Editing George B. McClellan (section)

==Career==
===Mexican–American War 1846–1848===
McClellan's first assignment was with a company of engineers formed at West Point, but he quickly received orders to sail for the Mexican War. He arrived near the mouth of the [[Rio Grande]] in October 1846, well prepared for action with a double-barreled shotgun, two pistols, a saber, a dress sword, and a [[Bowie knife]]. He complained that he had arrived too late to take any part in the American victory at [[Battle of Monterrey|Monterrey]] in September. During a temporary armistice in which the forces of Gen. [[Zachary Taylor]] awaited action, McClellan was stricken with [[dysentery]] and [[malaria]], which kept him in the hospital for nearly a month. Malaria would recur in later years; he called it his "Mexican disease."<ref name="UHeh4" /> He served as an engineering officer during the war, was frequently subject to enemy fire, and was appointed a brevet [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] for his services at [[Battle of Contreras|Contreras]]<ref name="ZZECN" /> and [[Battle of Churubusco|Churubusco]]<ref name="Ciy8T" /> and to [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] for his service at [[Battle of Chapultepec|Chapultepec]].<ref name="Eicher371" /> He performed reconnaissance missions for Maj. Gen. [[Winfield Scott]], a close friend of McClellan's father.<ref name="Sa644" />

McClellan's experiences in the war would shape his military and political life. He learned that flanking movements (used by Scott at [[Battle of Cerro Gordo|Cerro Gordo]]) were often better than frontal assaults, and the value of siege operations ([[Siege of Veracruz|Veracruz]]). He witnessed Scott's success in balancing political with military affairs and his good relations with the civil population as he invaded, enforcing strict discipline on his soldiers to minimize damage to property. McClellan also developed a disdain for volunteer soldiers and officers, particularly politicians who cared nothing for discipline and training.<ref name="nNVLt" />

===Peacetime service===
McClellan returned to West Point to command his engineering company, which was attached to the academy for the purpose of training cadets in engineering activities. He chafed at the boredom of peacetime garrison service, although he greatly enjoyed the social life. In June 1851, he was ordered to [[Fort Delaware]], a masonry work under construction on an island in the [[Delaware River]], {{convert|40|mi|round=5|spell=in}} downriver from Philadelphia. In March 1852, he was ordered to report to Capt. [[Randolph B. Marcy]] at [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]], to serve as second-in-command on an expedition to discover the sources of the [[Red River of the South|Red River]]. By June the expedition reached the source of the north fork of the river and Marcy named a small tributary [[McClellan Creek|McClellan's Creek]]. Upon their arrival on July 28, they were astonished to find that they had been given up for dead. A sensational story had reached the press that the expedition had been ambushed by 2,000 [[Comanche]]s and killed to the last man. McClellan blamed the story on "a set of scoundrels, who seek to keep up agitation on the frontier in order to get employment from the Govt. in one way or other."<ref name="hA5hO" />

In the fall of 1852, McClellan published a manual on bayonet tactics that he had translated from the original French. He also received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors. In 1853, he participated in the [[Pacific Railroad survey]]s, ordered by [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Jefferson Davis]], to select an appropriate route for the planned [[First transcontinental railroad|transcontinental railroad]]. McClellan surveyed the western portion of the northern corridor along the 47th and 49th parallels from [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]] to the [[Puget Sound]]. In doing so, he demonstrated a tendency for insubordination toward senior political figures. [[Isaac Stevens]], governor of the [[Washington Territory]], became dissatisfied with McClellan's performance in his scouting of passes across the [[Cascade Range]].

McClellan selected Yakima Pass ({{coord|47.3365|-121.4324}}) without a thorough reconnaissance and refused the governor's order to lead a party through it in winter conditions, relying on faulty intelligence about the depth of snowpack in that area. In so doing, he missed three greatly superior passes in the near vicinity, which were eventually used for railroads and interstate highways. The governor ordered McClellan to turn over his expedition logbooks, but McClellan steadfastly refused, most likely because of embarrassing personal comments that he had made throughout his adventures.<ref name="CY569" />

Returning to the East, McClellan began courting his future wife, Ellen Mary Marcy (1836–1915), the daughter of his former commander. Ellen, or Nelly, refused McClellan's first proposal of marriage, one of nine that she received from a variety of suitors, including his West Point friend, [[A. P. Hill]]. Ellen accepted Hill's proposal in 1856, but her family did not approve and he withdrew.<ref name="IjW0d" />

In June 1854, McClellan was sent on a secret reconnaissance mission to Santo Domingo at the behest of Jefferson Davis. McClellan assessed local defensive capabilities for the secretary. (The information was not used until 1870 when President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] unsuccessfully attempted to annex the [[Dominican Republic]].) Davis was beginning to treat McClellan almost as a protégé, and his next assignment was to assess the logistical readiness of various railroads in the United States, once again with an eye toward planning for the transcontinental railroad.<ref name="cH6xJ" /> In March 1855, McClellan was promoted to captain and assigned to the 1st U.S. Cavalry regiment.<ref name="Eicher371" />

Due to his political connections and his mastery of French, McClellan received the assignment to be an official observer of the European armies in the [[Crimean War]] in 1855 as part of the Delafield Commission, led by [[Richard Delafield]]. Traveling widely, and interacting with the highest military commands and royal families, McClellan observed the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|siege of Sevastopol]]. Upon his return to the United States in 1856, he requested an assignment in Philadelphia to prepare his report, which contained a critical analysis of the siege and a lengthy description of the organization of the European armies. He also wrote a manual on [[cavalry tactics]] that was based on Russian cavalry regulations. Like other observers, though, McClellan did not appreciate the importance of the emergence of [[rifled musket]]s in the Crimean War, and the fundamental changes in warfare tactics it would require.<ref name="Hjps2" />

The Army adopted McClellan's cavalry manual and also his design for a [[saddle]], dubbed the [[McClellan Saddle]], which he claimed to have seen used by [[Hussar]]s in [[Prussia]] and Hungary. It became standard issue for as long as the U.S. horse cavalry existed and is still used for ceremonies.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

===Civilian pursuits===
[[File:McClellan+Wife.jpg|thumb|McClellan and Ellen Mary "Nelly" (Marcy) McClellan]]
McClellan resigned his commission January 16, 1857, and, capitalizing on his experience with railroad assessment, became chief engineer and vice president of the [[Illinois Central Railroad]], and then president of the [[Ohio and Mississippi Railroad]] in 1860. He performed well in both jobs, expanding the Illinois Central toward [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] and helping the Ohio and Mississippi recover from the [[Panic of 1857]]. Despite his successes and lucrative salary ($10,000 per year), he was frustrated with civilian employment and continued to study classical military strategy assiduously. During the [[Utah War]] against the [[Mormons]], he considered rejoining the Army. He also considered service as a [[Filibuster (military)|filibuster]] in support of [[Benito Juárez]] in Mexico.<ref name="XcWIh" />

Before the outbreak of the Civil War, McClellan became active in politics, supporting the presidential campaign of [[United States Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Stephen A. Douglas]] in the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860 election]]. He claimed to have defeated an attempt at vote fraud by [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] by ordering the delay of a train that was carrying men to vote illegally in another county, enabling Douglas to win the county.<ref name="YAAWx" /><!-- Which county? Please specify. -->

In October 1859, McClellan was able to resume his courtship of Ellen Mary; they were married in [[Calvary Church (Manhattan)|Calvary Church]], New York City, on May 22, 1860.<ref name="FgnlH" />