The Battle of Antietam, in which Lee’s army might have been crushed with its back to the Potomac, ended as a crimson stalemate. ‘Little Mac’ let John Pope twist in the wind. There, on the banks of Antietam Creek, the two armies fought the bloodiest single day in America’s history, resulting in over 22,000 casualties. The battered Southern army was permitted to withdraw without serious pursuit. During the late 1850s, McClellan spent a few years in Illinois as an engineer and executive with the Illinois Central Railroad, which often used Lincoln’s legal services. UPDATE: Check out Ethan Rafuse’s response at the end of this article! Finally there were the Practical Whigs, who accepted and embraced the rules and practices of partisan politics pioneered by Jackson and the Democrats. If he moves in support of Franklin, it leaves us without any reliable troops in and near Washington. After the Mexican War, when slavery became the defining issue in American politics, the differences between these segments would help tear the party apart. The next day he gloated in a letter to Mary Ellen: “I believe I have triumphed! This placed him in great demand as the Union mobilized. Given that McClellan’s perceived enemies were Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Halleck, his statement—as well as his plan to disobey his orders—seemingly bordered on treason. He also reported that Sumner’s 14,000 infantry had arrived with no artillery or cavalry and would be held awaiting further orders. George B. McClellan. Lincoln cautiously responded that the first alternative was best, but deferred to Halleck. Fortune favored McClellan when one of his soldiers discovered a copy of Special Orders 191 near Frederick, Maryland. At Chipyong-ni an outnumbered regimental combat team turned the tide of the Korean War... Get inside articles from the world's premier publisher of history magazines. Tell me what you wish me to do & I will do all in my power to accomplish it. (I further addressed the particular matter of Pope’s conduct and merits, unavoidably going further into the subject of McClellan’s conduct, in a January 2006 guest post on Eric Wittenberg’s blog, which can be found here: http://civilwarcavalry.com/?p=94.). McClellan and the War To McClellan, the war was a product of what Statesmen Whigs had always feared: The forces of passion and extremism—i.e., secessionists in the South and antislavery radicals in the North—had gained control of the nation’s councils. The War Democrats were committed wholesale to George Brinton McClellan, the former general–in–chief of the Union armies. Halleck then took matters into his own hands, wiring Franklin at 12:40 p.m. “to move with your corps to-day toward Manassas Junction, to drive the enemy from the railroad.” A defiant McClellan responded to Halleck 20 minutes later that “The moment Franklin can be started with a reasonable amount of artillery he shall go.” At 3:30 Halleck wired him back, “Not a moment must be lost in pushing as large a force as possible toward Manassas, so as to communicate with Pope before the enemy is re-enforced.”, McClellan still did not budge. Reform Whigs, the second group, saw politics and government as a force that should be put to specific uses. McClellan served with distinction under Winfield Scott in the Mexican War. Hill away from Richmond and toward Pope. He graduated second in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842 and was breveted a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. General Disobedience: Union General George B. McClellan was compelled to retreat from the fringes of Richmond by … After a copy of Lee’s marching orders fell into his hands, he marched to intercept the Southern army at Sharpsburg, Maryland. Nonetheless, a full and truly fair assessment of this episode requires acknowledgment of the fact that, for all the ugliness in his writings and personal conduct during this time, McClellan in fact had legitimate military grounds for his handling of Franklin’s command and a sound operational argument for having Pope move toward his reinforcements rather than vice versa. President Abraham Lincoln also hoped Pope and McClellan would co­operate. School Texas Christian University; Course Title SOCI 10603; Uploaded By loveyoumoonlight. Pages 5 This preview shows page 4 - 5 out of 5 pages. 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. Lincoln also indulged in harsher rhetoric regarding the South and slavery. This is all contrary to my orders; investigate and report the facts of this disobedience. Late on the afternoon of the 29th, as Lee and Longstreet discussed when to send in Longstreet’s troops, McClellan sent Halleck a defiant message: “Before receiving the President’s message I had put Sumner’s corps in motion toward Arlington and the Chain Bridge [north and northwest instead of west toward Manassas], not having received any reply from you. Though McClellan explained to Mary Ellen that he was reluctantly giving up his plan to attack Richmond, he gleefully anticipated having the last laugh: “I think the result of their machinations will be that Pope will be badly thrashed within two days & that they will be very glad to turn over the redemption of their affairs to me.” McClellan was hoping for a Union defeat. 