As the Union's general in chief, George B. McClellan was responsible for the Union's war efforts to end the Southern rebellion. In January of 1862, McClellan began pushing Major General Henry Halleck to prevent Confederate forces in neutral Kentucky from being reinforced. He wanted Halleck to aid General Buell in that slave border state. He ordered Halleck to send one or two divisions supported by gunboats sent up the Cumberland River. Both McClellan and General Buell agreed that Columbus, Kentucky had to be taken out of Rebel control.
The Confederates were led by General Robert Edward Lee. The Federals were led by General George Brinton McClellan.
Lincoln wanted to attack the Confederates at Manassas Junction and Centreville instead.
On the evening of June 25, 1862, Union General George B. McClellan wired Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton that he requires more troops . McClellan tells Stanton that he believes that the Confederates have in excess of 200,000 troops as the first day of the Seven Days Battles had begun. He informs Stanton that he has just returned from the field of battle and despite his disadvantage he shall battle the Confederates with the power he does have, and will try to repulse any enemy attacks. McClellan had time time telegraph Stanton 4 times that day. One of his requests for reinforcements to Stanton is answered by President Lincoln.Lincoln assures McClellan that he has sent as many troops as he can and to believe that he ( Lincoln ) has been withholding troops is not true. In this telegraph message to McClellan, Lincoln informs the general that he has fully understood the general's belief that there is a strong probability that he will be overwhelmed by the 200,000 enemy troops that he believes are now against McClellan.
Colonel US Grant was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in July of 1861. He led his troops to victory in Padua, Kentucky where the Confederates had established a base.
On September 16, 1862, one day before the historic Battle of Antietam, Major General George B. McClellan lost his best opportunity to defeat General Lee's army in detail in Maryland. McClellan was slow to assemble his forces in and around the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. McClellan was unaware that he substantially outnumbers Lee's army and postpones an attack on the Confederates. Instead he waits another day until his reserve forces joins his main army. Theoretically, if McClellan conducted an assault on September 16, the Battle of Antietam would have been a smashing Union victory.
The Confederates' leader was General E Lee and the Yankees' leader was General George McClellan
President Lincoln knew that slave state Kentucky would be a target for the Confederates. Major General George B. McClellan was in charge of the Department of Ohio. He had been given orders to capture Columbus, Kentucky if he believed it was a necessity because of Confederate threats. McClellan was advised by pro-Unionists in Kentucky that any Union military action in that state, it would drive Kentucky into the Confederacy. He therefore took no military actions in Kentucky.
In one respect, both General McClellan and President Lincoln did have a solid agreement on keeping Kentucky from joining the Confederacy. Kentucky was a slave state and long after McClellan had been relived of military duties, Lincoln allowed what McClellan had suggested before he took control of the Army of the Potomac. Kentucky was in delicate balance. McClellan believed that as long as Kentucky remained in a so-called state of neutrality, Union troops not be sent there, as to do otherwise might lean Kentucky towards the Confederacy. Only if the South invaded Kentucky, should Union forces be sent to drive them out.
In June of 1861, Major General George B. McClellan approached General in Chief Winfield Scott on the best way to deal with Kentucky's proclaimed neutrality. He recommended that slavery should not be an issue with regards to Kentucky. McClellan believed that all private property in Kentucky, even with secessionists there needed to be respected irregardless of the political views of the citizens of that slave border state.
The Confederates were led by General Robert Edward Lee. The Federals were led by General George Brinton McClellan.
On April 4, 1862, General McClellan decided that the best way to force the Confederates out of Yorktown, was to lay it to siege. This caused a serious delay in McClellan's advance westward towards Richmond.
George McClellan
Unlike General George B. McClellan's frequent communications to Washington DC during the Peninsula campaign, McClellan was relatively silent concerning his plans for fighting the Confederates in Maryland and the Battle of Antietam. His immediate superior officer, General in Chief Henry W. Halleck was no notified of McClellan's intentions. It appears that all of his orders to his generals were mostly verbal and records of his side of the encounter at Antietam were sparse.
General William S. Rosencrans devised a Winter offensive into Virginia late in 1861. He believed that he could capture the Virginia town of Manchester by turning the Confederates at Manassas. He traveled to Washington DC to gain permission for this plan from his General in Chief, George B. McClellan. McClellan rejected the idea as too risky and it might force the Confederates in a position not expected as he planned for the Peninsula campaign.
Lincoln's response to General McClellan's command was that Lincoln relieved McClellan of Command.
Upon learning of the raid into Maryland by General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, Major General George B. McClellan knew he was facing a challenge from the South's best general and its best army. With that in mind, McClellan began to follow the Confederates slowly, making sure that Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland were secure. He also needed time to reorganize his Army of the Potomac in order to meet Lee's challenge.
McClellan commanded forces during the Rich Mountain campaign in what is now West Virginia to ensure that the portion of the state would not be fully taken by Confederates. This success, combined with the defeat of General Irvin McDowell at the battle of First Bull Run, led McClellan to become commander of the Army of the Potomac.