Was McCellan a Coward or....

[frogsofwar]

A great organizer , acceptable strategist , poor tactician and a coward
he should have been a quartermaster of the army , as a commander he flinched at imaginary risks

I agree with all of this, except the "coward" part. He would have made a great "Chief of the General Staff" if he were responsble for logistics and strategy (at a high enough level he wasn't making tactical decisions). The Peninsula War "plan" was correct: if McClellan attacked when he had vast numerical superiority (instead of basically being a cuck while Lee screwed his wife), he'd be remembered as at least as good as Ney.

However, as a soldier who has seen war, I am loathe to call any man a coward. IMO, no man who never put on an American uniform should really be questioning the valor of those who did, except in the most egregious circumstances. I did my job, and did it well, but I can understand that some guys just aren't the people they thought they could be. Such people need to be sent to staff positions away from action, and nobody who hasn't seen combat should really be judging the valor of anyone who did.

 

[sparky]

He was a coward , couldn't face the fact of war ,
his performance as a commander was timid to the point of treason
Niobe hit it on the nail
the only excuse one can give him is that he was more interested in his political career than in fighting for the Union
he didn't care to make an army for the Union but to have a praetorian guard faithful to himself
this can be seen in his presidential campaign of 1864 , he was a copperhead , a coward and a traitor

 

[duncanness]

I agree with all of this, except the "coward" part. He would have made a great "Chief of the General Staff" if he were responsble for logistics and strategy (at a high enough level he wasn't making tactical decisions). The Peninsula War "plan" was correct: if McClellan attacked when he had vast numerical superiority (instead of basically being a cuck while Lee screwed his wife), he'd be remembered as at least as good as Ney.

Have you a source for this charge? Perhaps you have your southern officers mixed? I believe it was AP Hill who courted Nellie Marcy.

 

[duncanness]

He was a coward , couldn't face the fact of war ,
his performance as a commander was timid to the point of treason
Niobe hit it on the nail
the only excuse one can give him is that he was more interested in his political career than in fighting for the Union
he didn't care to make an army for the Union but to have a praetorian guard faithful to himself
this can be seen in his presidential campaign of 1864 , he was a copperhead , a coward and a traitor

Sorry, but I really disagree. He had fought with distinction in the Mexican-American War and his 1861 reorganization of the Union Army is well regarded. His failure against Johnson was possibly because of poor intelligence: Johnson was able to trick him into believing that he (Johnson) had superior numbers. McClellan may not have been the right person for the job but he was no coward. Overly cautious, yes--but cowardly or even traitorous? Absolutely not.

 

[Troy wienerdog]

Not till the end of the war... they could have started there and couldn’t have a more credible person propose it..
Winfield Scott.


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The blockade was put in place immediately. New Orleans fell in April 1862. The union gained full control of the Mississippii after the siege of Vicksburg in July 1863.

 

[Chlodio]

the only excuse one can give him is that he was more interested in his political career than in fighting for the Union ...
this can be seen in his presidential campaign of 1864 ,...

Had McClellan shown any interest in a political career prior to being fired in 1862? I'm not aware of any evidence of such. I had always assumed his motivation to run for president was to avenge himself on Lincoln for firing him. By 1864 Lincoln had clearly established himself as a hard war president. McClellan had always believed in a soft war. As president McClellan would have tried to prove that he had been right all along - that a soft war was better.

 

[Pruitt]

The Union gained control over the Mississippi when Port Hudson fell, after Vicksburg fell.

Pruitt

 

[Niobe]

The Peninsula War "plan" was correct: if McClellan attacked when he had vast numerical superiority (instead of basically being a cuck while Lee screwed his wife), he'd be remembered as at least as good as Ney.

Whaaaaaaaaaa.....??t??? Whose wife?

We need more details.

This is just too juicy to true... but one can hope.

 

[duncanness]

Whaaaaaaaaaa.....??t??? Whose wife?

We need more details.

This is just too juicy to true... but one can hope.

Lee was a great flirt but I've never read that he was a womanizer; Mrs. Lee used to scribble post scripts on his letters to other women so obviously she didn't take his gallantries seriously. I think that there is a mix-up of amorous officers: both AP Hill and George McClellan courted the daughter of Randolph Marcy and McClellan won but I've never across anything negative about Nellie Marcy McClellan.

 

[Edric Streona]

Coward is too strong a term. He had drilled his army into a very fine machine, I think he was wary of damaging it/wrecking it.
Which is not the same as personal cowardice.