Too Useful to Sacrifice: Reconsidering George B. McClellan’s Generalship in the Maryland Campaign from South Mountain to Antietam
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Although typecast as the slow and overly cautious general who allowed Lee’s battered army to escape, in fact, argues Stotelmyer, General McClellan deserves significant credit for defeating and turning back the South’s most able general. He does so through five comprehensive chapters, each dedicated to a specific major issue of the campaign:
Fallacies Regarding the Lost Orders
All the Injury Possible: The Day between South Mountain and Antietam
Antietam: The Sequel to South Mountain
General John Pope at Antietam and the Politics behind the Myth of the Unused Reserves
Supplies and Demands: The Demise of General George B. McClellan
Was McClellan’s response to the discovery of Lee’s Lost Orders really as slow and inept as we have been led to believe? Although routinely dismissed as a small prelude to the main event at Antietam, was the fighting on South Mountain the real Confederate high tide in Maryland? Is the criticism leveled against McClellan for not rapidly pursuing Lee’s army after the victory on South Mountain warranted? Did McClellan fail to make good use of his reserves in the bloody fighting on September 17? Finally, what is the real story behind McClellan’s apparent “failure” to pursue the defeated Confederate army after Antietam, which triggered President Lincoln’s frustration with him and resulted in his removal?
Utilizing extensive primary documents and with a keen appreciation for the infrastructure of the nineteenth century Maryland terrain, Stotelmyer deeply explores these long-held beliefs, revealing that often the influence of political considerations dictated military decision-making, and the deliberate actions of the Lincoln Administration behind McClellan’s back resulted in bringing about many of the general’s supposed shortcomings. As readers will soon discover, Lincoln did not need to continue searching for a capable commander; he already had one.
Steven R. Stotelmyer
Steven R. Stotelmyer is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland. As a child he visited Antietam National Battlefield during many family picnics to that area. After a stint in the U.S. Navy he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Frostburg State College and a Master of Arts from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. He has worked as a teacher, surveyor, and civil engineer. Always interested in local history, especially South Mountain and Antietam, Mr. Stotelmyer was a founding member of the Central Maryland Heritage League in 1989. The league gained a modest amount of success in preserving some of the lands of the South Mountain Battlefield. From 1989 through 1994 Mr. Stotelmyer volunteered at the Antietam National Battlefield. In 1992 he published The Bivouacs of the Dead: The Story of Those Who Died at Antietam and South Mountain (Toomey Press, Baltimore, Maryland). From 2000 through 2005 Mr. Stotelmyer served as a part-time volunteer and historical consultant for the South Mountain State Battlefield. Steven currently enjoys being a National Park Service Certified Antietam and South Mountain Tour Guide.
Related to Too Useful to Sacrifice
Related ebooks
Fort Harrison and the Battle of Chaffin's Farm: To Surprise and Capture Richmond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory, September 14, 1862 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of First Deep Bottom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Rode with Jeb Stuart: The Life and Campaigns of Major General J.E.B. Stuart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, and the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tale Untwisted: General George B. McClellan, the Maryland Campaign, and the Discovery of Lee’s Lost Orders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPatrick R. Cleburne And The Tactical Employment Of His Division At The Battle Of Chickamauga Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrant's Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, May 5–June 7, 1864 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faces of Union Soldiers at Antietam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder the Crescent Moon with the XI Corps in the Civil War: Volume 2 - From Gettysburg to Victory, 1863-1865 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"Lee is Trapped, and Must be Taken": Eleven Fateful Days after Gettysburg, July 4–14, 1863 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmy of the Potomac: McClellan's First Campaign, March 1862–May 1862 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume III - Shepherdstown Ford and the End of the Campaign Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Antietam Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Carnage was Fearful: The Battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heart of Hell: The Soldiers' Struggle for Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Petersburg to Appomattox: The End of the War in Virginia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStorming Vicksburg: Grant, Pemberton, and the Battles of May 19-22, 1863 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fredericksburg Campaign Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5War, Memory, and the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Little Short of Boats: The Battles of Ball's Bluff & Edwards Ferry, October 21–22, 1861 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRecollections of War Times: By An Old Veteran while under Stonewall Jackson and Lieutenant General James Longstreet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt the Forefront of Lee's Invasion: Retribution, Plunder, and Clashing Cultures on Richard S. Ewell’s Road to Gettysburg Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConfederate Courage on Other Fields: Overlooked Episodes of Leadership, Cruelty, Character, and Kindness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Modern History For You
Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Little Red Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil's Notebook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All But My Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Palestine-Israeli Conflict: A Beginner's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProfiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voices from Chernobyl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Titanic Chronicles: A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Every Person Should Know About War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Night to Remember: The Sinking of the Titanic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the American People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Too Useful to Sacrifice
0 ratings0 reviews