George McClellan was a promising young military officer at the outset of the war. After the disastrous Union defeat at the Battle of Bull Run, President Lincoln summoned McClellan to command the forces in Washington. Lincoln was impressed by McClellan's ability to turn the new Army of the Potomac into an effective fighting force. However Lincoln soon became frustrated by McClellan's reluctance to fight and his refusal to share his plans.
McClellan's Rise
McClellan spent the summer turning the defeated army into an effective fighting force. His performance was so impressive that when aging General Winfield Scott retired as commander of all U.S. armies, Lincoln appointed McClellan to take his place. "I can do it all," McClellan told the president.
However as fall turned to winter, it became apparent that McClellan had no intention of leading his army into battle. In addition, McClellan chronically overestimated the enemy, believing the Confederate army in Virginia was twice its actual size. On top of that, the more he was pressed to divulge his plans, the more resentful McClellan became toward his superiors.
The Failed Peninsula Campaign
As politicians clamored for action, Lincoln patiently withstood McClellan’s frequent episodes of insubordination. In correspondence, McClellan often referred to Lincoln as an "idiot" and "the original gorilla." Lincoln called on McClellan at his home one evening and waited several hours to see the general before being told by a servant that McClellan had gone to bed. While others urged Lincoln to fire him, Lincoln was willing to endure such disrespect if only the general would give him victories. But McClellan refused to move his army.
Finally Lincoln's patience ran out and he ordered his general to move his army into Virginia and give battle. However McClellan ignored the order. "If McClellan does not want to use the army," Lincoln wrote, "I should like to borrow it a while." When McClellan moved at last, instead of invading northern Virginia as Lincoln had urged, he loaded his entire army on boats, sailed down the Virginia coast and landed on the peninsula between the York and James Rivers.
While on the peninsula, McClellan moved extremely slow. When Lincoln urged him to move faster, McClellan wrote to his wife, "I was much tempted to reply that he had better come and do it himself." The army moved to within six miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond before being driven off by an inferior force led by General Robert E. Lee.
Still Lincoln defended his commander. When a congressman demanded McClellan's removal by stating that anybody could do better, Lincoln replied, "Anybody may do for you… but I must have somebody." Lincoln finally relented and put John Pope in command of the U.S. forces in northern Virginia. However when Pope was routed by Lee at the Battle of Second Bull Run, Lincoln reluctantly reinstated McClellan. "We must use the tools we have," he said. Meanwhile Lee's army invaded the North.
A Union Victory and McClellan’s Defeat
McClellan and Lee fought to a bloody stalemate at Antietam. Lee withdrew back to Virginia and McClellan refused to pursue him. For six weeks, Lincoln and McClellan exchanged angry messages as Lincoln implored his general to finish Lee off. On November 5, 1862, Lincoln finally had enough and dismissed McClellan as army commander.
Although loved by his troops, McClellan had proven to be a reluctant and ineffective field commander. He was also a staunch Democrat and thus a political liability to Lincoln and his fellow Republicans. Once removed from command, McClellan sought revenge two years later in the 1864 elections.
The Final Conflict
In the summer of 1864, the Democratic Party nominated McClellan to oppose Lincoln in the upcoming presidential election. The Democrats, knowing how the soldiers loved their former general, hoped to win the military vote. However the party platform called for an immediate armistice to negotiate a peace, which conflicted with McClellan's view that the Union must be preserved before any negotiations.
This difference of opinion within the party, coupled with several Union military victories in the fall, led to McClellan's overwhelming defeat. In winning reelection, Lincoln avoided the humiliation of losing to the man he had fired. McClellan retired to private life, accepting his defeat with grace and proving to be a better citizen than a soldier.
Sources
Crocker III, H.W.: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2008)
Davis, Kenneth C.: Don’t Know Much About the Civil War (New York, NY: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1996)
Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ric; Burns, Ken: The Civil War (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1990)
Walter Coffey - Walter Coffey is a freelance writer who resides in Houston, Texas. Walter has written several works of historical fiction and non-fiction, ...
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