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133-572: The Cutts–Madison House is part of the Lafayette Square Historic District , a National Historic Landmark District . Now owned by the federal government, it is used as part of a federal courts complex. On March 31, 1793, the U.S. Commissioners in charge of selling federally-owned lots in the District of Columbia agreed to sell square 221 to Samuel Davidson. Davidson died in 1810, and his son and two daughters inherited

266-635: A saddle , dubbed the McClellan Saddle , which he claimed to have seen used by Hussars in Prussia and Hungary. It became standard issue for as long as the U.S. horse cavalry existed and is still used for ceremonies. McClellan resigned his commission January 16, 1857, and, capitalizing on his experience with railroad assessment, became chief engineer and vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad , and then president of

399-404: A 22-page letter objecting in detail to the president's plan and advocating instead his Urbanna plan, which was the first written instance of the plan's details being presented to the president. Although Lincoln believed his plan was superior, he was relieved that McClellan finally agreed to begin moving, and reluctantly approved. On March 8, doubting McClellan's resolve, Lincoln again interfered with

532-516: A close friend of McClellan's father. McClellan's experiences in the war would shape his military and political life. He learned that flanking movements (used by Scott at Cerro Gordo ) were often better than frontal assaults, and the value of siege operations ( Veracruz ). He witnessed Scott's success in balancing political with military affairs and his good relations with the civil population as he invaded, enforcing strict discipline on his soldiers to minimize damage to property. McClellan also developed

665-614: A commander who was as outnumbered as McClellan thought he was, but McClellan in fact rarely had less than a two-to-one advantage over the armies that opposed him in 1861 and 1862. That fall, for example, Confederate forces ranged from 35,000 to 60,000, whereas the Army of the Potomac in September numbered 122,000 men; in early December 170,000; by year end, 192,000. The dispute with Scott became increasingly personal. Scott (as well as many in

798-576: A critical analysis of the siege and a lengthy description of the organization of the European armies. He also wrote a manual on cavalry tactics that was based on Russian cavalry regulations. Like other observers, though, McClellan did not appreciate the importance of the emergence of rifled muskets in the Crimean War, and the fundamental changes in warfare tactics it would require. The Army adopted McClellan's cavalry manual and also his design for

931-597: A defensive network of the region spanning Cheat Mountain, Allegheny Mountain all the way to Gauley Bridge in Kanawha. McClellan chose Rosecrans as his successor and briefed him on the situation before departing for Washington upon being summoned to reorganize the routed Union Army of Northeastern Virginia after the defeat at Bull Run . After the defeat of the Union forces at Bull Run on July 21, 1861, Lincoln summoned McClellan from western Virginia, where McClellan had given

1064-404: A disdain for volunteer soldiers and officers, particularly politicians who cared nothing for discipline and training. McClellan returned to West Point to command his engineering company, which was attached to the academy for the purpose of training cadets in engineering activities. He chafed at the boredom of peacetime garrison service, although he greatly enjoyed the social life. In June 1851, he

1197-610: A financially difficult position, so to reduce her expenses she took up residence in the house in November 1837. Presidents James Monroe , John Quincy Adams , Andrew Jackson , Martin Van Buren , William Henry Harrison , John Tyler , James K. Polk , and Zachary Taylor all visited her in the home, as did John C. Calhoun , Henry Clay , and Daniel Webster . Dolley Madison's financial difficulties continued, however. She also owned Montpelier , her husband's country estate and farm in

1330-559: A friend of her husband who happened to be in town that weekend, to create a design that would incorporate the new buildings with the old. Warnecke conceived the basic design over that weekend, and worked closely with Mrs. Kennedy over the next few months to formalize the design proposal. The design was presented to the public and the Commission of Fine Arts (which had approval over any plan) in October 1962, and with Mrs. Kennedy's backing

1463-407: A momentary rest before continuing the retreat. McClellan planned to encircle Porterfield's command at Philippi through a complex plan that required coordination between three separate forces. This coordination failed, and the bombardment of the village commenced with a false signal. The Confederates at Philippi were completely routed , but they did not retreat towards a prepared line of Union troops as

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1596-531: A month of preparation, just before he was to assault the Confederate works at Yorktown, McClellan learned that Johnston had withdrawn up the Peninsula towards Williamsburg . McClellan was thus required to give chase without any benefit of the heavy artillery so carefully amassed in front of Yorktown. The Battle of Williamsburg on May 5 is considered a Union victory—McClellan's first—but the Confederate army

1729-506: A private preparatory school for the University of Pennsylvania . He began attending the university in 1840, when he was 14 years old, resigning himself to the study of law after his family decided that medical educations for both McClellan and his older brother John were too expensive. After two years at the university, he changed his goal to military service. With the assistance of his father's letter to President John Tyler , McClellan

1862-599: A racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a slave market, an encampment for soldiers during the War of 1812 , and many political protests and celebrations. Andrew Jackson Downing landscaped Lafayette Square in 1851 in the picturesque style. Lafayette Square is surrounded by buildings dating back to the early 19th century, and are in a variety of styles. Due to their proximity to the nation's centers of power, many of them have significance of their own, and are independently listed as National Historic Landmarks. The west side of Lafayette Square

1995-497: A second story with meeting rooms for the Cosmos Club as well as other societies which might use the premises; and a third story with lodgings and a meeting room for the Cosmos Club's board of directors. The basement of the original building was renovated and upgraded to include a kitchen, a bathroom, and an underground passage to the new addition. The goal of building the addition was to permit visiting societies (such as members of

2128-494: A series of attacks that became known as the Seven Days Battles. The first major battle, at Mechanicsville , was poorly coordinated by Lee and his subordinates and resulted in heavy casualties for little tactical gain. However, the battle had a significant impact on McClellan's nerve. The surprise appearance of Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson 's troops in the battle (when they had last been reported to be many miles away in

