George B. McClellan

The Young Napoleon

Stephen W. Sears, Stephen W. Sears

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9780544391222
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: History

"Sears has finally unraveled the mystique of this complex, brilliant Civil War general . . . A fascinating story" (James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom).
 
"Commander of the Northern army in the Civil War, Gen. George McClellan saw himself as God's chosen instrument for saving the Union. Self-aggrandizing, with a streak of arrogant stubbornness, he set himself above President Lincoln, whom he privately called 'the Gorilla.' To 'the young Napoleon,' as McClellan's troops dubbed him, abolition was an 'accursed doctrine.' Fond of conspiracy plots, he insisted that the Lincoln administration had traitorously conspired to set him up for military defeat. Although he constantly anticipated one big, decisive battle that would crush the South, he squandered one military opportunity after another, and, if Sears is correct, he was the worst strategist the Army of the Potomac ever had. Based on primary sources, letters, dispatch books, diaries, newspapers, this masterly biography is an astonishing portrait of an egotistical crank who could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." — Publishers Weekly
 
"Engagingly written and thoroughly researched, Sears's persuasive critique is the best and most complete biography of this controversial general." — Library Journal
 
"The best biography of McClellan ever published. Sears uses intensive research, including new material, to document the tormented, wasted military career of a talented man . . . The enigma of McClellan has never been explained so well . . . Historians should be grateful." — The Washington Post Book World

INDEX

abolitionism and abolitionists: McClellan on, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]; and McClellan on secessionists’ property rights, [>]; and anti-McClellan plot allegation, [>]; and McClellan’s conspiracy theory, [>]; and Peninsula campaign, [>]–[>], [>], [>]; and Pope, [>]; and Porter on Emancipation Proclamation, [>]

Adams, Brooks, [>]–[>]

Alexander II (czar), [>], [>]

Alexander, Maj. E. Porter, [>]

Alsop, Joseph W., [>], [>], [>], [>]

Altoona governors’ conference, [>]

“Anaconda Plan,” [>], [>]–[>], [>]

Anderson, Maj. Gen. R. H., [>], [>], [>]

Andrew, John A., [>]

Antietam, battle of, [>]–[>]; terrain and Confederate dispositions, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]; estimates of enemy strength, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]; and McClellan hesitancy, [>]–[>], [>]; McClellan’s plan of battle, [>]–[>]; Burnside’s role, [>]–[>]; and Franklin’s corps, [>], [>]; Sumner’s role, [>]–[>]; Union numbers and advantage, [>]; McClellan’s command decisions, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]; McClellan loses initiative, [>]; McClellan’s view of, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]; decision not to renew attack, [>]–[>]; Confederate withdrawal, [>]–[>]; casualties, [>]; McClellan’s tactical failings, [>]–[>]; press opinions, [>]–[>]; purported Lee-McClellan meeting, [>]–[>]; commemorating of, [>], [>]. See also Maryland campaign

Army of the Potomac, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]; and McClellan, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]; McClellan’s legacy to, [>], [>], [>]–[>]; and Pope, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]; and coup rumors, [>]–[>], [>]; and Fredericksburg, [>]; in 1864 election, [>], [>]

Army of Virginia, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]

Aspinwall, William H., [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Maps
• Introduction
• The Making of a Soldier
• On Peacetime Service
• Life in a Civilian World
• The Call to War
• Building an Army
• General of All the Armies
• The Grand Campaign
• On the Peninsula
• The Battle for Richmond
• Impasse at Harrison’s Landing
• General Without an Army
• Photos
• Opportunity of a Lifetime
• The Battle of Antietam
• The Last Command
• The Political Arena
• Campaign for the Presidency
• The Old Soldier
• Epilogue: A Memoir for History
• Sources and Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author