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Stephen W. Sears
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The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence, 1860-1865 Kindle Edition

by George B. McClellan (Author), Stephen W. Sears (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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From the author of Gettysburg: A “valuable” collection of the letters of this controversial Civil War general (James M. McPherson, The New York Review of Books).
 
No one played as many major roles during the Civil War as Gen. George B. McClellan, nor did any other figure write such candid letters about himself, his motivations, and his intentions. For Civil War buffs, this collection is a gold mine, revealing nuggets of fresh information on military operations and political machinations, from the battle of Antietam through McClellan’s 1864 race for the presidency—as well as the uninhibited correspondence McClellan wrote to his wife—selected and introduced by the prize-winning author Stephen W. Sears, “a first-class writer and splendid historian” (The Wall Street Journal).
 
“A treasure-trove . . . Nothing of importance concerning [McClellan’s] military strategies and tactics or the politics, policies, and issues of the war has been omitted. Sears has edited the collection with consummate economy and skill, and his introductory essays to the book’s eleven sections weave the disparate facts of McClellan’s wartime experience together.” —Library Journal
 
“The letters are most valuable as a revelation of McClellan’s personality, which lay at the root of his military failure. They make clear that his initial success and fame went to his head.” —James M. McPherson, The New York Review of Books
 
“Introduced with insightful essays . . . [McClellan] emerges as the Captain Queeg of the Civil War.” —Harold Holzer, Chicago Tribune
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  1. Print length
    1134 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. Publication date
    February 27, 1989
  6. File size
    2476 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These military dispatches and candid personal letters of Union general McClellan reveal gross overestimates of Confederate strength and contempt for President Lincoln.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

'Sears has collected a treasure-trove...Nothing of importance concerning [McClellan's] military strategies and tactics or the politics, policies, and issues of the war has been omitted. Sears has edited the collection with consummate economy and skill, and his introductory essays to the book's eleven sections weave the disparate facts of McClellan's wartime experience together. Essential for any serious Civil War collection.'--Library Journal

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007CMM3NG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (February 27, 1989)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 27, 1989
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2476 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1134 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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Stephen W. Sears

Stephen W. Sears

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BM
5.0 out of 5 stars A great companion to Sear's biography of McClellan
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2004
Verified Purchase
Stephen Sears's biography of George McClellan is probably the best ever written about the Civil War general. This collection of his writings during the Civil War, collected by Sears makes a wonderful companion to that biography.
This collection of papers is facinating on so many levels. We read not only his official letters to the likes of Lincoln and Halleck but also his personal letters to his wife. It's in these personel letter that we see glimpses into the man's mind and sadly his paranoia. His letter home, especially during the pennisula campaign show a man suffering from a real psychological problem, made worse by the increasingly stressful situation he's in. As the campaign goes on you see his paranoia slowly begin to increase to the point that he feels he can trust nobody. He becomes a man who in his mind is surrounded by enemies.
One word of warning. This isn't a light read. The collection is a whopping 600+ pages. Sears is holding nothing back here. If you are new to the Civil War and McClellan I strongly suggest first reading Sears's biography of McClellan. His books on the the Pennisula campaign and Antietam I would also recommend reading. They're great books and will help you understand what was going on around McClellan as he wrote all these correspondence.
6 people found this helpful
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Joe Schenkman
4.0 out of 5 stars Letters from a Civil War Mud Mole
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2014
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These letters offer great insight into the Civil War General who used the U.S. Army to train rather than fight. Even during major battles, McClellan wrote his wife such maudlin sentiments as, "I almost think that were I to win some small success now I could become Dictator or anything else that might please me--but nothing of that kind would please me." The real crime was that the Mud Mole repeatedly let Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia limp away after losing battles, so they could rebuild and fight another day. After requesting more horses of his Commander in Chief, Lincoln wrote McClellan, "Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the Battle of Antietam that would fatigue anything?" Robert E. Lee, a fellow engineer with Little Mac on a pick and shovel brigade under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War, wrote, "I hate to see McClellan go. He and I had grown to understand each other so well."

Civil War journalist Adam Gurowski, an editor for Horace Greeley's New York Tribune, called McClellan a "mud mole," because McClellan compounded his delay tactics with moving (at a snail's pace) the largest army ever assembled in America. The Mud Mole dragged heavy artillery and wagon trains through the mud, bogs, and swamps of Virginia during the Civil War. Or, more accurately, after bogging down in the mud, he did not march anywhere! This made the job of the Confederate Army easier, and made the war drag on longer. It would be Ulysses S. "the Butcher" Grant, who would have to finish the very messy and muddy affair that the "McClellanites" had left him.

The letters to his wife particularly reveal the incredible egomaniac and shallow person who tragically had so many lives--and ultimately deaths--in his responsibility. A great primary source book well organized by Sears, and arranged in chronological order, with an extensive index.
3 people found this helpful
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geneofva
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential work to understand the Civil War
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
A treasure trove of materiel about McClellan and his real self. No doubt he would not have wanted some of his letters, especially those to his wife, preserved after the war because they presented a side of him even he would not, perhaps in perspective, been proud of. But here they are, superbly annotated, and we now have an accurate portrayal of the man.

See the following for further understanding about McClellan and his real selves:

 Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era (War and Society in North America)
One person found this helpful
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Michael D. Foster
5.0 out of 5 stars McClellan Puts it in Writing
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2013
Verified Purchase
As a student of the Civil War it is fascinating to understand the tactics and strategies of the leaders of both the North and the South. This book offers correspondence by General McClellan and provides a clearer understanding of how the conflict was perceived by those making life and death decisions.

This book is a wonderful reference for the period of time McClellan led the Army of the Potomac.
3 people found this helpful
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Shay
4.0 out of 5 stars McCellan
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
It shows many of the letters Sears refers to in the other books that he has written. It oppens up McCellan in areas of his private life.
3 people found this helpful
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