2261-481: A state of emergency in the capital. By August 19, he estimated 150,000 rebel soldiers on his front. In this, McClellan was perhaps influenced by his questioning of Confederate deserter Edward B. McMurdy, whose testimony was not accepted by Lincoln, Secretary of State Seward, or General-in-Chief Scott, but reaffirmed for McClellan the numbers he had convinced himself of. McClellan's feeling of facing overwhelming odds in subsequent campaigns throughout his tenure as General of

2394-569: A temporary armistice in which the forces of Gen. Zachary Taylor awaited action, McClellan was stricken with dysentery and malaria , which kept him in the hospital for nearly a month. Malaria would recur in later years; he called it his "Mexican disease." He served as an engineering officer during the war, was frequently subject to enemy fire, and was appointed a brevet first lieutenant for his services at Contreras and Churubusco and to captain for his service at Chapultepec . He performed reconnaissance missions for Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott ,

2527-399: A third story consisting of four meeting rooms. A bathroom was added to the third floor of the old building, above the existing second-floor bathroom. The eastern garden was removed, and a three-story addition built. The addition consisted of a ground floor with an entrance to the building on H Street NW, a cloakroom , and a connecting door to the assembly hall on the south side of the building;

2660-580: A train that was carrying men to vote illegally in another county, enabling Douglas to win the county. In October 1859, McClellan was able to resume his courtship of Ellen Mary; they were married in Calvary Church , New York City, on May 22, 1860. At the start of the Civil War in 1861, McClellan's knowledge of what was called "big war science" and his railroad experience suggested he might excel at military logistics. His old report from his tour in

2793-454: A variety of suitors, including his West Point friend, A. P. Hill . Ellen accepted Hill's proposal in 1856, but her family did not approve and he withdrew. In June 1854, McClellan was sent on a secret reconnaissance mission to Santo Domingo at the behest of Jefferson Davis. McClellan assessed local defensive capabilities for the secretary. (The information was not used until 1870 when President Ulysses S. Grant unsuccessfully attempted to annex

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2926-639: Is Jackson Place . It is lined by a series of townhouses that were built in the mid-to-late 19th century. The two at the southern end are part of the Blair House complex for visiting dignitaries; one of these, the Peter Parker House , is a National Historic Landmark. 734 Jackson Place is also known as the American Peace Society house , and 736 Jackson Place was a temporary residence of 26th President Theodore Roosevelt while

3059-616: Is a National Historic Landmark District in Washington, D.C. , encompassing a portion of the original L'Enfant Plan for the city's core. It includes the 7-acre (2.8 ha) Lafayette Square portion of President's Park , all of the buildings facing it except the White House , and the buildings flanking the White House to the east and west. The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970. Washington, D.C.

3192-617: Is administered, which also includes the grounds of the White House and The Ellipse . The square was separated from the White House grounds in 1804, when third President Thomas Jefferson had Pennsylvania Avenue cut through east to west. In 1824, it was officially renamed in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette , the Frenchman who fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Lafayette Square has been used as

3325-669: Is flanked on the north by H Street . From west to east, the buildings lining the street are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building , the Hay–Adams Hotel , St. John's Episcopal Church , the Ashburton House , and the headquarters of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . Madison Place lines Lafayette Square to the east. Buildings facing it include the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building ,

3458-518: Is the great obstacle—he will not comprehend the danger & is either a traitor, or an incompetent. I have to fight my way against him." Scott became so disillusioned with the young general that he offered his resignation to President Lincoln, who initially refused to accept it. Rumors traveled through the capital that McClellan might resign, or instigate a military coup, if Scott were not removed. Lincoln's Cabinet met on October 18 and agreed to accept Scott's resignation for “reasons of health”. However,

3591-489: The Andrew Jackson statue . In 1879, they were fitted with metal pans which allowed them to be used as flower pots. The park was redesigned in 1936, and the urns were moved to their current location. George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of

3724-716: The Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House , the Cutts-Madison House , and the Freedman's Bank Building . Flanking the White House on the east side is the Treasury Building . Two urns reside on the south side of the district, between Jackson Place and Madison Place. They each stand at 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide, and are made of bronze with granite bases. The sides of the urns are decorated with classical female figures. The urns were part of

3857-473: The Cascade Range . McClellan selected Yakima Pass ( 47°20′11″N 121°25′57″W  /  47.3365°N 121.4324°W  / 47.3365; -121.4324 ) without a thorough reconnaissance and refused the governor's order to lead a party through it in winter conditions, relying on faulty intelligence about the depth of snowpack in that area. In so doing, he missed three greatly superior passes in

3990-610: The Committee of 100 on the Federal City (an influential group of city leaders) asked President Kennedy to save and restore all the remaining buildings on Lafayette Square. In February 1962, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy lobbied General Services Administration (GSA) director Bernard L. Boutin to stop the demolition and adopt a different design plan. "The wreckers haven't started yet, and until they do it can be saved," she wrote. Mrs. Kennedy enlisted architect John Carl Warnecke ,

4123-473: The Constitution , and entitled to federal protection wherever it existed (Lincoln held the same public position until August 1862). McClellan's writings after the war were typical of many Northerners: "I confess to a prejudice in favor of my own race, & can't learn to like the odor of either Billy goats or niggers." But in November 1861, he wrote to his wife, "I will, if successful, throw my sword onto

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4256-624: The Department of the Ohio , responsible for the defense of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and, later, western Pennsylvania, western Virginia, and Missouri. On May 14, he was commissioned a major general in the regular army. At age 34, he outranked everyone in the Army except Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief. McClellan's rapid promotion was partly due to his acquaintance with Salmon P. Chase , Treasury Secretary and former Ohio governor and senator. As McClellan scrambled to process

4389-576: The Dominican Republic .) Davis was beginning to treat McClellan almost as a protégé, and his next assignment was to assess the logistical readiness of various railroads in the United States, once again with an eye toward planning for the transcontinental railroad. In March 1855, McClellan was promoted to captain and assigned to the 1st U.S. Cavalry regiment. Due to his political connections and his mastery of French, McClellan received

