George Brinton "Little Mac" McClellan (3 December 1826 – 29 October 1885) was the Governor of New Jersey from 15 January 1878 to 18 January 1881, succeeding Joseph D. Bedle and preceding George C. Ludlow. McClellan was a prominent American Civil War general, known for his excessive caution and indecisiveness, before becoming a US Democratic Party politician and the Governor of New Jersey during the 1870s.
Biography[]
McClellan in battle
George Brinton McClellan was born on 3 December 1826 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he graduated from West Point in 1846. McClellan served in the US Army during the Mexican-American War, and he retired from the army to ecome a railroad worker between the war with Mexico and the American Civil War. Early in the war, he reached the rank of Major-General, serving as General-in-Chief of the Union Army from November 1861 to March 1862 and commander of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan was known for being an overly-cautious general, often failing to adapt to surprise enemy movements and overestimating the size of the opposing forces. In July 1862, his Peninsula Campaign in Virginia had some successes before Robert E. Lee took command of the Confederate States Army and defeated McClellan during the Seven Days Battles. In November 1862, he was removed from command by President Abraham Lincoln himself after refusing to pursue Lee's army after the Battle of Antietam, losing an opportunity to bring the war to an early end.
Political career[]
McClellan never held another command after Antietam, and he ran for President of the United States as the US Democratic Party's nominee in 1864. He succeeded in winning only New Jersey and Kentucky, and his pro-war stance alienated him from the anti-war elements of the Democratic Party. After the war, McClellan was deemed incompetent for becoming the Superintendent of Public Works in the New York Senate, and McClellan and his family often spent several years in Europe. In 1877, the Democrats surprised him by nominating him to be their gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, and McClellan won the election. In 1884, he supported Grover Cleveland during the presidential election, but his political rivals in New Jersey prevented McClellan from serving as Secretary of War during the Cleveland administration. McClellan died of a heart attack in 1885.
Gallery[]