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. Although he was always repulsed by the institution of slavery, he avoided using moralistic terminology when speaking of the conflict with the South. Halleck objected: “I want Frank­lin’s corps to go far enough to find out something about the enemy….Our people must move more actively and find out where the enemy is. We now know that this was a consequence of Pope’s effort to respond to the opportunity presented by part of Jackson’s command being for a time isolated and trapped on the Federal side of the river, that Federal authorities elsewhere were ignorant of this because the Catlett’s Station raid had prevented this information from being fully reported to Washington and (there being no direct communication between Falmouth and Pope) forwarded to Aquia Creek, and no harm was done to Porter’s command. Dan Bullock died at age 15 in 1969 and efforts to recognize the young African-American Marine continue and are highlighted in this Military Times documentary. After all, it was the very same president who complained about McClellan’s conduct during the Second Manassas Campaign who had withheld troops during the Peninsula Campaign—and arguably for far less cause and with greater effects on the course and outcome of the campaign.) (And if any general in 1862 could testify to what it felt like to be left to “twist in the wind,” it was McClellan. Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, first wife of President Woodrow Wilson. The consequences of Little Mac’s jaundiced view of Lincoln were manifold. McClellan had some qualms about that aspect of the campaign. During the Mexican War (1846–48), he constructed roads and bridges for General Winfield Scott’s army as it advanced through often rugged, inhospitable terrain. Report broken link However, when Porter reached the point where he and McClellan had been told they would find elements from Pope’s army, they found it abandoned. One reason that Lincoln never considered the course followed by McClellan—joining the Democratic Party after leaving the Whigs—was because his political career for many years had been defined by his opposition to Douglas, and Lincoln had consistently been on the losing end in that relationship. Its professional mind-set, characterized by elitism and a hierarchical view of society, was the result of a West Point education. In this Currier & Ives cartoon, George B. McClellan is portrayed as the intermediary between Abraham Lincoln and Confederacy president Jefferson Davis. George B. McClellan was a major general in the Union army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Army of Northern Virginia, meanwhile was on the move while McClellan’s troops still sat at Harrison’s Landing. If a truly fair assessment is to be made of McClellan’s conduct (warts and all) a more comprehensive understanding of the factors at work must be provided than what is offered in Bonekemper’s essay. In a campaign that became known as the Battle of the Seven Days, Lee’s men forced McClellan back down the peninsula.The disappointed Lincoln replaced McClellan as general in chief of the armies with Henry Halleck, and the Army of the Potomac was placed under Maj. Gen. John Pope, until the latter met with disaster on the old Manassas battlefield in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Significance: One of only 2 major battles fought in the North. At the start of the Civil War, McClellan's knowledge of what was called "big war science" and his railroad experience suggested he might excel at military logistics. He is also correct that the general’s personal motives and interests—and the decidedly unsavory tone of his personal correspondence—are a big part of this very, very sad story. For the Federals, arguably the most important thing to accomplish from an operational standpoint in August 1862 was to unify Pope’s and McClellan’s forces before the Confederates could take advantage of their interior lines to defeat Pope. cover George McClellan’s significance as a player at the in-tersection of the three elements of a simpler American past and to gain insight into the character of the man through his promotional methods as recorded in old newspapers, especially the Leavenworth Timesand the Leavenworth Standard.4 In 1882 a dime novel, Diamond Dick, the Dandy from However that may be I am sure that it is all for the best.” The next day he wrote her that supporters had been urging him to “march on Washington & assume the Govt! Lee then followed Jackson with Longstreet’s Wing, arriving in Gordonsville on August 15. His problematic relationship with the president would undermine the general’s military efforts, ultimately lead to his removal from command, and provide much of the fuel for the fierce debate over him and his role in the war that continues to this day. Shortly thereafter, McClellan told Mary Ellen: “I have a strong idea that Pope will be thrashed during the coming week—& very badly whipped he will be & ought to be—such a villain as he is ought to bring defeat upon any cause that employs him…..” Explaining his plan to move on Richmond in defiance of his orders, he added, “If I succeed in my coup everything will be changed in this country so far as we are concerned & my enemies will be at my feet….”