General McClellan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Civil War Daily Gazette ^ | April 5, 2012 | Eric

[Upstate NY Guy]

150 years ago today Confederate General John Magruder fooled Union Generals Keyes and McClellen into believing his 13,000 troops outnumbered their 67,000.

Not that McClellen ever needed an excuse for inaction.

[RightOnline]

Exactly....which is why he was eventually fired by Lincoln and replaced by Grant (who had been a total failure as a civilian). Strange how war plucks otherwise-”losers” from obscurity and propels them to greatness at key times in history.

[AU72]

McClellan had such overwhelming superiority in the Peninsula Campaign, all he had to do was keep moving right up to Richmond but Lee knew him and knew he could and did spook him into thinking he had the superiority in troops.

[Joe 6-pack]

As inept as McClellan proved to be on the battlefield, his saddle design is the single piece of equipment in longest continuous use by the US military. It (with minor modifications) was in operational use up to the end of WWII, and has been used by ceremonial units ever since.

The USMC Mameluke Sword was adopted earlier, but it was not authorized between 1859 (curiously, the year the McClellan was first adopted) and 1875.

[SJackson]

150 years ago today Confederate General John Magruder fooled Union Generals Keyes and McClellen into believing his 13,000 troops outnumbered their 67,000.

Some credit due to Alan Pinkerton, still famous for his sleuthing skills. Really wish we had a history forum here.

[Upstate NY Guy]

Exactly.

[Upstate NY Guy]

Interesting. I didn’t know that.

[Michael.SF.]

In before the LWAT crowd shows up

[matt1234]

Upstate NY Guy, thanks for the informative post.

I have two ancestors who fought in NY Volunteer Infantry Regiments: the 97th and 13th.

[Upstate NY Guy]

Yup. Pinkerton and McClellen overestimated Confederate troop strength time and time again. Grant and Lincoln seemed to understand that victories were not as crucial as continual battles with roughly equal loses.

[Upstate NY Guy]

What is a LWAT?

[Upstate NY Guy]

I have two ancestors who fought in NY Volunteer Infantry Regiments: the 97th and 13th

Interesting. I've lived in NY State my whole life but have ancestors who in the 8th Virginia Cavalry.

[Ecliptic]

I thought Pinkerton worked for the North.

[SJackson]

He did, for McClellan. He was responsible for the vast overestimations of Confederate strength. And became famous. No disrespect intended to Gen Magruder.

[Joe 6-pack]

You both may enjoy this...

Free and Green

...that's David Kincaid doing the lead vocals. He's also the lead singer of the rock group "The Brandos" and big time civil war reenactor.

[EyeGuy]

“McClellan had such overwhelming superiority in the Peninsula Campaign, all he had to do was keep moving right up to Richmond but Lee knew him and knew he could and did spook him into thinking he had the superiority in troops.”

####

Interesting.

In Grant’s autobiography he reveals one of his battle strategy secrets:

Whenever he got apprehensive about the strength and the ability of the enemy, he would refresh his courage by considering that his opponent over the hill, or across the woods, was just as frightened about His army.

[SnuffaBolshevik]

Maybe a little off-topic but here’s another Civil War song by the Brandos.

“Down in Gettysburg”

It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMb9Uoi0d2M

[Joe 6-pack]

Great tune. It came out in 1987...the year I started at Gettysburg College :-)

[maine yankee]

While in the Navy, I was assigned to a riding stable/ranch attached to NAS Millington (Tenn).

We had a few of the old ‘U.S.’ saddles around. Very comfortable saddle for a long day.

[Upstate NY Guy]

Cool. Thanks.