land conflict of the war. 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. Unlike some of his fellow Union officers who came from abolitionist families, he was opposed to federal interference with slavery. 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. Template:Otherpeople2 George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 - October 29, 1885) was a major general during the American Civil War. [68], Meanwhile, Union soldiers accidentally found a copy of Lee's orders dividing his army, wrapped around a package of cigars in an abandoned camp. 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. 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. (1826-1885) George B. McClellan was a major general in the Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). [39], The dispute with Scott became increasingly personal. [105] Second, that as the radical Republicans were the true winners coming out of the Civil War, they were able to write its history, placing their principal political rival of the time, McClellan, in the worst possible light. A sensational story had reached the press that the expedition had been ambushed by 2,000 Comanches and killed to the last man. Peninsula Campaign. The Union victory and Lincoln's proclamation played a considerable role in dissuading the governments of France and Britain from recognizing the Confederacy; some suspected they were planning to do so in the aftermath of another Union defeat. The stubborn Confederate defenses gave Lee enough time to concentrate many of his men at Sharpsburg, Maryland. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly (November 1861 to March 1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. "[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. So it was that George McClellan imagined three Rebel soldiers for every one he faced on the Antietam battlefield. 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. 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. [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. During the Utah War against the Mormons, he considered rejoining the Army. 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 reason for McClellan's reluctance was that, as in previous battles, he was convinced he was outnumbered. A graduate of West Point, McClellan served with distinction during the MexicanAmerican War (18461848), and later left the Army to serve as an executive and engineer on railroads until the outbreak of the American Civil War (18611865). "[15] "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." George Brinton McClellan was born into an elite Philadelphia family on December 3, 1826. I think Lee has made a gross mistake, and that he will be severely punished for it. Many classic histories have portrayed McClellan's army as moving lethargically, averaging only 6 miles (9.7km) a day. 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. Seven Days' Battles, (June 25-July 1, 1862), series of American Civil War battles in which a Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee drove back General George B. McClellan's Union forces and thwarted the Northern attempt to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. They were more often assigned to menial labor as some Union officers refused to . McClellan had hoped to use the 1st Corps to capture Glouchester Point and thus outflank the Confederate position. I was born on December 3rd, 1826 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. See more George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician. Lincoln, Stanton, and a group of officers who formed the "War Board" directed the strategic actions of the Union armies that spring. He quickly realized that he had overstepped his bounds and apologized by letter to President Lincoln. In his inaugural address, he said the most urgent matter before the state was relief from the Panic of 1873. 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 Lincoln's order was ambiguous as to whether McClellan might be restored following a successful campaign. His final words, at 3 a.m., October 29, 1885, were, "I feel easy now. 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. He favored a war that would impose little impact on civilian populations and require no emancipation of slaves. Northern fears of a continued offensive by Robert E. Lee were realized when he launched his Maryland campaign on September 4, hoping to arouse pro-Southern sympathy in the slave state of Maryland. He waved the order at his old Army friend, Brig. Historian Allan Nevins wrote, "Students of history must always be grateful McClellan so frankly exposed his own weaknesses in this posthumous book. For other people with the same name, see, "Little Napoleon" redirects here. Yet this halting between two opinions had the result that, when he had abandoned the purpose of making the turning movement, it had become too late for him to make a direct attack." However, Gene Thorp in a 2012 article in The Washington Post cited evidence that the vanguard of Army of the Potomac was in motion all day on the 13th due to orders McClellan had issued the previous day. : Westholme Publishing, 2015. [6] After two years at the university, he changed his goal to military service. Debates were held as to whether the army should be evacuated or attempt to resume an offensive toward Richmond. One of McClellan's great-grandfathers was Samuel McClellan of Woodstock, Connecticut, a brigadier general who served during the Revolutionary War. The first major battle, at Mechanicsville, was poorly coordinated by Lee and his subordinates and resulted in heavy casualties for little tactical gain. McClellan's rapid promotion was partly due to his acquaintance with Salmon P. 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