Editing George B. McClellan (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:McClellan Memorial.JPG|thumb|''[[Major General George B. McClellan]]'' on [[Connecticut Avenue]] in Washington, D.C.]]
[[File:Gen George B McClellan.JPG|thumb|[[General George B. McClellan (Ellicott)|McClellan statue]] in front of [[Philadelphia City Hall]]]]
The New York [[New York Post|''Evening Post'']] commented in McClellan's obituary, "Probably no soldier who did so little fighting has ever had his qualities as a commander so minutely, and we may add, so fiercely discussed."<ref name="2mkwm" /> This fierce discussion has continued for over a century. McClellan is usually ranked in the lowest tier of Civil War commanders.<ref name="Carlson">{{cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/2014/10/29/20551550/this-week-in-history-mcclellan-becomes-the-army-s-commanding-general#canons-at-antietam-national-battlefield-in-maryland-and-its-known-as-the-bloodiest-one-day-battle-in-american-history-photo-taken-in-june-2014 |title=This week in history: McClellan becomes the Army's commanding general |last=Carlson |first=Cody K. |date=October 29, 2014 |website=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City, UT}}</ref> However, the debate over McClellan's ability and talents remains the subject of much controversy among Civil War and military historians.<ref name="Ruane">{{cite news |last=Ruane |first=Michael E. |date=October 17, 2011 |title=Civil War Gen. George McClellan: Deemed a savior, then a failure |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/civil-war-gen-george-mcclellan-deemed-a-savior-then-a-failure/2011/09/21/gIQAfpF6SL_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |location=Washington, DC}}</ref> He has been universally praised for his organizational abilities and for his very good relations with his troops.<ref name="Carlson"/><ref name="Ruane"/> They referred to him affectionately as "Little Mac".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/george-mcclellan |title=Facts, information and articles about George McClellan |last=Bonekemper |first=Ed |date=December 2010 |website=History Net |publisher=Historynet LLC |location=Tysons, VA}}</ref> Other nicknames McClellan received included "Young Napoleon"<ref name="Ruane"/> and "the little Napoleon".<ref>Stackpole, "Generalship in the Civil War", p. 59.</ref> McClellan himself summed up his style of warfare in a draft of his memoirs:

{{blockquote|It has always been my opinion that the true course in conducting military operations, is to make no movement until the preparations are as complete as circumstances permit, & never to fight a battle without some definite object worth the probable loss.<ref name="b7IzB" />}}

Stephen Sears notes that {{blockquote|There is indeed ample evidence that the terrible stresses of commanding men in battle, especially the beloved men of his beloved Army of the Potomac, left his moral courage in tatters. Under the pressure of his ultimate soldier's responsibility, the will to command deserted him. Glendale and Malvern Hill found him at the peak of his anguish during the Seven Days, and he fled those fields to escape the responsibility. At Antietam, where there was nowhere for him to flee to, he fell into a paralysis of indecision. Seen from a longer perspective, General McClellan could be both comfortable and successful performing as executive officer, and also, if somewhat less successfully, as grand strategist; as battlefield commander, however, he was simply in the wrong profession.<ref name="fvXEP" />}}

One of the reasons that McClellan's reputation has suffered is his own memoirs. Historian [[Allan Nevins]] wrote, "Students of history must always be grateful McClellan so frankly exposed his own weaknesses in this posthumous book."<ref name="dtQ2L" /> [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]] writes that a review of his personal correspondence during the war reveals a tendency for self-aggrandizement and unwarranted self-congratulation.<ref name="SPMJ0" /> His original draft was completed in 1881, but the only copy was destroyed by fire. He began to write another draft of what would be published posthumously, in 1887, as ''McClellan's Own Story''. However, he died before it was half completed and his literary executor, William C. Prime, editor of the pro-McClellan ''New York Journal of Commerce'', included excerpts from some 250 of McClellan's wartime letters to his wife, in which it had been his habit to reveal his innermost feelings and opinions in unbridled fashion.<ref name="d3lJp" />

Robert E. Lee, on being asked who was the ablest general on the Union side during the war, replied emphatically: "McClellan, by all odds!"<ref name="i8sYo" />

While McClellan's reputation has suffered over time, especially over the later half of the 20th century, there is a small but intense cadre of Civil War historians who believe that the general has been poorly served in at least four regards. First, McClellan proponents say that because the general was a conservative Democrat with great personal charisma, radical Republicans fearing his political potential deliberately undermined his field operations.<ref name="q7955" /> Second, that as the radical Republicans were the true winners coming out of the Civil War, they were able to write its history, placing their principal political rival of the time, McClellan, in the worst possible light.<ref name="00MzZ" /> Third, that historians eager to jump on the bandwagon of Lincoln as America's greatest political icon worked to outdo one another in shifting blame for early military failures from Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to McClellan.<ref name="1oYhe" /> And fourth, that Lincoln and Stanton deliberately undermined McClellan because of his conciliatory stance towards the South, which might have resulted in a less destructive end to the war had Richmond fallen as a result of the Peninsula Campaign.<ref name="L9t2x" /> Proponents of this school claim that McClellan is criticized more for his admittedly abrasive personality than for his actual field performance.<ref name="qC7JP" />

Several geographic features and establishments have been named for George B. McClellan. These include [[Fort McClellan]] in [[Alabama]], [[McClellan Butte]] and [[McClellan Peak]] in the state of Washington, where he traveled while conducting the Pacific Railroad Survey in 1853, and a bronze [[equestrian statue]] honoring General McClellan in Washington, D.C. Another equestrian statue honors him in front of [[Philadelphia City Hall]], while the [[McClellan Gate]] at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] is dedicated to him and displays his name. McClellan Park in [[Milbridge, Maine]], was donated to the town by the general's son with the stipulation that it be named for the general.<ref name="dyukk" /> [[Camp McClellan (Iowa)|Camp McClellan]], in Davenport, Iowa is a former [[Union Army]] camp established in August 1861 after the outbreak of the Civil War. The camp was the training grounds for recruits and a hospital for the wounded. McClellan Fitness Center is a United States Army gym located at [[Fort Eustis]], Virginia near his Peninsula Campaign.<ref name="Jp9CS" />

The [[Fire Department of New York]] operated a [[fireboat]] named [[George B. McClellan (fireboat)|''George B. McClellan'']] from 1904 to 1954,<ref name="Marine1FdnyHistory" /> but this vessel was actually named after McClellan's son, who was [[Mayor of New York City]], when the vessel was launched.<ref name="AroundManhattan" />