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106-735: When George B. McClellan was on the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey in 1853, he logged information in his journals about his visit to the Yacolt area, including the East Fork Lewis River. McClellan observed a few Klickitat families camped at a waterfall on the Yahkohtl River (a Klickitat name for the East Fork). He described them as "plateau-style Indians" that rode horses and were armed with

212-635: 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

318-404: 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

424-516: 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

530-614: 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

636-576: 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

742-597: 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

848-404: 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

954-407: 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

1060-531: 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

1166-506: 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

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1272-494: 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

1378-498: A shotgun. He observed these people catching trout from the river. McClellan also noted several waterfalls along the river, which he suggested may be suitable for power generation. Unlike many "Lewis" names in the region that reference Meriwether Lewis , the Lewis River was named by an unrelated Adolphus Lewis, a former Hudson's Bay employee who was an early settler in the area. Mills were constructed at multiple points along

1484-481: 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

1590-569: 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 ,

1696-580: 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

1802-454: 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

1908-518: 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,

2014-473: 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

2120-529: 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

2226-624: 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

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2332-576: 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

2438-550: 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

2544-866: 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

2650-510: 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

2756-505: 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

2862-622: 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

2968-575: 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

3074-545: 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

3180-697: 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

3286-808: The United States Army to serve as a railway executive and engineer until 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

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3392-601: 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

3498-611: 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

3604-534: The 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of 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

3710-505: 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

3816-435: 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

3922-566: 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

4028-413: 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

4134-406: 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

4240-403: 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

4346-593: 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

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4452-752: The East Fork after the Yacolt Burn of 1902. They served to salvage partially-burned timber and were dismantled once that task was complete. Two waterfalls on the river, Moulton Falls and Lucia Falls bear the surnames of the owners of mills that were once powered by them. The East Fork Lewis River begins on the west slope of Green Lookout Mountain, in the southwest corner of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Skamania County . From there it flows primarily westward, with

4558-705: 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

4664-592: 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

4770-540: 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

4876-544: 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

4982-521: 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,

5088-531: 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

5194-493: 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

5300-404: 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

5406-572: 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

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5512-527: 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

5618-429: 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

5724-637: 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

5830-593: 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

5936-613: 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

6042-563: 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

6148-526: 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

6254-402: 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

6360-509: The falls. Many varieties of trout and salmon live and spawn in the East Fork, including Chinook , coho , chum , and steelhead . In 2014, the East Fork was designated as a wild steelhead gene bank by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife . George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as

6466-461: 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

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6572-452: 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

6678-582: The majority of its basin lying in Clark County . Its first notable feature is Sunset Falls, followed by its convergence with Yacolt Creek at Moulton Falls Regional Park, south of Yacolt . The river then spills over Moulton Falls and Lucia Falls, before flowing north of Battle Ground through Lewisville Park , Clark County's oldest county park. From there, the river continues westward, through Daybreak Park, after which it joins Brazee Creek, just before passing through La Center . Shortly after flowing past

6784-588: 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

6890-429: 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

6996-418: 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

7102-522: 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

7208-486: 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

7314-411: 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

7420-400: 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

7526-427: 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

7632-467: 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

7738-538: 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

7844-431: The presence of these brittle materials combined with its steep gradient, it experiences high levels of erosion, contributing to the sediment deposits downstream. Sunset Falls was a historic natural barrier for anadromous fish migration. The falls were notched in 1982, reducing their height from 13.5 ft (4.1 m) to 8 ft (2.4 m). This change allowed 12% of the current steelhead run to spawn upstream from

7950-417: 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

8056-430: 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

8162-421: 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

8268-510: 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

8374-443: 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

8480-447: 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

8586-493: 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

8692-461: 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

8798-426: 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

8904-491: The title was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army . In 1783, the title was simplified to Senior Officer of the United States Army . In 1821, the title was changed to Commanding General of the United States Army. The office was often referred to by various other titles, such as "Major General Commanding the Army" or "General-in-Chief". From 1789 until its abolition in 1903, the position of commanding general

9010-501: The town, the East Fork curves around Paradise Point just before it merges with the main fork of the Lewis River . The East Fork's headwaters flow through steep, narrow, rocky valleys, forming a canyon in some places. Copper Creek and Upper Rock Creek are its largest primary tributaries. Elevation at the source is approximately 4,442 ft (1,354 m). The East Fork's basin is approximately 150,635 acres. The rocky upper basin

9116-551: 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

9222-471: 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

9328-607: 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

9434-913: 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

9540-490: 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

9646-489: 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

9752-800: Was censored by the War Department telegrapher. Commanding General of the United States Army The Commanding General of the United States Army was the title given to the service chief and highest-ranking officer of the United States Army (and its predecessor the Continental Army ), prior to the establishment of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1903. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783),

9858-432: Was formed by erosion as well as volcanic and glacial processes, while the lower reaches of the basin have been formed primarily through erosion as the river flows through alluvial flatlands. The lower basin has a much lower gradient than the upper, and shifting sediment deposits cause frequent meandering and braiding . The upper basin has a large amount of hardened volcanic ash, pumice , and other pyroclastic material. With

9964-461: 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

10070-607: 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

10176-451: 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

10282-475: 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

10388-528: 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

10494-408: 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

10600-403: 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

10706-438: 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

10812-408: 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

10918-404: 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

11024-649: Was the first large-scale offensive in 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

11130-640: 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

11236-409: 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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