General George B. McClellan
Excerpt from "History of the
Oranges" by David Lawrence Pierson , Volume 4 (1922)
George Brinton McClellan was born December 3, 1826, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Dr. George and Elizabeth
(Brinton) McClellan. He was a student in the University of
Pennsylvania, in the class of 1844, when at the close of his
sophomere year he was appointed to the United States Military
Academy at West Point. Owing to the war with Mexico, his class
was graduated earlier than was customary, in July, 1846, he next
to the head man, and almost immediately went to the field with
the rank of brevet second lieutenant in the Engineer Corps. From
the first he gave evidence of those brilliant qualities which so
distinguished him when he came to higher place, and which brought
him lasting fame.
His first assignment in the field was in the opening of the
road from Matamoras to Tampico, an arduous task, and which he
most successfully accomplished. His engineering abilities were
again brought into effective service during the siege of Vera
Cruz, and again in the construction of batteries against
Chapultepec. He was also actively engaged in field operations, in
the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras Molino del Rey and
Cherubusco, and finally in the assault and capture of the City of
Mexico, winning promotion to second lieutenant, and first
lieutenant and captain brevets.
The war over, he was assigned to duty at the West Point
Military Academy, where he continued from 1848 to 1851, in
command of a troop during the latter part of that time, and from
which he was relieved to enter upon engineering duties of the
first importance. He was assistant engineer in building Fort
Delaware, 1851-52; engineer of the Red River (Texas) exploring
expedition, 1852, and the same year chief engineer of the
Department of Texas, and in charge of surveys on the coasts in
that region, 1852-53. In 1853-54 he was engineer officer in the
exploration and survey of the western division of the projected
Northern Pacific railroad through the Cascade Mountains, and in
the collection of railroad statistics for the War Department.
Now with the rank of captain of cavalry, he was sent abroad
as a member of a military commission to observe operations in the
Crimean War, in 1855-56, a mission which was attended with large
results. His official report, in which he was associated with
Major Mordacai, of the Ordnance Department, was published by the
War Department under authority of Congress, a voluminous work
which was of immense value throughout the country when the Civil
War opened. His observations on the European battle ground had
reached practically every department of military preparation and
action, and from his official report the organizers of the armies
for the maintenance of the Union derived their principal aid as
to equipment of all branches of the military service. Two items
of his introduction yet bear his name, the McClellan saddle, and
the fatigue cap for the troops, both adapted from French army
models.
On returning home after the close of the European war.
Captain McClellan resigned his commission, to become chief
engineer of the Illinois Central railroad, which position he held
for two years ending in 1858, when he became vice-president of
the St. Louis and Cincinnati railroad.
On the breaking out of the Civil War in April, 1861, he
relinquished his railroad position to accept the commission of
major-general of Ohio troops then forming. Mustered into the
service of the United States, he commanded its forces in West
Virginia, and won several victories, and for which he received
the thanks of Congress and was commissioned major-general in the
regular army. Given command of the Department of the Potomac, he
accomplished his wonderful work of organization of the army which
became famous under that name. Of commanding appearance and
personal magnetism, he won the affection of his men in unusual
degree, and they followed him with enthusiasm and unbounded
confidence through the opening and subsequent campaigns in
Virginia. A narration of those great events is unsuited to the
scope and space of this work. Suffice it to say, that on account
of disagreement with the national administration, he was relieved
of his command in 1863, and saw no further active service.
However, his fame is inseparable from that of the great army
which he organized, and which he imbued with his own spirit.
In the winter following his retirement, on a visit to Boston,
he was presented with a fine sword by the people of that city. In
June, 1864, he delivered the oration at the dedication of the
Soldiers' Monument at West Point. In the same year he was
nominated for President by the National Democratic Convention,
but in the Electoral College received only the votes of New
Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky, all others being cast for Abraham
Lincoln.
