George Mclellan Failure

Fifteen months of tense relations between President Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan resulted in the dismissal of the Union Army’s once promising leader of the Eastern theater. While McClellan believed that he did not have the support of the President, and therefore resisted orders, what were the underlying factors that led to this decision? Why did the general all but ensure the end of his military careen with months of ignoring orders and bantered correspondence with his Commander-in-Chief? This research discusses the army that McClellan built in the early stages of the war, but failed to use as the President commanded, as well as, provides insight into the final reasons for his removal.
In the early years of the Civil War,

General George Brinton McClellan was thought to be the best choice for leadership of the Union Army. With his experience in the Mexican-American War, West Point stature, and authorship of several military manuals, McClellan had a great resume for Civil War leadership and was often referred to as the Young Napoleon. In May of 1861, he was commissioned as major-general of the regular army, outranking everyone except Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott who was the General-in-Chief of the Union Army. McClellan quickly began work on building the Union Army and was charged with preventing Kentucky from seceding.
McClellan’s set up training camps to organize thousands of volunteers. He also presented a dual plan of military tactics that would invade through Virginia’s Kanawha Valley toward Richmond, then turn south into Kentucky and Tennessee. This plan however was rejected by Lt. Gen. Scott who said citing that the use of three-month’s men would be more useful in blockading the Atlantic and Gulf ports, which would later be named the Anaconda Plan. This rejection would strain the relationship between Scott and McClellan over the next year and could have been seen as a predictor of insubordination in his relationship with Lincoln. In one letter to Ohio Governor William Dennison, he told the governor of his disapproval, but not to use his name as it might disturb the general.
In Virginia, McClellan won small skirmishes at the Battle of Philippi, and the Battle of Rich Mountain. Rich Mountain however was only won despite his cautious reluctance to commit forces which proved to be his hallmark in battle. In July 1861 Lincoln called McClellan to the Eastern theater. After the loss at Bull Run Lincoln had begun his search for a successful general to command the Army of the Potomac, who’s focus was to protect Washington. This increased his sense of pride over his success in the West and gave way to public cries of his military superiority. McClellan was the man of the hour, the chosen one to end the Civil War and in a letter to his wife he expressed his delight with his new position to the point of he could become a dictator or anything that he pleased.
McClellan refusal of Scott’s Anaconda Plan displayed his preference for an overwhelming overland battle style that can be compared to that of Napoleon. His desire to expand the Army of the Potomac to over 250,000 men and 600 guns was driven by the idea that he could crush the rebels in one campaign, imposing the least amount of impact to citizens as possible. At this same time, he developed a thought process that would ultimately lead to his dismissal. He was convinced that the Confederates were lying in wait to attack the Army of the Potomac with a mighty force that would easily overpower the North if they did not re-enforce the army with more men. After the Union loss at Ball’s Bluff it was apparent that some of the Union commanders needed more training and convinced the President he needed to be more involved. Thus, they created the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, urging Lincoln to push his generals to advance on the Confederate Army.
By the end of 1861 the dispute between McClellan and Scott became personal. In a letter to his wife McClellan expressed that “Gen. Scott will not comprehend the danger, and is either a traitor, or an incompetent. I have to fight my way against him” Scott became disheartened and offered his resignation to Lincoln and on November 1 the President named McClellan as General-in-Chief of the Union Army. The conflict between McClellan and Scott had no effect on the views of the soldiers. The Army of the Potomac had high morale and was supportive of their leader, even referring to him at the savior of Washington. This however was not the case with his and Lincoln’s relationship, and he further damaged through insulting insubordination.
In January 1862, Lincoln called a meeting with his top generals.

McClellan snubbed the President and did not attend the meeting. Lincoln summoned McClellan to the White House, where the cabinet demanded his war report. Here he divulged his plan to protect Washington and take Richmond, called the Urbana Plan. Later that month Lincoln sent orders to the Army of the Potomac to begin an overland attack at Manassas Junction and Centreville. To this order McClellan replied with a 22-page objection citing that his Urbana Plan would be more effective. Reluctantly Lincoln agreed to allow this plan to proceed, expressing his approval at the fact that the General-in-Chief was actually going to move

troops.
In early March Lincoln could see that McClellan was not moving.

Once again, he doubted the Generals resolve by calling a council of war to assess the generals plan. The Urbana Plan was nullified however when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston withdrew from his position south of Washington and moved south of the Rappahannock. With this move McClellan revised his strategy and had his troops come ashore at Fort Monroe in order to advance up the Virginia Peninsula enroute to Richmond, this became known as the Peninsula Campaign. The savior general once again came under severe criticism when Congress learned that General Johnston had used Quaker guns to ward off attacks by the Army of the Potomac. These painted trees to replicate cannons kept the Union Army at bay for longer than the President liked. Added to this a Confederate ironclad, the CSS Virginia, emerged and caused a panic in Washington. As a response to this Congress’s introduced a resolution to dismiss McClellan from his position as General-in-Chief of the Union Army, and was barely

defeated.
On March 11, 1862, Lincoln made the decision to remove McClellan as General-in-Chief, demoting him to only command the Army of the Potomac. Although many leaders in the government continued to resent the commander he was still loved by his men. A surprise attack by Confederate forces at the Battle of Seven Pines stopped the Union troops. McClellan delayed any further movement, while asking for more reinforcements from Washington. This stalemate at Seven Pines had another damaging effect on the military campaign. During the battle, General Johnston was injured and Robert E. Lee was appointed to take up the command.
Lee took advantage of the overly cautious Northern general and hammered the Army of the Potomac in series of unrelenting attacks. During the bloody Seven Day’s Battle, McClellan was forced to retreat back to Washington. This resulted in Lincoln naming Henry Halleck General-in-Chief and stripping McClellan of his command over the Army of the Potomac. General John Pope, now in command, failed to capture Richmond at the Battle of Second Manassas and Lincoln once again appointed McClellan to lead the army. With Little Mac once again at the head the Army of the Potomac moved to stop Lee’s invasion of Maryland