WAS GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN INVOLVED WITH THE K.G.C.?

[Rebel - KGC]

Think that the men love McClellan but as you have stated he being pompous grated the nerves of the political leaders. Meade and Grant turned the tide with victories in Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Grant was much disliked by most. Grant could bring home the bacon for Lincoln. For a loser that had failed in almost everything he proved to be a General that was head and shoulders above all the other officers. Sherman might have been his equal but we will never know for Grant was the head of the army. Lee thought that McClellan was a able opponent. Grant was the general to end the war and reunite the nation. McClellan to lead the state of New Jersey.

As far as him being a Copperhead No!!!!!!!!! and not a part of the K.G.C. for sure.


Senior Deacon

Well, I think he DID become a "Copperhead" & was O.A.K.; Lee liked him, as he was "doable"...

 

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[L.C. BAKER]

Well, I think he DID become a "Copperhead" & was O.A.K.; Lee liked him, as he was "doable"...

Did you know that before he was in the Civil War McClellan received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors, and in 1853 he participated in the Pacific Railroad surveys, ordered by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, to select an appropriate route for the upcoming transcontinental railroad. McClellan surveyed the northern corridor along the 47th and 49th parallels from St. Paul to the Puget Sound, and it would become railroad tracks and eventually interstate highway. 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 protege, 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. Because of 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. Traveling widely, and interacting with the highest military commands and royal families. That must have made him abreast of many future opportunities with the O.A.K....

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 also president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860. He performed well in both jobs, expanding the Illinois Central toward New Orleans and helping the Ohio and Mississippi recover from the Panic of 1857. But 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 in support of Benito Juárez in Mexico.
Before the outbreak of Civil War, McClellan became active in politics, supporting the presidential campaign of Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the 1860 election. He claimed to have defeated an attempt at vote fraud by Republicans by ordering the delay of a train that was carrying men to vote illegally in another county, enabling Douglas to win the county......what a K.G.C. thing of him to do....

During the Civil War implemented plans to invade a region in West Virginia, he triggered his first serious political controversy by proclaiming to the citizens there that his forces had no intentions of interfering with personal property—including slaves. "Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly—not only will we abstain from all such interference but we will on the contrary with an iron hand, crush any attempted insurrection on their part." He quickly realized that he had overstepped his bounds and apologized by letter to President Lincoln......Iron hand..... Perhaps that was all just a little slip of the tongue.
Now we have all heard of a double agent ...just think about one that was IN CHARGE of the Army....What a difficult position that would be to uphold...

L.C.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Did you know that before he was in the Civil War McClellan received an assignment to the Department of Texas, with orders to perform a survey of Texas rivers and harbors, and in 1853 he participated in the Pacific Railroad surveys, ordered by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, to select an appropriate route for the upcoming transcontinental railroad. McClellan surveyed the northern corridor along the 47th and 49th parallels from St. Paul to the Puget Sound, and it would become railroad tracks and eventually interstate highway. 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 protege, 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. Because of 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. Traveling widely, and interacting with the highest military commands and royal families. That must have made him abreast of many future opportunities with the O.A.K....

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 also president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860. He performed well in both jobs, expanding the Illinois Central toward New Orleans and helping the Ohio and Mississippi recover from the Panic of 1857. But 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 in support of Benito Juárez in Mexico.
Before the outbreak of Civil War, McClellan became active in politics, supporting the presidential campaign of Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the 1860 election. He claimed to have defeated an attempt at vote fraud by Republicans by ordering the delay of a train that was carrying men to vote illegally in another county, enabling Douglas to win the county......what a K.G.C. thing of him to do....

During the Civil War implemented plans to invade a region in West Virginia, he triggered his first serious political controversy by proclaiming to the citizens there that his forces had no intentions of interfering with personal property—including slaves. "Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly—not only will we abstain from all such interference but we will on the contrary with an iron hand, crush any attempted insurrection on their part." He quickly realized that he had overstepped his bounds and apologized by letter to President Lincoln......Iron hand..... Perhaps that was all just a little slip of the tongue.
Now we have all heard of a double agent ...just think about one that was IN CHARGE of the Army....What a difficult position that would be to uphold...

L.C.

Yes, 1st Degree of KGC was IRON HAND.