He resigned from the army the same year, and with his family
made a visit to Europe. On his return he was offered the
presidency of the University of California and also of the Union
(New York) College, both of which he declined. He did not remain
inactive, however. From 1868 to 1871 he had the supervision of
the building of the Stevens battery, under the terms of the will
of Edwin A. Stevens, its inventor; in 1870-72 was
engineer-in-chief of the New York Department of Docks; planned
the bridge over the Hudson river at Poughkeepsie; in 1877 was
president of the New York Underground Railway, of the United
States Rolling Stock Company, and of the Atlantic and Western
Railroad Company. In 1877 Governor Robinson, of New York,
nominated him for State Superintendent of Public Works, but the
Senate failed to confirm.
In 1877 General McClellan received the unanimous nomination
of the Democratic State Convention of New Jersey for the
governorship, was elected, and during his term introduced various
important public improvements, among them reforms in the State
military establishment, the preservation of the non-partisan
character of the judiciary, the establishment of schools for
industrial education, reforms in the prison-labor system, and
materially aided in promoting the efficiency of the public
schools and other State institutions.
From 1881 to 1885 he was a member of the board of managers of
the National Home for Disabled Soldiers. His last public
appearance was as orator at the dedication of the Antietam
battlefield in 1885. He left as enduring testimonials to his
abilities and efficiency various important technical works;
"Manual of Bayonet Exercises" (1852), translated from
the French, and adopted for use in the United States army ;
"Government Reports of Pacific Railway Surveys" (1854)
; "Operations in the Crimea, and Organization, Instruction
and Equipment of European Armies" (1857) ; "Reports on
Organization of the Army of the Potomac and Its Campaigns in
Virginia and Maryland" (1864) ; besides articles in leading
magazines and in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil
War."
General McClellan came to Orange just as the armies of
Northern Virginia and of the Potomac were concentrating about
Gettysburg, in the high water mark of the Civil War. It was in
the latter part of June, when the General, relieved of his
command in the Union army, decided to make his home on the
Mountain Ridge, where a select company of literary and other
professional people were living. An incident connected with his
long residence of twenty-two years on the mountain occurred
during the political campaign of 1884, when Grover Cleveland was
elected President on the Democratic ticket. The General, who had
been a candidate for the presidency in the campaign of 1864,
twenty years earlier, though in residence but one year, was very
popular. When the news of Cleveland's election reached him, a
reception was immediately decided upon and forthwith he invited
the McClellan Light Guards, a political organization of Orange,
which paraded about the county during the pre-election days, to
be his guests on the Saturday evening following election. The
General expected, it has always been understood, the portfolio of
Secretary of War, and he was so happy over the thought of being
once more in the Washington official set that no limit was placed
upon the refreshments and good cheer of the evening. The county
of Essex was well represented in the cheering, enthusiastic
throngs which greeted the next Secretary of War on that November
night in 1884. But instead, the post of Ambassador to Russia was
offered the General, which was declined.
Before another election day appeared, the General had passed
on, following General Grant by only a few months. The latter died
in July, and McClellan died on October 29, 1885. While serving as
Governor of New Jersey, the General, from 1877 to 1880, made his
home in Trenton, particularly when the Legislature was in
session. The author of this work recalls the General as a very
kind-hearted man who always had a pleasant word for the timid
messengrer boy in his teens who hiked up the mountain with the
yellow sheets for the distinguished soldier, who never opened his
house without first displaying the flag of Stars and Stripes. He
was considerate of others' feelings, and a gentleman in every
sense of the word. When he passed on to the fathers, the remains
were taken without any military escort to Riverside Cemetery,
Trenton, where the burial was made. The name of General McClellan
is remembered in bronze in the St. Cloud Presbyterian Church, in
which he was one of the first elders.
General McClellan married Marj- Ellen, daughter of General
Randolph Barnes Marcy. Their son, George Brinton McClellan, was a
well known publicist and author.