In reality the Army of the Potomac was still in good shape despite the defeat at Gaines’ Mill. But McClellan was a whipped man mentally. After midnight he again wired Stanton: “I have lost this battle because my force was too small. … The Government has not sustained this army. … If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or to any other persons in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice this army.” That McClellan escaped removal from command after sending such a dispatch was owing to an astonished colonel in the telegraph office, who excised the last two
...more