4522-599: The Hay–Adams Hotel built on the site. At nearby 1616 H Street NW, the Brookings Institution purchased the rear garden from the private owners of the Decatur House and built an eight-story Modernist office building there. Several million dollars were spent in the late 1950s on designs to raze all the buildings on the east side of Lafayette Square and replace them with a white, modernist office building which would house judicial offices. Opposition to

4655-550: The Kanawha Valley toward Richmond . The second would use the same force to drive south instead, crossing the Ohio River into Kentucky and Tennessee. Scott rejected both plans as logistically unfeasible. Although he complimented McClellan and expressed his "great confidence in your intelligence, zeal, science, and energy", he replied by letter that the 80,000 men would be better used on a river-based expedition to control

4788-866: The Mississippi River and split the Confederacy, accompanied by a strong Union blockade of Southern ports. This plan, which would require considerable patience of the Northern public, was derided in newspapers as the Anaconda Plan , but eventually proved to be the outline of the successful prosecution of the war. Relations between the two generals became increasingly strained over the summer and fall. Governor Dennison encouraged and pressured McClellan to conduct offensive operations in Northwestern Virginia, where unionist sentiment

4921-510: The Mormons , he considered rejoining the Army. He also considered service as a filibuster in support of Benito Juárez in Mexico. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, McClellan became active in politics, supporting the presidential campaign of Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the 1860 election . He claimed to have defeated an attempt at vote fraud by Republicans by ordering the delay of

5054-505: The Napoleonic style. He proposed that his army should be expanded to 273,000 men and 600 guns and "crush the rebels in one campaign". He favored a war that would impose little impact on civilian populations and require no emancipation of slaves. McClellan's antipathy to emancipation added to the pressure on him, as he received bitter criticism from Radical Republicans in the government. He viewed slavery as an institution recognized in

5187-679: The National Courts Building was to create tall, flat structures in red brick which would serve as relatively unobtrusive backgrounds to the lighter-colored residential homes like the Cutts–Madison House. The Cutts–Madison House, Cosmos Club building, and Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House were joined, and a courtyard built between them and the National Courts building. The Cutts–Madison House remains part of

5320-640: The National Geographic Society ) to enter and use the building without disturbing members of the Cosmos Club. The total cost of the renovations was $ 15,000. Hornblower & Marshall were the architects of the addition, which was completed in January 1894. In 1903, the Cosmos Club purchased from Henry Reed Rathbone for $ 33,000 No. 25 Madison Place NW, the building immediately to the south of the Cutts–Madison House (against which its three-story assembly hall addition abutted). This property (and

5453-622: The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860. He performed well in both jobs, expanding the Illinois Central toward New Orleans and helping the Ohio and Mississippi recover from the Panic of 1857 . Despite his successes and lucrative salary ($ 10,000 per year), he was frustrated with civilian employment and continued to study classical military strategy assiduously. During the Utah War against

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5586-575: The Pamunkey River (a navigable tributary of the York River ) at White House Landing where the Richmond and York River Railroad extending to Richmond crossed, and commandeered the railroad , transporting steam locomotives and rolling stock to the site by barge. On May 31, as McClellan planned an assault, his army was surprised by a Confederate attack. Johnston saw that the Union army

5719-515: The Piedmont of Virginia . But Montpelier's finances were in poor condition, and Dolley moved out of the Cutts–Madison House in 1839 to live once more at Montpelier and see if she could save the estate. She rented out the Cutts–Madison house, but was unable to stabilize Montpelier. She moved back to the Cutts–Madison House in 1843, and sold Montpelier in 1844. In 1844 or 1845, after her return to

5852-545: The Shenandoah Valley ) convinced McClellan that he was even more outnumbered than he had thought. He reported to Washington that he faced 200,000 Confederates, perhaps due to a false report on the arrival of another Confederate army P.G.T. Beauregard. The number of men McClellan was actually faced varies, with Joseph Harsh in Confederate Tide Rising placing Lee's army at 112,220 men compared with

5985-697: The Tygart Valley all the way to Cheat River & Cheat Mountain . Confederate general Garnett was killed in a rearguard action on Cheat River at Corrick's ford by Morris' force , and thus Confederate presence had been completely ejected from West Virginia, although Confederate troops were still present in Kanawha under the command of Henry A. Wise and John Floyd . McClellan proceeded to bombastically proclaim that secessionist presence in West Virginia has been completely crushed. McClellan organized

6118-601: The Virginia Peninsula to Richmond, an operation that would be known as the Peninsula Campaign . Then, however, McClellan came under extreme criticism in the press and Congress when it was learned that Johnston's forces had not only slipped away unnoticed, but had for months fooled the Union Army with logs painted black to appear as cannons, nicknamed Quaker Guns . Congress's joint committee visited

6251-611: The 105,857 under McClellan. Lee continued his offensive at Gaines's Mill to the east. That night, McClellan decided to withdraw his army to a safer base, well below Richmond, on a portion of the James River that was under control of the Union Navy. In doing so, Lee had assumed that the Union army would withdraw to the east toward its existing supply base and McClellan's move to the south delayed Lee's response for at least 24 hours. Ethan Rafuse notes "McClellan's change of base to

6384-505: The Army of the Potomac were strongly influenced by the overblown enemy strength estimates of his secret service chief, detective Allan Pinkerton , but in August 1861, these estimates were entirely McClellan's own. The result was a level of extreme caution that sapped the initiative of McClellan's army and dismayed the government. Historian and biographer Stephen W. Sears observed that McClellan's actions would have been "essentially sound" for

6517-435: The Army of the Potomac, ostensibly so that McClellan would be free to devote all his attention to the move on Richmond. Lincoln's order was ambiguous as to whether McClellan might be restored following a successful campaign. In fact, the general-in-chief position was left unfilled. Lincoln, Stanton, and a group of officers who formed the "War Board" directed the strategic actions of the Union armies that spring. Although McClellan

