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G. B. McClellan

G. B. McClellan

Federal (USA)

Major General

George Brinton 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

Notes

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]