Betrayal: General George McClellan, The Peninsula Campaign and The Death of General Philip Kearny
()
About this ebook
Abraham Lincoln recognized that the US Civil War would be a "hard war". Secession and slavery represented abiding beliefs central to Southern life. Overcoming them would require a war of attrition resulting in much death and destruction, but Lincoln knew that the populous industrial North would prevail in a war of "grim mathematics". He hoped that in George McClellan he had found the general to wage this war.
McClellan, though young and bright, was not up to the task. Early in his tenure, he showed that he could organize a large army, but month upon month of inaction followed. McClellan politically favored preserving the Union for mercantile reasons, but slavery was a matter for the states to decide and therefore, negotiable. Reunion, he felt, did not require abolition. McClellan had talents as an organizer but could not bring himself "pull the trigger" on a decisive battle. Lincoln was finally able to coerce McClellan into proposing the Peninsular Campaign in the spring of 1862. The plan called for a massive amphibious operation which would deposit an army on the doorstep of Richmond and force a Confederate surrender. Lincoln did not like a plan as risky and costly as this, but reluctantly agreed.
McClellan endangered the success of his plan by avoiding direct engagement with the enemy and working his way up the peninsula at a snail's pace. He lost the confidence and support of many of his subordinate generals. Phil Kearny was particularly aggrieved as he espoused a hard war and continuing contact with the enemy. After months of battles and squandered opportunities, McClellan ordered a retreat. His generals administered a final defeat to the Confederates at Malvern Hill but still were forced to withdraw to Harrison's Landing where they were unable to generate further offensive operations.
McClellan had misused and betrayed the Army of the Potomac and failed to capitalize on their bravery and competence. His betrayal had only begun...
Related to Betrayal
Related ebooks
George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unholy Fire: A Riveting Thriller of the Civil War 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 ratingsSummary of Stephen W. Sears's Landscape Turned Red Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Mac: Demise of an American Hero Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mexican War diary of George B. McClellan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Glendale: Robert E. Lee’s Lost Opportunity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Richmond Campaign of 1862: The Peninsula and the Seven Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Young Napoleon: The Life and Legacy of George B. McClellan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Macbeth: The Overthrow of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsControversies & Commanders: Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLincoln's Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Military Genius Of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRetreat: Seven Days Battles: Line of Battle, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Union Portraits (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCharge: McClellan's Peninsula Campaign: Line of Battle, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence, 1860-1865 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 ratingsGeneral Edward Porter Alexander at Second Manassas: Account of the Battle from His Memoirs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictory at Gettysburg: An Excerpt from Gettysburg Heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChancellorsville Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Peninsula Campaign of 1862: From Yorktown to the Seven Days, Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Leadership and Command: A Study of McClellan and Lee and Their Contemporaries (1861-1865) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChancellorsville's Forgotten Front: The Battles of Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church, May 3, 1863 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Advancing the Cause 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 Spy of the Rebellion : Being a True History of the Spy System of the United States Army during the Late Rebellion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Democratic Soldier: The life of General Gustave P. Cluseret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States History For You
A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Library Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Years a Slave (Illustrated) (Two Pence books) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifties Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White Album: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Betrayal
0 ratings0 reviews