Existing comment:
General George McClellan
USA
1826-1885
After the defeat at Second Manassas, Northern soldiers needed an inspirational figure to lead them against the first Confederate invasion of the North. The various Union forces in the east also needed a skilled organizer to mold them into an efficient military machine. Against strong opposition from several members of his cabinet, President Abraham Lincoln returned General George B. McClellan to command. "Again I have been called upon to save the country -- the case is desperate, but with God's help I will try unselfishly to do my best & if he wills it accomplish the salvation of the nation," McClellan wrote his wife. But McClellan's caution on the battlefield, which frequently led him to overestimate the strength of his opponent, was well known to Robert E. Lee. Lee said of McClellan, "He is an able general but a very cautious one." Lee's knowledge of McClellan's cautious habits figured prominently both in the Southern general's invasion plans and in the fate of the Union defenders at harpers [sic] Ferry. |