McClellan's War

Ethan S. Rafuse

Description

How Little Mac's political beliefs influenced his leadership

Bold, brash, and full of ambition, George Brinton McClellan seemed destined for greatness when he assumed command of all the Union armies before he was 35. It was not to be. Ultimately deemed a failure on the battlefield by Abraham Lincoln, he was finally dismissed from command following the bloody battle of Antietam. To better understand this fascinating, however flawed, character, Ethan S. Rafuse considers the broad and complicated political climate of the earlier 19th century. Rather than blaming McClellan for the Union's military losses, Rafuse attempts to understand his political thinking as it affected his wartime strategy. As a result, Rafuse sheds light not only on McClellan's conduct on the battlefields of 1861-62 but also on United States politics and culture in the years leading up to the Civil War.

List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. "Traditions and Associations . . . Were All on the Side of the Old Whig Party"
2. "I Can Do As Well As Anyone in Both My Studies and My Military Duties"
3. Political Realignment
4. "A Strong Democrat of the Stephen A. Douglas School"
5. To Kill Secession
6. "A New and Strange Position"
7. Supreme Command
8. "You Have No Idea of the Pressure Brought to Bear Here"
9. "What Do You Think of the Science of Generalship?"
10. The Peninsula Campaign
11. "I Do Not Like the . . . Turn That Affairs Are Taking"
12. "He Has Acted Badly"
13. "To Meet the Necessities of the Moment"
14. "The Most Terrible Battle"
15. "It Is My Duty to Submit to the Presdt's Proclamation & Quietly Continue Doing My Duty"
16. The Last Campaign
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Civil War Period
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• George Brinton McClellan
• Seven Days
• Army of the Potomac
• George B. McClellan
• Military
• Battle of Antietam
• History of the United States
• History of the Americas
• American Civil War
• United States
• Civil War
• George McClellan
• Guerre de Sécession

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 23 novembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253006141
• Langue: English

Extrait

M C C LELLAN S W AR
M C C LELLAN S W AR
The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union
Ethan S. Rafuse
Indiana University Press / Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
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Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu

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2005 by Ethan S. Rafuse
All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rafuse, Ethan Sepp, date- McClellan s war : the failure of moderation in the struggle for the Union / Ethan S. Rafuse.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-253-34532-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885. 2. McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885- Military leadership. 3. United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Campaigns. 4. Strategy-History-19th century. 5. Command of troops-History-19th century. 6. Generals-United States-Biography. 7. United States. Army-Biography. I. Title.
E467.1.M2R34 2005
973.7 41 092-dc22

2004019202

1 2 3 4 5 10 09 08 07 06 05
To Rachel
CONTENTS
List of Maps
Acknowledgments

Introduction
1. Traditions and Associations . . . Were All on the Side of the Old Whig Party
2. I Can Do As Well As Anyone in Both My Studies and My Military Duties
3. Political Realignment
4. A Strong Democrat of the Stephen A. Douglas School
5. To Kill Secession
6. A New and Strange Position
7. Supreme Command
8. You Have No Idea of the Pressure Brought to Bear Here
9. What Do You Think of the Science of Generalship?
10. The Peninsula Campaign
11. I Do Not Like the . . . Turn That Affairs Are Taking
12. He Has Acted Badly
13. To Meet the Necessities of the Moment
14. The Most Terrible Battle
15. It Is My Duty to Submit to the Presdt s Proclamation & Quietly Continue Doing My Duty
16. The Last Campaign

Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
LIST OF MAPS
1. Mexican War
2. Department of the Ohio
3. The Confederacy
4. Northern Virginia
5. Virginia
6. Peninsula Campaign
7. Seven Days Battles
8. Maryland Campaign
9. South Mountain to Sharpsburg
10. Antietam
11. Area of Operations, November 1862
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I t is with great pleasure that I thank the people whose encouragement and assistance made it possible for me to bring this project to completion. First among these are the superb scholars and teachers under whose direction I had the honor and privilege to study history. Meeting Charles P. Poland, Jr., in the summer of 1987 was one of the turning points of my life, as his guidance and example transformed my interest in the American past into a passion and inspired me to make studying and teaching history a career. At George Mason University (GMU), Robert T. Hawkes, Jr., was an outstanding advisor and teacher; if I did not follow his path and make Southern history my major field, I nonetheless appreciate his keeping me from becoming overly fixated on the Civil War. Among my most vivid memories from my days at GMU is the crushing disappointment I felt whenever Joseph L. Harsh announced that his class on the Civil War and Reconstruction was over for the day. Dr. Harsh more than made up for this, however, by further stimulating and directing my interest in the Middle Period, encouraging me to do this study, and providing a model of scholarly professionalism. Finally, my doctoral advisor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Herman Hattaway, provided the sort of prodding, encouragement, friendship, guidance, and willingness to grant independence that were essential to completion of the dissertation that laid the foundation for this work. Working with him as a student and as a teaching assistant was a true honor and a privilege. I also thank David Atkinson, Robert Evanson, Eric and Kate Fair, Joseph Fitzharris, Cynthia Jones, Ronald Machoian, Doreen Maronde, Ben Martin, Sharon McDonald, Dennis Merrill, Patrick Peebles, Louis Potts, Joel Rhodes, Mark Snell, Michael Taylor, Julia Stepanenko, Jeff Wade, Michael Wilson, and William Young for all they did to make my first life in the Kansas City area productive and pleasurable.
During the two years it was my honor to serve on the faculty at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point I incurred debts that I can never fully repay. I thank Robert A. Doughty and Lance Betros for giving me the opportunity to teach at West Point and for all they and Matthew Moten did to make working in the USMA History Department, especially the Military Division, a great experience professionally and personally. Readers in the know recognize Samuel J. Watson as this generation s unmatched authority on the antebellum army; to me, he was also a great officemate, a model of teaching and scholarly excellence, a generous reviewer of my work, and a good friend. Like Sam, Clifford J. Rogers set high standards as a scholar, teacher, and colleague and was always ready to extend a much-appreciated helping hand as I strived to meet those standards. I am also grateful for the friendship and support I received from my colleagues in the Tercio, Charles Bowery, Jr., Charles Hallman, Matthew Morton, Michael Runey, and Gail Yoshitani, and our guides through New Instructor Training in 2001, Steven Delvaux, Paul Reese, and Christopher Prigge. Matt Morton and his family deserve special thanks for their friendship and their consistently going above and beyond to make my experience at West Point personally enriching. I could not have asked for a better fellow traveler in Civil War history than Charles Bowery, whose service as a sounding board for my ideas and a boon companion on expeditions to the battlefields was much appreciated. Like Sam and Charles, Dana Mangham helped make the staff rides to Civil War battlefields we collaborated on intellectually stimulating and fun experiences. Once again, I am grateful to Frank Martini for the excellent work he did on the maps that accompany the text. I also thank all of the outstanding cadets it was my honor and pleasure to work with; however, William Baker, Matthew Deurmeier, Joshua DeJournett (an award-winning scholar of the Civil War in his own right), Gregory Hope, Daniel Lawton, Andrew Webb, and Leah Wicks deserve special mention for their outstanding work and great humor on the staff rides of the Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania battlefields we did together in 2002 and 2003. My efforts to put the finishing touches on the manuscript were greatly facilitated by the support and encouragement I received from my supervisors and colleagues at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. I am especially appreciative to Lawyn Edwards and Thomas Smith, directors of the Combat Studies Institute, and Richard Barbuto, head of the Department of Military History, as well as Christopher Gabel, Mark Gerges, and Timothy Challans for all they have done to help make my first year at Fort Leavenworth enjoyable and productive.
My efforts were easier and much more pleasurable than they should have been thanks to the outstanding staffs at the libraries and archives where I did the research for this study. I especially thank Fred Baumann and his staff for being a source of help and good cheer ever since I began poking around the Library of Congress s Manuscript Division many years ago. I am also grateful for the assistance I received from the staffs at the Henry E. Huntington Library, Chicago Historical Society, Illinois State Historical Library, Johnson County Public Library, USMA Library, Firestone Library at Princeton University, Kansas City Public Library, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Scott Memorial Library at Thomas Jefferson University, Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, National Archives, Newberry Library, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Pentagon Library, Philadelphia City Archives, and Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago.
A number of fine scholars have taken time from their busy schedules to offer support and constructive criticism. I hesitate to list their names out of a fear that it will raise the reader s expectations to an unreasonably high level but would be remiss if I did not express my gratitude to Mark Grimsley, John J. Hennessy, Malcolm Muir, Jr., William G. Piston, Edmund Raus, Carol Reardon, Brooks D. Simpson, Daniel E. Sutherland, and Steven E. Woodworth for being generous with advice and encouragement. I would undoubtedly be a better historian had I the good sense to follow all of their suggestions for improving my work. I also thank Robert Sloan, Jane Quinet, Jane Lyle, Sarah Brown, and Elizabeth Garman at the Indiana University Press for their guidance, patience, and encouragement throughout the process of turning the original manuscript into a book. Any faults that remain with this study are, of course, my responsibility alone.
My parents, Robert and Diane Rafuse, contributed to my work by raising me in an environment that nurtured my interest in history and giving me every opportunity to indulge it, while my brothers, Jonathan and Stephen, rigorously employed their talent for keeping me humble and reminding me with good humor that there are things to think and talk about besides history. I also thank Willard, Judith, Sus