Abraham Lincoln: The Observations of John G. Nicolay and John Hay

9. Removal of McClellan from Command: November 1862

106  removal of mcclellan from command: november 1862 !fter the battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, McClellan, fearing that he would be attacked and that his army was too disorganized to move, dawdled in his usual fashion, allowing Lee to escape across the Potomac from Maryland to Virginia. When Little Mac boasted that he had achieved a great victory by driving the Confederates from Union soil, the “hearts of 10 million people sank within them,” according to Lincoln.1 No one’s heart sank deeper than the president’s. In early October , over the objections of most cabinet members, he visited the Army of the Potomac hoping to goad the general into action.2 In addition, Lincoln said he wanted “to satisfy himself personally without the intervention of anybody, of the purposes intentions and fidelity of McClellan, his officers, and the army.”3 Thomas J. Barnett, a Washington insider, reported that the administration had “a dread of the army” and feared “revolution in the North.”4 This anxiety was not irrational. The adjutant general of the Army of the Potomac, Thomas M. Key, stated that “the ‘traitor’ element near McClellan had constantly grown bolder” and “they daily talked of overthrowing the Government and making McClellan dictator.” Key reported that after the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was announced, “this element felt that McClellan would not long remain in command: that then was the time to 107 removal of mcclellan from command move or never—that an appeal could be made to the army setting forth that this proclamation was a usurpation, the conversion of the war for the Union into a John Brown Abolition raid and thus was a subversion of the Constitution absolving the army from its allegiance: that a movement should be made upon Washington to restore the Constitution.”5 During his three-day stay with the army, Lincoln spoke often with McClellan, who acknowledged that the president “was very kind personally —told me he was convinced I was the best general in the country etc etc. He was very affable & I really think he does feel very kindly towards me personally.”6 Though pleasant in manner, Lincoln was stern in substance, asking tough questions and offering blunt criticism. He was puzzled to see most of the new recruits in Frederick, twenty miles from the veteran army units at Sharpsburg. “Why was this? Why were not green troops and veterans mixed together?” he asked Little Mac. “We have not tent equipage and cannot well move up the new levies !” came the reply. “Why are the troops any worse off at Sharpsburg without tents than at Frederick without tents?” the president asked. No satisfactory answer was offered.7 Frankly Lincoln warned the general “that he w[oul]d be a ruined man if he did not move forward, move rapidly & effectively.”8 According to the New York journalist George Wilkes, Lincoln also said to McClellan , “I wish to call your attention to a fault in your character—a fault which is the sum of my observations of you, in connection with this war. You merely get yourself ready to do a good thing—no man can do that better—you make all the necessary sacrifices of blood and time, and treasure, to secure a victory, but whether from timidity, self-distrust, or some other motive inexplicable to me, you always stop short just on this side of results.”9 He instructed McClellan to launch an advance within two weeks.10 Unmoved by Lincoln’s criticism, the general wrote his wife about the presidential entourage, “These people don’t know what an army requires & therefore act stupidly.”11 108 removal of mcclellan from command If the Young Napoleon was disgusted with Lincoln, the feeling was mutual. One evening, the president asked Ozias M. Hatch as they stood on a hill surveying the vast encampment, “Hatch, what do you suppose all these people are?” “Why, I suppose it to be a part of the grand army.” Lincoln, “in a tone of patient but melancholy sarcasm,” corrected him: “No, you are mistaken.” “What are they then?” “That is General McClellan’s body guard.”12 Though Lincoln “expressed himself eminently satisfied with the discipline and appearance of the troops,” he was dismayed to learn they numbered only 93,000, though 180,000 were on the muster rolls.13 He cited similar figures to Admiral Samuel F. P. Du Pont as...