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G. B. McClellan
"Little Mac"
(1826 - 1885)
Home State: Pennsylvania
Education: US Military Academy, West Point, NY, Class of 1846;Class Rank: 2
Command Billet: Commander, Army of the Potomac
Branch of Service: Cavalry
Unit: Army of the Potomac
see his Battle Report
Before Antietam
He graduated from West Point in 1846, saw duty in the Engineers, fought in the Mexican war, constructed forts and harbors, was an instructor at West Point, an observer in the Crimean War, and designed the McClellan Cavalry saddle. He resigned his commission as a Captain in 1857 and became a successful railroad executive.
In April 1861 he was appointed Major General of Ohio Volunteers and commanded the Department of the Ohio, with combat at Rich Mountain and Corrick's Ford. In May 1861 he was appointed Major General in the Regular Army and commanded the Army of the Potomac. He was appointed General-in-Chief in November 1861 and fought the Peninsula campaign and the Seven Days battles. He reorganized and took command of the AOP after the Second Bull Run in Early September 1862.
On the Campaign
He commanded the Army of the Potomac in Maryland.
The rest of the War
He was relieved of command in November 1862 and returned to his home in New Jersey. He was an unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate running against Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He held no other Army post.
After the War
He was a civil engineer, businessman, author and Governor of New Jersey (1878-81).
References & notes
His service from Cullum.1
Birth
12/3/1826; Philadelphia, PA
Death
10/29/1885; Orange, NJ; burial in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, NJ
1 Cullum, George Washington, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy, 2nd Edition, 3 vols., New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1868-79, Vol. II, pp. 250-255 [AotW citation 22702]