Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/United States/McClellan, George Brinton

M‘Clellan, George Brinton (1826-1885), general in the United States army, was born at Philadelphia, Dec. 3, 1826. He graduated at West Point in 1846, served in the Mexican war with such ability as to win the brevet of captain, and attained full rank as captain in 1855. His services until 1857 were mainly scientific, with the exception of a military report on the organization of European armies in 1856, the result of a commission from the Government to follow the progress of the Crimean War. In 1857 he resigned and entered the service of a Western railway, becoming its president. At the outbreak of the civil war he was engaged by Ohio as major-general commanding her volunteers, and was soon given the same rank in the United States army by President Lincoln. It fell to M‘Clellan to cross into West Virginia and begin the campaign there, which he did during the early summer, the campaign ending with the surrender of the Confederate forces at Rich Mountain and the expulsion of the opposing armies from his department, on July 14, 1861. This sudden and brilliant success, followed almost immediately by the collapse of the Manassas campaign against Richmond, brought M‘Clellan into notice as the most likely leader to restore public confidence in the army of the Potomac. He was called to Washington, given command of the army, and, when Scott retired, was made commander of all the armies until March 1862, when his command was reduced again to the army of the Potomac. The winter of 1861-62 was spent in organizing his new army, and in the spring he was at last almost forced, by public outcry and the impatience of the administration, to attempt the task of wielding the weapon which he had created. Following what seems now the most feasible method of attack on Richmond, M‘Clellan appears to have begun with little confidence in the administration, and it was not long before the administration lost confidence in him. His campaign on the peninsula is historical; but the time involved should be taken carefully into account in estimating M‘Clellan's abilities. It was on Sept. 2 that he was recalled and given command of “all the troops for the defence of the capital.” He found the armies in almost complete confusion; he organized and united them, marched them through Maryland to its northern border, attacked Lee's rear so vigorously at South Mountain as to force him to turn and fight, and defeated him after a two days battle; and all this work was done in fifteen days, Sept. 2-17. He was removed, however, Nov. 7, 1862, for slowness in pursuing Lee, and Burnside became his successor. M‘Clellan was nominated for the presidency in 1864, and had much difficulty in reconciling the peace platform of his party with his own feelings. Defeated by Lincoln, he retired to private business as a civil engineer, in which he was very successful. He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1877, serving 1878-81. He died at Orange Mountain, N.J., Oct. 29, 1885. The literature in attack and defence of his military reputation is voluminous; for his own version of his career see M‘Clellan's Own Story.