. That same day Halleck ordered Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, at Newport News, to join Pope on the Rappahannock. Ever possessed of an inflated opinion of himself, McClellan had openly treated Lincoln with disdain, and the president had tolerated it, saying he would “hold McClellan’s horse” if that would win the war. Message to George B. McClellan, April 9, 1862 Lincoln's opponent in the Presidential election of 1864, George McClellan, had once been the commander of the Army of the Potomac. That corps must push forward, as I directed.”, Responding at 8 p.m., McClellan said, “It was not safe for Franklin to move beyond Annandale, under the circumstances, until we knew what was at Vienna.” He admitted Franklin had been with him until 1 p.m. arranging for supplies—proof that the corps commander had not moved with his troops when they supposedly marched at 6 a.m. He may also have assumed that McClellan was acting in good faith. Scholarship on Little Mac has been overwhelmingly dominated by critics, from Lincoln secretaries John Nicolay and John Hay to modern historians Kenneth P. Williams, T. Harry Williams, Stephen Sears and James McPherson, all of whom have portrayed McClellan as a badly flawed commander. After the rout at Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, the Union’s Army of Northern Virginia was in a chaotic state. Neither Franklin nor Sumner’s corps is now in condition to move and fight a battle. 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. An unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1855 made Lincoln realize that anyone who adopted a moderate approach to the slavery issue was open to charges of cooperation with slaveholders. In short order, Lincoln’s War Department promoted him to command the entire Department of the Ohio, which soon expanded to stretch from western Virginia (now West Virginia) to Missouri. It was clear to Lincoln he had to define himself by joining a party that was clearly antagonistic to the slave owners in Washington. I have no time for details. what do you think he is going to do? At 6 p.m. on the 27th, McClellan reported to Halleck that he had received a copy of Pope’s 10 a.m. wire to Halleck requesting all forces be sent to Pope’s right, northwest of Manassas. Lincoln believed McClellan was needed in that time of chaos because of his organizational skills. Understanding McClellan’s attachment to Statesmen Whig philosophy makes it possible to better understand his Civil War conduct. Lyman Frank Baum, author (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago through the 1960s and early 1970's. After Fort Sumter was fired on and President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to fight in the Civil War, McClellan received an appointment from William Dennison, governor of Ohio, as a major general of volunteers with command of all troops in that state. Lee and Longstreet advanced with 30,000 troops through Thoroughfare Gap on the morning of the 29th. I know the outlines of General McClellan's lack of success during the Civil War, but this biography put meat on the bones. Believing that a tightly disciplined and well-organized party was essential to attaining success at the polls, they shaped their actions to serve party interests, made sure patronage was distributed in such a way as to reward the loyal and punish the disloyal, and reveled in using divisive rhetoric that simplified complex issues for the public and characterized political opponents as subverters of republican government. Over time, though, Lincoln would alter his views in a manner that put him more in line with what the more partisan and radical members of his party were advocating—paralleling the course he had followed in Illinois. But those scattered instances weren’t enough to make absentee voting a matter of national significance. He may have thought his earlier two orders to advance Franklin were sufficient, particularly since McClellan had received a request from Pope about the destination of reinforcements. 