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4. “A Strong Democrat of the Stephen A. Douglas School”
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67 chapter four “A Strong Democrat of the Stephen A. Douglas School” The first months of 1857 suggested a bright future lay ahead for the Union. Federal troops had restored a semblance of peace to Kansas and there was hope that the incoming president, James Buchanan, who had run as the candidate of sectional conciliation, would bring the territory into the Union without further strife. Although the strength of the Republican Party remained a source of concern for those who wished the sectional con¶ict would go away, with peace in Kansas the party appeared to have lost its greatest propaganda weapon. Some even ventured to hope that Frémont’s defeat marked the beginning of their end, which would help blunt the appeal of secession in the South. After all, the past decade had seen the Liberty, Free-Soil, Whig, and Know-Nothing Parties disappear from the scene—who was to say the Republicans would not follow them into the ash bin of history?1 The months between the 1856 elections and Buchanan’s inauguration in March 1857 also marked a turning point in George B. McClellan’s life. On November 26, 1856, he tendered his resignation from the army to the War Department , “with the request that it may take effect 15th Jany 1857.” It was accepted on January 17, 1857, to take effect the previous day.2 McClellan’s reasons for leaving the Army are not dif¤cult to discern. Although in comparison with most junior of¤cers McClellan had so far enjoyed an intellectually stimulating career and relatively rapid promotion, with the departure of his patron Jefferson Davis from the War Department, his future prospects were not particularly promising. Upon completion of his Crimea report, his next assignment would be with his regiment, which was helping keep the 68 mcclellan’s war peace in Kansas. Service with the 1st Cavalry, his friend Joseph E. Johnston and others informed him, was neither rewarding nor pleasant. “Soldiers,” Johnston advised McClellan, “were never on more disgusting service. You need feel no regrets on account of your absence. . . . Stay in Washington as long as you have useful & respectable occupation. . . . [A]fter seeing the regiment you’ll attempt to negotiate a transfer immediately.”3 A man of McClellan’s accomplishments and connections was well situated for the transition to civilian life. Although he urged McClellan to reconsider leaving the army, upon hearing he was contemplating resigning his commission , W. Raymond Lee pledged his “best endeavor for you among the cotton spin.” There is no indication that anything came of Lee’s efforts, but McClellan did receive an offer from A. H. Bowman to serve on a project to expand the Treasury building in Washington. His most valuable benefactor, however, proved to be Gustavus W. Smith, who had left the army after the Mexican War to pursue employment as a civil engineer. Through Smith’s efforts and those of New York¤nancier Samuel L. M. Barlow, McClellan was placed in contact with William H. Osborn, president of the Illinois Central Railroad. Illinois Central Director Abram S. Hewitt threw his support behind McClellan as well. “He is an A1 man,” Hewitt advised his colleagues. “He is a gentleman of lengthened education , and for mental and physical endurance has no rival in the army. He is . . . in my judgment the best man to be secured in the country.” In November 1856, Osborn offered McClellan a three-year contract as chief engineer of the Illinois Central at double his army pay, which was accepted.4 The Illinois Central was a private company and in offering McClellan the post of chief engineer Osborn ¤rmly instructed him not to get involved in local politics. However, the road was inextricably connected with the world of Illinois politics. The Illinois Central owed its existence to the efforts of Stephen A. Douglas, who pushed the land grant railroad bill of 1850 through Congress, the¤rst such legislation in the nation’s history, with the assistance of Daniel Webster . Construction began on the Illinois Central on December 23, 1851, and upon its completion in September 1856 it was the longest railroad in the world and already one of the most politically and economically powerful institutions in the Old Northwest.5 Although maintaining the Illinois Central’s over seven hundred miles of track was no mean feat and he regretted the loss of companionship with his old army comrades, McClellan was at ¤rst quite happy with his new station. He welcomed the...