6650-566: The Beverely-Fairmont turnpike, retreated in great disorder after hearing of the rebel defeat on Rich Mountain. McClellan in his later report severely criticized Morris for his purported late pursuit of the Confederates after their retreat from there, even though he had extensively instructed Morris earlier to be very cautious and wary in his advance against enemy forces. Rosecrans bitterly complained that his attack on Rich Mountain

6783-487: The Commission adopted the revised Warnecke design proposal. Warnecke's design was based on the architectural theory of contextualism, where modern buildings are harmonized with the urban forms usual to a traditional city. Not only did Warnecke's design build the first modern buildings on Lafayette Square, but they were the first buildings in the city to utilize contextualism as a design philosophy. Warnecke's design for

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6916-413: The Confederate capital, on May 15. Basing artillery on a strategic bluff high above a bend in the river, and sinking boats to create an impassable series of obstacles in the river itself, the Confederates effectively blocked this potential approach to Richmond. McClellan's army moved towards Richmond over the next three weeks, coming to within four miles (6.4 km) of it. He established a supply base on

7049-406: The Confederates had fortified a line across the Peninsula he hesitated to attack and instead “played it safe”. As Swinton notes "It is possible, however—and there is a considerable volume of evidence bearing upon this point—that General McClellan, during all the earlier portion of the month before Yorktown, had it in his mind, even without McDowell's corps, to undertake the decisive turning movement by

7182-403: The Confederates raised many calls for McClellan's dismissal. McClellan further damaged his reputation by his insulting insubordination to his commander-in-chief. He privately referred to Lincoln, whom he had known before the war as a lawyer for the Illinois Central, as "nothing more than a well-meaning baboon", a "gorilla", and "ever unworthy of ... his high position". On November 13, he snubbed

7315-593: The Crimean war was quickly rushed for publication. This placed him in great demand as the Union mobilized its militia and its armies. The governors of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, the three largest states of the Union, actively pursued him to command their states' militia. McClellan expressed desire to command the state militia of his home state of Pennsylvania, but when the dispatch did not arrive to him as early as he expected it, he departed Illinois for Pennsylvania with

7448-482: The Cutts–Madison House was briefly used by the French Claims Commission. Wilkes mortgaged the house in 1855, and the mortgage passed through several hands over the next 15 years until George B. Warren secured it in 1870. Upon Warren's death in 1880, the mortgage was assigned to his daughter, Phebe Warren Tayloe. She died in 1882, and her niece Elizabeth H. Price came to hold the mortgage. Price sold

7581-500: The Cutts–Madison House, arsonists put lit matches into the shutters in the rear of the house, and Dolley Madison had to be wakened and saved from death by a servant. The fire was quickly put out, and the damage to the building was not extensive (Mrs. Madison returned to her bedroom the same night). Dolley Madison lived in the house on Lafayette Square until her death on July 12, 1849. Her only surviving child, John Payne Todd (from her first marriage to Quaker lawyer John Todd), inherited

7714-604: The Cutts–Madison House. General George B. McClellan used the house as his Washington-based headquarters after the First Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War . McClellan first occupied the house on July 26, 1861, and left in late October for new headquarters at a house at the corner of H Street NW and 15th Street NW (where the Sofitel Lafayette Square Hotel now stands). After the Civil War,

7847-669: The Eastern Theater. Making an amphibious clockwise turning movement around the Confederate Army in northern Virginia, McClellan's forces turned west to move up the Virginia Peninsula, between the James River and York River , landing from Chesapeake Bay , with the Confederate capital, Richmond , as their objective. Initially, McClellan was somewhat successful against General Joseph E. Johnston , but

7980-533: The Eastern Theatre that protected the Capital and the North. He reveled in his newly acquired power and influence: I find myself in a new and strange position here—Presdt, Cabinet, Genl Scott & all deferring to me—by some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land. ... I almost think that were I to win some small success now I could become Dictator or anything else that might please me—but nothing of that kind would please me— therefore I won't be Dictator. Admirable self-denial! During

8113-408: The February 1961 issue of its journal to a "Lament for Lafayette Square." The AIA established a committee to develop plans to save the buildings and adapt the new structures so that they incorporated the style and feel of the older homes. The newly elected Kennedy administration indicated on February 16, 1961, that it was anxious to retain the existing historic homes on Lafayette Square. In November,

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8246-416: The Govt. in one way or other." In the fall of 1852, McClellan published a manual on bayonet tactics that he had translated from the original French. He also received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors. In 1853, he participated in the Pacific Railroad surveys , ordered by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis , to select an appropriate route for

8379-420: The Hart family, whose house was on Rich Mountain, behind the Confederate position, a family with unionist sympathies, walked into McClellan's camp and offered to show the Union troops a route through the woods around the Confederate left, this small trail would eventually turn north and link up with the Buckhannon-Beverly pike that cut through Rich Mountain eastwards to the valley, and then to Cheat River. McClellan

8512-436: The James, however, thwarted Lee's attempt to do this. Not only did McClellan's decision allow the Federals to gain control of the time and place for the battles that took place in late June and early July, it enabled them to fight in a way that inflicted terrible beating on the Confederate army....More importantly, by the end of the Seven Days Battles, McClellan had dramatically improved his operational situation." But McClellan

8645-460: The North the only engagements bearing a semblance of victory. He traveled by special train on the main Pennsylvania line from Wheeling through Pittsburgh , Philadelphia , and Baltimore , and on to Washington City , and was greeted by enthusiastic crowds that met his train along the way. Carl Sandburg wrote, "McClellan was the man of the hour, pointed to by events, and chosen by an overwhelming weight of public and private opinion." On July 26,

8778-531: The Peninsula against McClellan's advance with a vastly smaller force. He created a false impression of many troops behind the lines and of even more troops arriving. He accomplished this by marching small groups of men repeatedly past places where they could be observed at a distance or were just out of sight, accompanied by great noise and fanfare. During this time, General Johnston was able to provide Magruder with reinforcements, but even then there were far fewer troops than McClellan believed were opposite him. After

