Today in History: George McClellan Takes Command of the Union Army

On this day (July 26) General George McClellan was given command of the Union’s Army of the Potomac. The Union army was in significant disarray after their lost at the First Battle of Bull Run. McClellan took over and trained it into a “modern” professional army. While McClellan made an excellent “trainer” of armies, he did not prove to be a capable battle commander. He routinely vastly overestimated the size of his opponents and consistently failed to take advantage of his own numbers leaving large portions of his army disengaged during important battles. He did not get along well with Lincoln (whom he derided in private) and was removed from command after failing to pursue the Confederates after the Battle of Antietam. In 1864, he ran for president on the Democratic ticket. The military loved McClellan but voted for Lincoln by a 3-1 margin, securing a Republican victory and continuation of the war effort. After the war, McClellan served as Governor of New Jersey from 1878-1881.