The Mexican War diary and correspondence of George B. McClellan / edited by Thomas W. Cutrer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885.

Contributor:

Cutrer, Thomas W.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885.

United States. Army. Corps of Engineers.

Mexican War, 1846-1848--Personal narratives, American.

Mexican War, 1846-1848.

History.

Military engineering.

United States.

McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885--Diaries.

McClellan, George B.

McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885--Correspondence.

Soldiers--United States--Diaries.

Soldiers.

Soldiers--United States--Correspondence.

Military engineers--United States--Biography.

Military engineers.

Military engineering--United States--History--19th century.

Mexican War, 1846-1848--Engineering and construction.

United States. Army. Corps of Engineers--History--19th century.

Mexican War, 1846-1848--Regimental histories--United States.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- American.

Diaries.

Correspondence.

Biographies.

Personal narratives.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

vi, 195 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2009]

Summary:

In his standard reference work on the Civil War, Generals in Blue, Ezra Warner declared George B. McClellan (1826--1885) "one of the most controversial figures in American military history." In this revealing book, Thomas W. Cutrer provides the definitive edition of McClellan's detailed diary and letters from his service in the Mexican War (1846--1848), during which he began the rise that culminated in his being named general in chief of the Union forces and commander of the Army of the Potomac early in the Civil War. McClellan graduated second in his class from West Point in 1846 and served as a second lieutenant in Company A of the prestigious Corps of Engineers, the only formation of combat engineers in the United States Army. The company participated in Major General Winfield Scott's invasion of Mexico, playing a prominent role in the siege of Vera Cruz and the battles of Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec and in the capture of Mexico City. Although only twenty-one years old at the war's end, McClellan earned brevet promotions to first lieutenant and then captain for his efforts. McClellan's colorful diary and frequent letters to his socially and politically prominent Philadelphia family provide a wealth of military details of the campaign, insights into the character of his fellow engineers -- including Robert E. Lee and P. G. T. Beauregard -- and accounts of the friction that arose between the professional soldiers and the officers and men of the volunteer regiments that made up Scott's command. A courageous, indefatigable, and superbly intelligent young man, McClellan formed close personal loyalties in those years. His diaries also reveal a man contemptuous of those he perceived as less talented than he, quick to see conspiracies where none existed, and eager to place upon others the blame for his own shortcomings and to take credit for actions performed by others. On the banks of the Rio Grande during his first weeks with the army, McClellan wrote in his diary: "I came down here with high hopes, with pleasing anticipations of distinction, of being in hard fought battles and acquiring a name and reputation as a stepping stone to a still greater eminence in some future and greater war." Carefully edited by Thomas W. Cutrer, these diary entries and letters do indeed trace McClellan's rapid development as a soldier and leader and put on full display the talent, ambition, and arrogance that characterized his career as general and politician.

Contents:

"War at last sure enough!" : West Point, 18 March 1846-22 September 1846

"I would not have missed coming here for anything" : from West Point to Victoria, 8 October 1846-20 December 1846

"A perfect desert from beginning to end" : Victoria to Tampico, 2 January 1847-5 March 1847

"We had done more than all the rest" : Vera Cruz, 9 March 1847-2 April 1847

"Nothing seemed to them too bold" : Cerro Gordo to Mexico City, 26 March 1847-30 May 1847

"No one can say 'Poor Mac' over me" : Mexico City, 24 October 1847-6 June 1848

"The Engineer Company is destroyed" : West Point, 23 June 1848-22 September 1849

Afterword

Glossary of military engineering terms.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780807134511

0807134511

OCLC:

312728453