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. The most critical of those was the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. From 1848 to 1851 he taught military engineering at West Point. McClellan was on the wrong side, too, of the debate over whether a resolution of the sectional conflict required the North to destroy slavery. Lincoln later replaced McClellan. That view of Lincoln would have serious consequences in terms of McClellan’s ability to work with the 16th president during the Civil War. In the years preceding the war, they have argued, the officer corps of the antebellum U.S. Army, including McClellan, had embraced a professional mind-set. (Rodney Bryant and Daniel Woolfolk/Military Times)... Homepage Featured Top Stories, Homepage Hero. In 1864, the Democratic Party selected McClellan to run against Lincoln that year’s presidential election. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. var NetMarketingAdvisers_goal = { id: "1275" }; Civil War Times Editor Dana Shoaf shares the story of how Battery H of the 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery found itself in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg. He accepted at face value greatly inflated estimates of Confederate strength that were provided to him by Allan Pinkerton’s detective agency, and so he always thought he was outnumbered. Like McClellan, Lincoln was a member of the upwardly mobile middle class— concerned with self-improvement, discipline and consciously arranged order—that was the backbone of the Whig Party in the North. The return of their beloved Little Mac to lead them again, however, buoyed the Union troops’ spirits, and McClellan’s organization skills once again served that army well. That those who argued there was no significant force between Alexandria and Centreville were correct on August 29 is evident to us today. For this approach to succeed, McClellan believed the nation needed a Statesmen Whig as commander in chief, one who could put aside partisan and sectional interest to let reason and moderation guide his actions. While Lincoln clearly aligned himself with those who wished to prevent the expansion of slavery, he ex pressed toleration for the institution where it existed. 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. McClellan’s defeat at the polls, Union victory in the spring of 1865, and Lincoln’s martyrdom soon robbed the Lincoln-­McClellan relationship of political significance, although, for the rest of his life McClellan defended his reputation while Lincoln partisans mercilessly attacked it. The Democrats embraced slavery, and McClellan had never wanted to see slavery interfered with (Some writers have suggested he deliberately held back from delivering a killing blow so the North would have to negotiate terms with the South to end the war, but this is unlikely), so ideologically he was acceptable to them. McClellan was a modern general who tried to wage modern warfare in conflict with a society and political leadership that did not appreciate his vision of how the Civil War should be conducted. Halleck responded: “As you must be aware, more than three-quarters of my time is taken up with the raising of new troops and matters in the West. Read More in America’s Civil War Magazine, On July 10, McClellan wrote his wife Mary Ellen that he actually saw an upside to his failure to capture the Southern capi­tal: “If I had succeeded in taking Richmond now the fanatics of the North might have been too powerful & reunion impossible. Pope rushed back toward Manassas hoping to trap Jackson. [cat totalposts=’28’ offset=’0′ category=’1136′ excerpt=’true’ order=’desc’ orderby=’post_date’], [cat totalposts=’28’ offset=’28’ category=’1136′ excerpt=’true’ order=’desc’ orderby=’post_date’], VIDEO: Battery H Of The 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery At Gettysburg, Dan Bullock: The youngest American killed in the Vietnam War. 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. And the tone of his correspondence regarding Maj. Gen. John Pope during the Second Bull Run Campaign was absolutely reprehensible. He added: “Please give distinct orders in reference to Franklin’s movements of to-morrow….In regard to tomor­row’s movements I desire definite instructions as it is not agree­able to me to be accused of disobeying orders when I have simply exercised the discretion you committed to me.”. Lee had sent “Stonewall” Jackson’s Wing to the northwest, where it tangled with and defeated a portion of Pope’s army at Cedar Mountain on August 9. What shall be done?”, Less than three hours later, McClellan opined to Halleck, “I really think [Franklin] ought not under present circumstances, to advance beyond Annandale,” less than halfway to Manassas. The two had their differences even then, as this letter from Lincoln to the general indicates. In 1973, however, Joseph L. Harsh, author of a highly regarded series of books on the 1862 Maryland Campaign, pointed out in an article titled “The McClellan-Go-Round” that there has always been a segment of the Civil War community which has refused to accept the conventional wisdom regarding McClellan. At the same time, Pope appears to have had more than enough force on hand without Franklin to avoid being driven from the field at Second Manassas—at least until Irvin McDowell stripped the Federal position south of the Warrenton Turnpike just as James Longstreet began his assault on August 30. I must of course stick to this army so long as I am necessary to it, or until the Govt adopts a policy in regard to the war that I cannot conscientiously affirm….”