Articles liés à McClellan's Own Story

McClellan's Own Story - Couverture souple

McClellan, George B.; Prime, W. C.

 
9781582180076: McClellan's Own Story

Synopsis

Born in Philadelphia on December 3, 1826, George B. McClellan graduated from West Point in 1846 before serving in the Mexican War. At the start of the Civil War, McClellan was put in a position of leadership and after a successful campaign in Virginia he was given command of the Army of Potomac, one of the Union's strongest armies. He led the Peninsular campaign with almost 100,000 troops under his command. marching toward Richmond.

Although McClellan was a brilliant administrator who possessed good strategic sense, the record shows that he was overcautious and consistently overestimated the strength of his adversaries, always demanding more men and supplies before undertaking offensive action. In 1862, McClellan disagreed with Abraham Lincoln and advanced on Richmond from the east instead of moving directly, against the Confederates at Manassas, Virginia. Although the Union army was successful during the Peninsular campaign, their failure to take Richmond, the Confederate capital, gave the South new motivation. Dissatisfied with the campaign and McClellan, Lincoln replaced him with Henry W. Halleck as commander-in-chief.

After the defeat of the Union army. in the Second Battle of Bull Run, . he was again placed in active command of the Army of the Potomac. His overcautiousness at the battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, led to a draw instead of a Union victory. Because of the heavy Union losses, he was again relieved of his command by Lincoln for the duration of the war.

The Democratic Party nominated McClellan in 1864 as its candidate for president a peace platform, but Abraham Lincoln defeated him. After serving as governor of New Jersey From 1878 to 1881, McClellan died in Orange. New Jersey on October 29, 1885.

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Présentation de l'éditeur

Beloved by the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, insubordinate to his commander in chief, a master at preparing for war but cautious about engaging, General George Brinton McClellan is one of the most controversial figures of the American Civil War. Criticized throughout the remainder of his life, he never publicly defended his actions as commander of the Union army. Here, however, his posthumously-published memoir provides his answers to the critics. Using a combination of military documents, his own field records, and letters to his beloved wife Nelly, McClellan does not attempt a full autobiography but instead focuses on his short time as general in chief of the army. McClellan's legacy as commander is still in contention by some historians. The value of this book is its view into the mind of George McClellan during the bitter early days of the Civil War. No study of this important figure is complete without this volume. The editor of this work, William Cowper Prime, was an American journalist, art historian, numismatist, and travel writer, and close friend of McClellan's. He was instrumental in getting Princeton University to establish a department of art history, to which he donated his extensive collection of ceramic art.

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