Background
George Brinton McClellan was born on December 3, 1826 in Philadelphia, the son of a prominent surgeon, Dr. George McClellan, the founder of Jefferson Medical College.
(Gathers letters by the Civil War General in which he disc...)
Gathers letters by the Civil War General in which he discusses the war, specific campaigns, and American politics
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(New York, August 4, 1SC3. Sir: I have the honor to submit...)
New York, August 4, 1SC3. Sir: I have the honor to submit herein tho official report of the o3erations of the army of the Potomac while under my charge. A ccom panying it are the reports of the corps, division and subordinate commanders, pertaining to the various engagements, battles and occurrenccr of the campaigns, and important document Bconnected with its organization, supply, and movements. These, with lists of maps and memoranda submitted, will be found appended, duly arranged, and marked for convenient reference. Charged, in the spring of 1861, with the operations in the department of the Ohio, which included the States of I llinois, I ndiana, Ohio, and latterly Western Virginia, it had become my duty to counteract the hostile designs of the enemy in Western Virginia, which were immediately directed to the destruction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and the possession of the Kanawha valley, with the ultimate object of gaining Wheeling and the control of the Ohio river. The successful affairs of Phillippi, Rich Mountain, Carrick s Ford, c., had been fought, and I had acquired possession of all Western Virginia north of the Kanawha valley, as well as the lower portion of that valley. I had determined to proceed to the relief of the upper Kanawha valley, as soon as provision was made for the permanent defence of the mountain passes leading from the east into the region under control, when I received at Beverly, in Randolph county, on the 21st of July, 1861, intelligence of the unfortunate result of the battle of Manassas, fought on that day. On the 22d I received an order by telegraph, directing me to turn over my command to Brigadier General Rosecrans, and repair at once to Washington. I had already caused reconnoissances to be made for intrenchments at the Cheat Mountain pass; also on the Hunterville road, near Elkwater, and at Red House,,near the m (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
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(Autobiography. First edition stated. Black cloth covers l...)
Autobiography. First edition stated. Black cloth covers lightly rubbed, corners and spine ends bumped. Dust jacket rubbed and sunned, considerable edge wear with small chips at the top of the spine panel. Interior clean and tight.
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George Brinton McClellan was born on December 3, 1826 in Philadelphia, the son of a prominent surgeon, Dr. George McClellan, the founder of Jefferson Medical College.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania Preparatory School and, by special action, was permitted to enter West Point two years before attaining the minimum age.
He graduated second in the 1846 class of 59 cadets.
A graduate of West Point, McClellan served with distinction during the Mexican–American War (1846-1848), and later left the Army to work in railroads until the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Early in the war, McClellan was appointed to the rank of major general and played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army, which would become the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater; he served a brief period (November 1861 to March 1862) as general-in-chief of the United States Army / Union Army. McClellan organized and led the Union army in the Peninsula Campaign in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862. It was the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. Making an amphibious clockwise turning movement around the Confederate States Army in northern Virginia, McClellan's forces turned west to move up the Virginia Peninsula, between the James and York Rivers landing from the Chesapeake Bay, with the Confederate capital, Richmond, as their objective. Initially, McClellan was somewhat successful against the equally cautious General Joseph E. Johnston, but the military emergence of General Robert E. Lee to command the Army of Northern Virginia turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a partial Union defeat.
General McClellan failed to maintain the trust of 16th President Abraham Lincoln. He did not trust his commander-in-chief and was privately derisive of him. He was removed from command in November after failing to decisively pursue Lee's Army following the tactically inconclusive but strategic Union victory at the Battle of Antietam outside Sharpsburg, Maryland and never received another field command. McClellan went on to become the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 1864 presidential election against Lincoln's reelection. The effectiveness of his campaign was damaged when he repudiated his party's platform, which promised an end to the war and negotiations with the southern Confederacy. 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.
Most modern authorities have assessed McClellan as a poor battlefield general. Some historians view him as a highly capable commander whose reputation suffered unfairly at the hands of pro-Lincoln partisans who made him a scapegoat for the Union's military setbacks. After the war, subsequent commanding general and 18th President Ulysses S. Grant was asked for his opinion of McClellan as a general; he replied, "McClellan is to me one of the mysteries of the war. "
George Brinton 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 troops.
(Gathers letters by the Civil War General in which he disc...)
(New York, August 4, 1SC3. Sir: I have the honor to submit...)
(Autobiography. First edition stated. Black cloth covers l...)
In October 1859 McClellan was able to resume his courtship of Mary Ellen, and they were married in Calvary Church, New York City, on May 22, 1860.
