Like General McClellan, you're smart enough to know what tactical
decisions to make. However, the problem with McClellan is that he could
never sprout the balls to act on his information, and in the end,
that's why Geoge McClellan is only a sidenote in the history books.
After graduating from West Point, he served with distinction in the
Mexican War and later worked on various engineering projects, notably
on the survey (1853-54) for a Northern Pacific RR route across the
Cascade Range. Resigning from the army in 1857, he was a railroad
official until the outbreak of the Civil War. In May, 1861, McClellan
was made commander of the Dept. of the Ohio and a major general in the
regular army. He cleared the western part of Virginia of Confederates
(June-July, 1861) and consequently, after the Union defeat in the first
battle of Bull Run, was given command of the troops in and around
Washington. In November he became general in chief. The administration,
reflecting public opinion, pressed for an early offensive, but
McClellan insisted on adequate training and equipment for his army. In
Mar., 1862, he was relieved of his supreme command, but he retained
command of the Army of the Potomac, with which in Apr., 1862, he
initiated the Peninsular campaign . The collapse of this campaign after
the Seven Days battles was charged by many to his overcaution. In Aug.,
1862, most of McClellan's troops were reassigned to the Army of
Virginia under John Pope . After Pope's defeat at the second battle of
Bull Run, McClellan again reorganized the Union forces, and in the
Antietam campaign he checked Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the
North. He was slow, however, to follow Lee across the Potomac and in
Nov., 1862, was removed from his command. |
