General McClellan AP US History
"The removal of General McClellan represents a lost for the army of the Potomac and a victory for the interfering politicians in Washington."General McClellan is an officer whom proved to be better at organization and training than at fighting. His removal left the army of the Potomac without a brilliant strategist and organizer, but a victory to the interfering politicians in Washington because of his failure in following executive orders. His failure to follow Lincoln's orders on the Virginia front cost him Richmond during his unsuccessful peninsular campaign. His failure to act and attack allowed Lee to escape in the Battle of Antietam. President Abraham Lincoln believed that the Union troops should move directly against the Confederates at Manassas, Virginia, but McClellan disagreed and advanced on Richmond from the east. Lincoln agreed with McClellan that an attempt should be made to capture Richmond. Lincoln favored an overland invasion route. McClellan, however, insisted on moving the Army of the Potomac by a roundabout
The campaign was a failure, however, and the Union army was forced to abandon the attempt to take Richmond. Habitually overestimating the size of enemy forces, he called repeatedly for reinforcements and ignored Lincoln's directions to advance. water route, sailing his troops to the York peninsula and advancing on Richmond from the east. Lincoln's administration held McClellan at fault for not having taken Richmond. He was slow, to follow Lee across the Potomac. Lincoln's secretary of war Edwin Stanton was soon fed up with him. " He did not want to fail and he insisted on having everything in order before he attacked. You can say he was a disobedient general that didn't follow what his superiors ordered and did it his own way, what he lacked in following orders he made up for it in the way he strategize and organized. There was just one problem with him: He didn't like to fight. He arrived too late to be of assistance, however, and after the defeat of the Union army in the Second Battle of Bull Run, he was again placed in active command of the Army of the Potomac. He created the Army of the Potomac, the Union's mighty fighting force. He kept hesitating, and making excuses. But McClellan moved slowly, failed to attack simultaneously, and allowed Lee's army to retreat safely across the Potomac. On September 17, 1862, McClellan turned Lee back from Sharpsburg, Maryland.
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