8911-442: The Potomac grew in number from 50,000 in July to 168,000 in November, becoming the largest military force the United States had raised until that time. But this was also a time of tension in the high command, as he continued to quarrel frequently with the government and the general-in-chief, Lt. Gen. Scott, on matters of strategy. McClellan rejected the tenets of Scott's Anaconda Plan , favoring instead an overwhelming grand battle, in

9044-407: The U.S. Senate Park Commission (also known as the " McMillan Commission " because it was chaired by Senator James McMillan [ R - Mich. ]). The Park Commission's charge was to reconcile competing visions for the development of Washington, D.C., and in particular the National Mall and adjacent areas. The Park Commission's proposals, which came to be known as the " McMillan Plan ," proposed that all

9177-404: The Union armies. The president expressed his concern about the "vast labor" involved in the dual role of army commander and general-in-chief, but McClellan responded, "I can do it all." Lincoln, as well as many other leaders and citizens of the northern states, became increasingly impatient with McClellan's slowness to attack the Confederate forces still massed near Washington. The Union defeat at

9310-415: The United States Army from November 1861 to March 1862. He was also an engineer, and was chief engineer and vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad , and later president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860. A West Point graduate, McClellan served with distinction during the Mexican–American War before leaving the United States Army to serve as a railway executive and engineer until

9443-445: The War Department) was outraged that McClellan refused to divulge any details about his strategic planning, or even such basic information as the strengths and dispositions of his units. McClellan claimed he could not trust anyone in the administration to keep his plans secret from the press, and thus the enemy. In the course of a disagreement about defensive forces on the Potomac River, McClellan wrote to his wife on August 10: "Genl Scott

9576-621: The White House underwent renovation in 1902. 748 Jackson Place, at the north end of the block, is called the Decatur House ; it is a prominent surviving design of Benjamin Henry Latrobe . Flanking the White House on the west side is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building , constructed 1871–1888, as the State, War and Navy Department Building, once the world's largest office building. Lafayette Square

9709-468: The abandoned Confederate lines and radical Republicans introduced a resolution demanding the dismissal of McClellan, but it was narrowly defeated by a parliamentary maneuver. The second crisis was the emergence of the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia , which threw Washington into a panic and made naval support operations on the James River seem problematic. On March 11, 1862, Lincoln removed McClellan as general-in-chief, leaving him in command of only

9842-429: The administration who believed he was attempting to implement the policies of the opposition party. The immediate problem with McClellan's war strategy was that he was convinced the Confederates were ready to attack him with overwhelming numbers. On August 8, believing that the Confederacy had over 100,000 troops facing him (in contrast to the 35,000 they had actually deployed at Bull Run a few weeks earlier), he declared

9975-577: The army commander's prerogatives. He called a council of war at the White House in which McClellan's subordinates were asked about their confidence in the Urbanna plan. They expressed their confidence to varying degrees. After the meeting, Lincoln issued another order, naming specific officers as corps commanders to report to McClellan (who had been reluctant to do so prior to assessing his division commanders' effectiveness in combat, even though this would have meant his direct supervision of twelve divisions in

10108-593: The army, I would like to borrow it for a time." On January 12, 1862, McClellan was summoned to the White House, where the Cabinet demanded to hear his war plans. For the first time, he revealed his intentions to transport the Army of the Potomac by ship to Urbanna , Virginia, on the Rappahannock River , outflanking the Confederate forces near Washington, and proceeding 50 miles (80 km) overland to capture Richmond. He refused to give any specific details of

10241-613: The assignment to be an official observer of the European armies in the Crimean War in 1855 as part of the Delafield Commission, led by Richard Delafield . Traveling widely, and interacting with the highest military commands and royal families, McClellan observed the siege of Sevastopol . Upon his return to the United States in 1856, he requested an assignment in Philadelphia to prepare his report, which contained

10374-577: The buildings around Lafayette Square be razed and replaced by tall, Neoclassical buildings clad in white marble for use by executive branch agencies. For a time, it appeared that the Cutts–Madison House would not survive. William Wilson Corcoran 's Corcoran House at 1615 H Street NW was torn down in 1922 and replaced with the Neoclassical United States Chamber of Commerce headquarters. The Hay-Adams Houses were razed in 1927 by real estate developer Harry Wardman , and

10507-563: The citizens there that his forces had no intentions of interfering with personal property—including slaves. "Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly—not only will we abstain from all such interference but we will on the contrary with an iron hand, crush any attempted insurrection on their part." He quickly realized that he had overstepped his bounds and apologized by letter to President Lincoln. The controversy

10640-618: The courts complex, which houses various offices and chambers for the United States Court of Federal Claims and United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit . Since the mid-19th century, witnesses have claimed to have seen the ghost of Dolley Madison rocking in a chair in the space where the porch on the west side of the house used to be, smiling at passersby. Lafayette Square Historic District (Washington, D.C.) The Lafayette Square Historic District

10773-526: The day he reached the capital, McClellan was appointed commander of the Military Division of the Potomac, the main Union force responsible for the defense of Washington. On August 20, several military units in Virginia were consolidated into his department and he immediately formed the Army of the Potomac, with himself as its first commander. This Army became the primary force in the Union army in

10906-477: The demolition of the Cutts–Madison House and other buildings on Lafayette Square began forming shortly after the plan to raze the structures was announced. Senators James E. Murray and Wayne Morse , several members of the House of Representatives , and citizens of the District of Columbia lobbied to defeat the legislation authorizing the demolition of the buildings. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) devoted

11039-452: The emergence of General Robert E. Lee to command the Army of Northern Virginia turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a Union defeat. However, historians note that Lee's victory was in many ways pyrrhic as he failed to destroy the Army of the Potomac and suffered a bloody repulse at Malvern Hill . McClellan and President Abraham Lincoln developed a mutual distrust, and McClellan

