Biography:

George Brinton McClellan was a Civil War general and presidential candidate. He was beloved by his troops but exasperating to President Lincoln, and he is ultimately remembered more for his failures than for his successes. George McClellan was born in 1826 in Philadelphia, where he studied law at the University of Pennsylvania before giving up the law to pursue a career in the military. McClellan secured an appointment to West Point and graduated second in his class in 1846. McClellan served in the Mexican War and on various western army expeditions. He was viewed as a rising star, but he left the army in 1857 to become superintendent of the Illinois Central Railroad. McClellan, a former Whig, became a Democrat by 1858, and he supported Stephen Douglas against Abraham Lincoln in the US Senate race and again in the 1860 presidential election. By 1861, his love of the military drew him back to the army. In April he was appointed commander of the Ohio troops. By July, Lincoln gave McClellan command of the Union troops in Washington, DC, and in August he formed the Army of the Potomac and in November was named general-in-chief of the Union armies. McClellan, known as the “Young Napoleon,” soon won the affection of his men, but he soon began to frustrate Lincoln. McClellan’s extreme caution or lack of nerve led him to forestall providing Lincoln with any war plans or to commit his troops to action. By March 1862, Lincoln relieved McClellan of the office of general-in-chief, and the following fall he removed McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac and transferred him to Trenton, New Jersey.
 
In 1864, McClellan sought, and won, the Democratic nomination for president. The nominating convention, however, was dominated by peace Democrats, who adopted a platform declaring the war a failure. McClellan tried to distance himself from this platform by declaring his intention of continuing the war until the Union was restored. McClellan lost the election in a landslide, in part because of significant Union victories in the months leading up to the election, and in part because the Democrats were viewed as the party of disunity. McClellan then traveled to Europe, where he lived for three years before returning to New Jersey to pursing engineering work. He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1877 and served one term. He died at his home in Orange, New Jersey, in 1885.