He was great at organizing troops,but was very slow to take action
Two corps of the Army of the Potomac were under General McClellan's control at Alexandria. They were General Sumner's Second Corps and General Franklin's Sixth Corps. This totaled 25,000 troops. McClellan saw General Pope as incompetent and did not want to waste good troops to save Pope's hopeless situation. General in Chief Henry W. Halleck ordered McClellan to send these troops to reinforce Pope. McClellan held back these troops as long as possible. McClellan also urged General Pope to not engage the Rebel troops and to retreat to the north.
Some staff members in General George B. McClellan were loyal to him, to the point of giving him good advice. One friend of McClellan was General William F. Smith. When McClellan shared his political views with Smith during the Peninsula campaign, Smith advised his friend that he was becoming too political and this might damage his duty to command a large army.
Union General George B. McClellan had a loyal staff of Union army generals. McClellan's chief of staff was his father in law.
General George B. McClellan's telegraph to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on June 28, 1862 bordered on treason. When McClellan's telegraph was received by General Dix in Washington DC, Dix omitted McClellan's claim that the Lincoln administration purposely acted to create the Peninsula campaign as a failure.
General George B. McClellan
Yes. Try reading some of McClellan's letters to Lincoln. They reveal a lot. McClellan was all talk, no action.
Lincoln's response to General McClellan's command was that Lincoln relieved McClellan of Command.
Two corps of the Army of the Potomac were under General McClellan's control at Alexandria. They were General Sumner's Second Corps and General Franklin's Sixth Corps. This totaled 25,000 troops. McClellan saw General Pope as incompetent and did not want to waste good troops to save Pope's hopeless situation. General in Chief Henry W. Halleck ordered McClellan to send these troops to reinforce Pope. McClellan held back these troops as long as possible. McClellan also urged General Pope to not engage the Rebel troops and to retreat to the north.
Some staff members in General George B. McClellan were loyal to him, to the point of giving him good advice. One friend of McClellan was General William F. Smith. When McClellan shared his political views with Smith during the Peninsula campaign, Smith advised his friend that he was becoming too political and this might damage his duty to command a large army.
Much of General George B. McClellan's correspondence to Washington DC and personal letters are now in the public domain. A good number of historians have to the belief that McClellan had a "Calvinistic" belief in predestination. The totality of these published papers appear to demonstrate that McClellan believed that God had called him to save the Union.
On April 20, 1862, General George B. McClellan informed President Lincoln that Robert E. Lee was replacing the wounded General Johnston. McClellan also mentioned that this change was good for the Union as Lee was known to be weak and timid.
Lincoln fired several generals. He fired McClellan twice.
General George B. McClellan
McClellan's Peninsular campaign failed because the Confederate army was defending Richmond better that McClellan anticipated. They retreated, then turned and attacked McClellan, surprising the Union general.
Ambrose Burnside
General George B. McClellan.
General McClellan :D