11172-461: The field). Two more crises would confront McClellan before he could implement his plans. The Confederate forces under General Joseph E. Johnston withdrew from their positions before Washington, assuming new positions south of the Rappahannock, which completely nullified the Urbanna strategy. McClellan revised his plans to have his troops disembark at Fort Monroe , Virginia , and advance up

11305-513: The intent of commanding its state militia. On his way there, he stopped at Columbus to discuss the military situation in the Ohio valley with Ohio governor William Dennison . Dennison was impressed with McClellan and offered him command of the state militia on the spot, which he accepted. Pennsylvania's governor had in fact already sent a wire to McClellan offering him command of the Pennsylvania state militia, but he did not receive this until

11438-748: The minor Battle of Ball's Bluff near Leesburg in October added to the frustration and indirectly damaged McClellan. In December, the Congress formed a Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War , which became a thorn in the side of many generals throughout the war, accusing them of incompetence and, in some cases, treason. McClellan was called as the first witness on December 23, but he contracted typhoid fever and could not attend. Instead, his subordinate officers testified, and their candid admissions that they had no knowledge of specific strategies for advancing against

11571-593: The mortgage in December 1884 to Edward Tayloe Perry (a minor ). Meanwhile, Charles Wilkes deeded the house over to his wife and three daughters in 1870. Wilkes died in 1877, and in 1886 the Wilkes family sold the house to the Cosmos Club for the sum of $ 40,000 (which sum paid the outstanding mortgage held in trust for Edward Tayloe Perry). The Cosmos Club immediately improved the height of the third floor by raising

11704-482: The mountain. The next day the demoralized Confederate troops retreated from Rich Mountain through trails that took them northwards and then attempted to move eastwards back to Beverly on the Tygart valley. A harrowing pursuit caused several hundred, including Pegram, to surrender next day, and the battle of Rich Mountain ended in a decisive Union victory. Confederate troops 15 km north-west, defending Laurel Mountain on

11837-418: The mountains. This force beset the rebels at Laurel Mountain on July 7. His first personal command in battle was at Rich Mountain , where McClellan was plagued by hesitation and his erroneous idea that he was facing a sizeable Confederate force. McClellan wished to flank the strong Confederate position at Rich Mountain but found no avenue to do so, and ordered his forces into a preliminary siege. A young boy from

11970-573: The near vicinity, which were eventually used for railroads and interstate highways. The governor ordered McClellan to turn over his expedition logbooks, but McClellan steadfastly refused, most likely because of embarrassing personal comments that he had made throughout his adventures. Returning to the East, McClellan began courting his future wife, Ellen Mary Marcy (1836–1915), the daughter of his former commander. Ellen, or Nelly, refused McClellan's first proposal of marriage, one of nine that she received from

12103-486: The next day. McClellan was commissioned a major general of volunteers and took command of the Ohio militia on April 23, 1861. Unlike some of his fellow Union officers who came from abolitionist families, he was opposed to federal interference with slavery. For this reason, some of his Southern colleagues approached him informally about siding with the Confederacy, but he could not accept the concept of secession . On May 3 McClellan re-entered federal service as commander of

12236-462: The north side of the York. In this event, it would not only be in the direction of his plan to make no attack, but it would play into his hands that his opponent should accumulate his forces on the Peninsula. Yet this halting between two opinions had the result that, when he had abandoned the purpose of making the turning movement, it had become too late for him to make a direct attack." McClellan asked for

12369-541: The one to the south of it) were razed in 1909, and a five-story Cosmos Club lodging house built. The Cosmos Club vacated the Cutts–Madison House in 1952 to move to new headquarters in the Townsend Mansion at 2121 Massachusetts Avenue NW, at which time the building was purchased by the U.S. government and used for offices. In 1900, the United States Congress passed a resolution establishing

12502-400: The opinion of his chief engineer John G. Barnard , who recommended against an assault. This caused him to decide on a siege of the city, which required considerable preparation. McClellan continued to believe intelligence reports that credited the Confederates with two or three times the men they actually had. Early in the campaign, Confederate General John B. "Prince John" Magruder defended

12635-478: The orders never reached Rosecrans. Finally, after an exhausting march, Rosecrans took up positions south of the Hart home and launched a vigorous attack up the hill to the Hart farm. Confederate troops, who were under the overall command of general John Pegram , attempted a defense and moved two guns to the road to repulse this attack, which was well east of the main Confederate position on Rich Mountain. Another regiment

12768-471: The original park plan as designed by Andrew Jackson Downing in 1852. They may have been designed by Downing, or his assistant Calvert Vaux . The urns were cast in a New York foundry at the orders of George M. Robeson , who was Secretary of the United States Navy at the time. The urns were originally placed on granite bases in the center of two small flower beds to the east and west sides of

12901-653: The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. Early in the conflict, McClellan was appointed to the rank of major general and played an important role in raising the Army of the Potomac , which served in the Eastern Theater . McClellan organized and led the Union Army in the Peninsula campaign in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862. It was the first large-scale offensive in

13034-467: The plan originally envisioned. This was the first land conflict of the war. McClellan then split his forces up, one column went under the command of general Thomas A. Morris , marched to the Beverly-Fairmont turnpike to attack Confederate troops defending Laurel Mountain, who were under command of Confederate general Robert S. Garnett , and secure the northern road leading to the valley east of

13167-538: The planned transcontinental railroad . McClellan surveyed the western portion of the northern corridor along the 47th and 49th parallels from St. Paul to the Puget Sound . In doing so, he demonstrated a tendency for insubordination toward senior political figures. Isaac Stevens , governor of the Washington Territory , became dissatisfied with McClellan's performance in his scouting of passes across