. Shortly after George B. McClellan’s death on October 29, 1885, one admirer predicted that “History will do him justice.” McClellan had moved north to Alexandria by August 27 and reported to Mary Ellen that he had heard a general engagement was probable that day or the next near Warrenton. The Role of the Whigs McClellan’s adherence to Whig policies merits significant attention. It also offers the opportunity to reevaluate and better understand one of the most important topics in Civil War military and political history—McClellan’s relationship with Abraham Lincoln. He rarely missed an opportunity to affirm his fidelity to Henry Clay’s moderate views, appealed to the tradition of sectional compromise and initially sought to revive his political career by attacking Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas’ claim to the mantle of Clay by pointing out that the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which had been proposed by Douglas, overturned some of the compromises over slavery ironed out in the 1820 Missouri Compromise. 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. Speaking to his cabinet, the president characterized McClellan’s behavior as “shocking” and “atrocious.” But over their almost unanimous opposition Lincoln placed McClellan in command of all Washington-area troops. It was a controversial war that bitterly divided American public opinion. Yet Franklin is too weak alone. On August 12, as the Confederates were in the midst of their shift to the west, an impatient Halleck complained to McClellan that “nearly every available steam vessel in the country” was at McClellan’s disposal and he could see no reason why the Army of the Potomac was not on the move. C what was the significance of george mcclellan good. "George McClellan: The Young Napoleon" is one of the best biographies I have read in awhile. On July 31 he told Mary Ellen, “if they send me the order I dread I will make one last desperate appeal before obeying it & then let matters take their course….”. In 1846 he graduated second in his class from West Point. Halleck put McClellan in charge of sending troops out from Alexandria, not realizing that Franklin’s corps had not yet marched. In light of all of this, are we really supposed to be shocked that McClellan, given sufficient cause (which he was), adopted the wrong–but nonetheless operationally defensible—course of action he did? McClellan’s view of Lincoln must necessarily have been colored at that point by memories of the tensions between the Statesmen and Practical Whigs. He was also a superb operational commander, who came close in the early spring of 1862 to achieving a truly decisive victory against a Confederacy that was in the prime of its military life. From the outset, McClellan complained to the War Department that he lacked adequate weapons and ammunition for his department but at the same time conceived grandiose schemes that included marching through Kentucky to capture Nashville, capital of Tennessee. On a cold and blustery Monday — which is all anyone can expect from a spring morning in Michigan — three centennial Marines and two 100-year-old Army veterans sat poised to face off for their equivalent of The Masters. McClellan remained true to the Statesmen Whig ideology during his formative years in Philadelphia, at West Point and as a young officer. McClellan and Lincoln actually got an opportunity to take each other’s measure before the war. They felt it should be employed, for example, to eliminate such evils as alcohol and slavery from American life. By Gary W. Gallagher, Ph.D., University of Virginia The Peninsula campaign was a sprawling military operation that had enormous significance in the greater sweep of the war. And he was famously unwilling to accord sufficient respect to his commander in chief, Abraham Lincoln. However, promotion in a peacetime army was slow, and he resigned from the military for a position with the Illinois Central Railroad. Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland hoping the state would defect to the South. Originally published in the June 2009 issue of Civil War Times. While no... Homepage Featured Top Stories, Homepage Hero, Mag: Military History Featured, Military History, Military History Magazine. That this new force, in less than three weeks, proved capable not only of thwarting the first major Confederate invasion north of the Potomac River but also of nearly destroying the Army of Northern Virginia at Antietam was an extraordinary triumph of personal and military leadership that has few parallels in the history of the war. 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