General George McClellan's mistake in the Battle of Antietam was hesitating and not acting decisively enough to take advantage of his manpower. He held back far too many troops in reserve that he did not use. Technically the battle was a draw. Historians conclude he should have been able to deal a much heavier blow to Confederate forces.
Lincoln was disappointed that General George B. McClellan had allowed Confederate general Lee to escape after the Battle of Antietam. The result of Lincoln's disappointment was the replacement of McClellan by General Burnside.
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The Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major General George B. McClellan won the battle along Antietam Creek.
Based on his previous actions, and not just those at Antietam, Lincoln fired Major General George McClellan as general-in-chief of the Union armies and replaced him as commander of the Army of the Potomac with Ambrose Burnside.Lincoln was likely prompted by what he saw as the indecisive, overcautious nature of McClellan, who at Antietam thought that he was outnumbered when it was very much the reverse.
The Battle of Antietam, an important battle of the Civiil War, was fought by the Army of the Potomac, part of the Union Army, under the command of General George McClellan, and Confederate forces under the command of General Robert E. Lee on September 17, 1862.
George B. McClellan
Antietam
Lincoln was disappointed that General George B. McClellan had allowed Confederate general Lee to escape after the Battle of Antietam. The result of Lincoln's disappointment was the replacement of McClellan by General Burnside.
Major General George B. McClellan was commanding the Federal Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Antietam.
George McClellan (Union)
Major General George B. McClellan.
Major General George B. McClellan was unaware that President Lincoln wanted to replace him. McClellan and his War Democrat supporters considered McClellan the hero of Antietam. By the end of October 1862, McClellan had rebuilt his Army of the Potomac to 120,000 troops. He had only 70,000 troops at the battle of Antietam.
General McClellan found General Lee's battle plan.
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Via telegrams and letters, General George B. McClellan recognized that the carnage on September 17, 1862 was the most horrible battle he had ever witnessed or read about. He said Antietam was the horrible "battle of the age".
The Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major General George B. McClellan won the battle along Antietam Creek.
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.