13300-417: The president, who had come to visit McClellan's house, by making him wait for 30 minutes, only to be told that the general had gone to bed and could not receive him. On January 10, 1862, Lincoln met with top generals (McClellan did not attend) and directed them to formulate a plan of attack, expressing his exasperation with General McClellan with the following remark: "If General McClellan does not want to use

13433-464: The property. Richard Cutts purchased lots 12, 13, 14, and 15 of square 221 from the Davidson heirs on October 3, 1818. The house was constructed in 1818–1819 by Richard Cutts, who built the house for himself and his wife, Anna Payne Cutts (Dolley Payne Madison's sister). The house had two stories, a gabled roof, dormer windows, and chimneys at the north and south ends of the house. The exterior

13566-413: The property. On April 3, 1851, Todd sold the house and property to Charles Wilkes. Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes purchased the house in 1851. Wilkes moved the entrance from Madison Place NW to H Street NW, and turned the porch on the west side of the house (facing Madison Place NW) into a window. The gable roof (which sloped east and west) was eliminated and a flat roof installed, an out-building added in

13699-430: The proposed campaign, even to his friend, newly appointed War Secretary Edwin M. Stanton . On January 27, Lincoln issued an order that required all of his armies to begin offensive operations by February 22, Washington's birthday . On January 31, he issued a supplementary order for the Army of the Potomac to move overland to attack the Confederates at Manassas Junction and Centreville . McClellan immediately replied with

13832-468: The rear, and a bay window added on the south side. Wilkes also cut all windows on the first floor down so that they now reached the floor. During the 1850s and 1860s, the house had a number of notable occupants in addition to the Wilkeses. After being named Special Envoy to Central America, Sir William Gore Ouseley rented the house in 1858 on his way to the region and entertained lavishly while living at

13965-421: The river and Marcy named a small tributary McClellan's Creek . Upon their arrival on July 28, they were astonished to find that they had been given up for dead. A sensational story had reached the press that the expedition had been ambushed by 2,000 Comanches and killed to the last man. McClellan blamed the story on "a set of scoundrels, who seek to keep up agitation on the frontier in order to get employment from

14098-419: The roof, and added a large meeting hall by building a single-story 23'8" (7.21 metre) extension to the south side of the house (with skylight ). The Cosmos Club made further improvements in 1893. Electricity was installed, the heating system upgraded, and general refurbishing of commons areas completed. Two additional stories were built over the assembly hall: The second story consisting of one large room, and

14231-510: The scale to force an improvement in the condition of those poor blacks." He later wrote that had it been his place to arrange the terms of peace, he would have insisted on gradual emancipation, guarding the rights of both slaves and masters, as part of any settlement. But he made no secret of his opposition to the Radical Republicans. He told Ellen, "I will not fight for the abolitionists." This put him in opposition with officials of

14364-443: The southern mind and an understanding of the political and military implications of the sectional differences in the United States that led to the Civil War. He graduated at age 19 in 1846, second in his class of 59 cadets, losing the top position to Charles Seaforth Stewart only because of inferior drawing skills. He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . McClellan's first assignment

14497-447: The state of West Virginia . He had received intelligence reports on May 26 that the critical Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridges in that portion of the state were being burned. He quickly implemented plans to invade the region. Confederate general George A. Porterfield was in charge of defending western Virginia with most of the rebel forces based at Grafton . McClellan triggered his first serious political controversy by proclaiming to

14630-493: The subsequently formed Army of the Potomac had high morale and was extremely proud of their general, some even referring to McClellan as the savior of Washington. He prevented the army's morale from collapsing at least twice, in the aftermath of the First and Second Battles of Bull Run. Many historians argue that he was talented in this aspect. On November 1, 1861, Winfield Scott retired and McClellan became general-in-chief of all

14763-461: The summer and fall, McClellan brought a high degree of organization to his new army, and greatly improved its morale with frequent trips to review and encourage his units. It was a remarkable achievement, in which he came to personify the Army of the Potomac and reaped the adulation of his men. He created defenses for Washington that were almost impregnable, consisting of 48 forts and strong points, with 480 guns manned by 7,200 artillerists. The Army of

14896-426: The thousands of men who were volunteering for service and to set up training camps, he also applied his mind to grand strategy. He wrote a letter to Gen. Scott on April 27, four days after assuming command in Ohio, that presented the first proposal for a strategy for the war. It contained two alternatives, each envisioning a prominent role for himself as commander. The first would use 80,000 men to invade Virginia through

15029-551: The unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 1864 presidential election against the Republican Lincoln. The effectiveness of his campaign was damaged when McClellan repudiated his party's platform, which promised an end to the war and negotiations with the Confederacy. He served as the governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881; in McClellan's later writings, he vigorously defended his Civil War conduct. McClellan

15162-471: Was Pennsylvania Dutch . The couple had five children: Frederica, John, George, Arthur, and Mary. One of McClellan's great-grandfathers was Samuel McClellan of Woodstock, Connecticut , a brigadier general who served during the Revolutionary War . McClellan initially intended to follow his father into the medical profession, and attended a private academy, which was followed by enrollment in

15295-607: Was accepted at the United States Military Academy in 1842 at the age of 15, with the academy waiving its usual minimum age of 16. At West Point, he was an energetic and ambitious cadet, deeply interested in the teachings of Dennis Hart Mahan and the theoretical strategic principles of Antoine-Henri Jomini . His closest friends were aristocratic southerners including George Pickett , Dabney Maury , Cadmus Wilcox , and A. P. Hill . These associations gave McClellan what he considered to be an appreciation of

15428-913: Was also tacitly acknowledging that he would no longer be able to invest Richmond, the object of his campaign; the heavy siege artillery required would be almost impossible to transport without the railroad connections available from his original supply base on the York River. In a telegram to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton , reporting on these events, McClellan blamed the Lincoln administration for his reversals. "If I save this army now, I tell you plainly I owe no thanks to you or to any other persons in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice this army." Fortunately for McClellan, Lincoln never saw that inflammatory statement (at least at that time) because it

15561-490: Was assuaged by supportive comments Lincoln made to him, in time he saw the change of command very differently, describing it as a part of an intrigue "to secure the failure of the approaching campaign". McClellan's army began to sail from Alexandria on March 17. It was an armada that dwarfed all previous American expeditions, transporting 121,500 men, 44 artillery batteries, 1,150 wagons, over 15,000 horses, and tons of equipment and supplies. An English observer remarked that it

15694-489: Was born in Philadelphia on December 3, 1826, the son of a prominent surgeon, George McClellan , the founder of Jefferson Medical College . His father's family was of Scottish and English heritage. His mother was Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz Brinton McClellan (1800–1889), daughter of a leading Pennsylvania family, a woman noted for her "considerable grace and refinement." Her father was of English origin, while her mother

15827-411: Was considered one of the more "pretentious" domiciles in the city at the time. The city gravelled the street in front of the house in 1823. Cutts secured a mortgage to build the house, and on August 22, 1828, the bank holding the mortgage sold it to ex- President James Madison for $ 5,750. When James Madison died in 1836, Dolley Madison held the mortgage. Her husband's death had left Dolley Madison in

15960-495: Was designated as the site for the United States capital in the 1790 Residence Act , with authority given to President George Washington to ready the capital for the government by 1800. Planned by Pierre Charles L'Enfant as part of the pleasure grounds surrounding the Executive Mansion, this square was originally called "President's Park", which is now the name of the larger National Park Service unit under which it

16093-461: Was not destroyed and most of their troops were successfully moved past Williamsburg to Richmond's outer defenses while the battle was waged and for several days thereafter. McClellan had also placed hopes on a simultaneous naval approach to Richmond via the James River . That approach failed following the Union Navy's defeat at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff , about 7 miles (11 km) downstream from

16226-607: Was not reinforced as McClellan had agreed. McClellan was obliged to absorb all credit for the victory at Rich Mountain, and lent no credit to Rosecrans' performance during the battle. These victories propelled McClellan to the status of national hero. The New York Herald entitled an article about him "Gen. McClellan, the Napoleon of the Present War". After the defeat of Confederate forces at Rich Mountain and Laurel Mountain, Union troops sharply pursued them eastwards across

16359-451: Was not that his proclamation was diametrically opposed to the administration's policy at the time, but that he was so bold in stepping beyond his strictly military role. As his forces moved rapidly into West Virginia across the Beverly-Fairmont turnpike towards Grafton , Confederate forces under the command of General Porterfield retreated quickly before McClellan's superior forces towards Philippi , where Porterfield ordered his forces into

16492-475: Was ordered out of Beverly to link up with the Confederate position at Rich Mountain, this regiment had arrived too late and found the Union troops had overrun the road, captured a Confederate cannon and were holding the road between Beverly and the Confederate troops west of their position on Rich Mountain (behind the rebel defensive line on the road). McClellan heard the sounds of battle from his headquarters but being hesitant, unsure and nervous, ordered no attack on

16625-528: Was ordered to Fort Delaware , a masonry work under construction on an island in the Delaware River , forty miles (65 km) downriver from Philadelphia. In March 1852, he was ordered to report to Capt. Randolph B. Marcy at Fort Smith , Arkansas , to serve as second-in-command on an expedition to discover the sources of the Red River . By June the expedition reached the source of the north fork of

16758-469: Was originally grey stucco . The front of the house faced Lafayette Square. The lot on which the house sat was a large one, with extensive space on all sides. Dirt roads bordered the house on the west and north sides, and a large garden with flowers and fruit trees occupied the east and south sides of the house. The garden extended south as far as the Tayloe House on the south end of the block. The home

16891-408: Was pleased and ordered his subordinate, Colonel William S. Rosecrans , to lead a contingent of troops, flank the Confederates and take them by surprise. Due to intense rain, a movement that was originally estimated to take an hour or two at most, took more than 7 hours. After a long time without receiving news from Rosecrans, McClellan grew nervous and dispatched an order to call off this attack, but

17024-403: Was privately derisive of Lincoln. He was removed from command in November, in the aftermath of the 1862 midterm elections . A major contributing factor in this decision was McClellan's failure to pursue Lee's army following the tactically inconclusive but strategic Union victory at the Battle of Antietam outside Sharpsburg, Maryland . He never received another field command and went on to become

17157-438: Was split in half by the rain-swollen Chickahominy River and hoped to defeat it in detail at Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. McClellan was unable to command the army personally because of a recurrence of malarial fever, but his subordinates were able to repel the attacks. Nevertheless, McClellan received criticism from Washington for not counterattacking, which some believed could have opened the city of Richmond to capture. Johnston

17290-408: Was strong and West Virginians were clamoring for secession from east Virginia. Dennison's office was barraged by many letters from northwestern Virginians requesting military occupation of Northwestern Virginia to protect from potential reprisals from secessionists. McClellan's first military operations were to occupy the area of western Virginia that wanted to remain in the Union and subsequently became

17423-404: Was the "stride of a giant". The army's advance from Fort Monroe up the Virginia Peninsula proved to be slow. McClellan's plan for a rapid seizure of Yorktown was foiled by the removal of 1st Corps from the Army of the Potomac for the defense of Washington. McClellan had hoped to use the 1st Corps to capture Glouchester Point and thus outflank the Confederate position. When he discovered that

17556-585: Was with a company of engineers formed at West Point, but he quickly received orders to sail for the Mexican War. He arrived near the mouth of the Rio Grande in October 1846, well prepared for action with a double-barreled shotgun, two pistols, a saber, a dress sword, and a Bowie knife . He complained that he had arrived too late to take any part in the American victory at Monterrey in September. During

17689-409: Was wounded in the battle, and General Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia . McClellan spent the next three weeks repositioning his troops and waiting for promised reinforcements. As Lee recounted, McClellan was attempting to make "this a battle of posts" which would lock the Confederate army in an attritional battle with superior Union firepower. At the end of June, Lee began

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