 

[senior deacon]

L.C. and Rebel I believe that it is called a Freudian Slip. It seems to happen a lot when I am typing on the computer. What I really would like to say comes out as mistakes on the keyboard. Quite funny at times. Can only imagine that McClellen really had egg on his face.

Redman

 

[Rebel - KGC]

L.C. and Rebel I believe that it is called a Freudian Slip. It seems to happen a lot when I am typing on the computer. What I really would like to say comes out as mistakes on the keyboard. Quite funny at times. Can only imagine that McClellen really had egg on his face.

Redman

Eh...?

 

[Gray Mouser]

Second Round: Bring it on

Of the five surveys along the pacific coast for prospective railways, only McClellan's was supervised (he was under command of II Stevens, who was killed in Battle of Chantilly). I am not sure why people would consider him a prodigy of Davis if Davis felt he should be supervised. None of the others were and three were only Lts, McClellan was a breveted captain. Mcclellan performed the task well (according to reports) as he had all his assignments since graduation.

It wasn't because of political connections or his mastery of French that he was sent on the Delafield commission. He really had only one or two competitors for the position (RE Lee was one). If you inspect those who would have been considered the list is very short (maybe 20 at most) Take a look at the other two in the commission. They both graduated at the top of their class (first(Delafield & Mordecai) or second McClellan))and both were old, slightly older than Lee. McClellan was almost the obvious choice from a young perspective and it looks like his mission was to look into European cavalry tactics. That is why he wrote a translation of the Cossack cavalry manual that was used by both sides as well as "inventing" the McClellan saddle (really an Austrian saddle with some changes).

McClellan was said to have resigned from the army due directly to differences he had with the secretary of war Jefferson Davis. The prodigy argument stops there. If anything McClellan sided with Joe Johnston. And everyone knows Davis despised Johnston and vice versa (allegedly from West Point days). Prodigy, really?

Every engineer in the army was vital to the creation of railroads, as well as roads and fortifications throughout the nation. Take a look at the evidence. RE Lee was sent from Florida to Michigan as an engineer. Almost every engineer was sent throughout the nation for these projects. McClellan traveled among the least.

McClellan was a young shining star from the Mexican war onwards. He showed his personal bravery many times during the war as well as his ability to recon and command small forces. He continued to show his mettle throughout his peacetime activities with the army. Can you provide actual evidence to the contrary?

Excerpts from Harrison's Bar letter:

"The Constitution and the Union must be preserved, whatever may be the cost in time, treasure and blood"

"It should not be, at all, a War upon population; but against armed forces and political organizations. Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organization of states or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the War, all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected; subject only to the necessities of military operations. All private property taken for military use should be paid for or receipted for; pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary trespass sternly prohibited; and offensive demeanor by the military towards citizens promptly rebuked"

"The right of the Government to appropriate permanently to its own service claims to slave labor should be asserted and the right of the owner to compensation therefore should be recognized. This principle might be extended upon grounds of military necessity and security to all the slaves within a particular state; thus working manumission in such [a] state -- and in Missouri, perhaps in Western Virginia also and possibly even in Maryland the expediency of such a military measure is only a question of time"

First paragraph states his unyielding belief in the Union and Constitution. Very important and completely at odds with peace democrats. He was so obviously a war democrat that holding a belief he wasn't just shows poor scholarship and an inability to separate politics from a personality.

Second paragraphs lists actions that would be unconstitutional and therefore not followed. The constitution is primarily a document concerned with political and business rights. This paragraph expresses this understanding.

Third paragraph lists a Constitutional method to free slaves. That was the major political difference. McClellan favored military manumission. Lincoln favored a political act, which was not constitutional.

So what McClellan's proposal was to free the slaves by military manumission in areas controlled by Union troops. Lincoln's was to free slaves only in areas still in rebellion and not controlled by Union armies. Lincoln's method produced a war which lasted over 100 years. Not sure how long McClellan's plan would have taken.

Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws are a direct result of the hard line policy Lincoln pursued after September 1862. So blacks had to deal with a century more BS before they began to get the right "guaranteed" by Lincoln's proclamation.

Mcclellans reputation was forever negatively impacted by the publishers decision to publish his private letters. Not too many generals have had their personal letters published. You might want to take a look at some from cabinet members. These are the guys who were closest to Lincoln and they were almost unanimous in denunciations against Lincoln throughout 1861-62 (some loke Chase were throughout Lincoln's reign). Only Seward (was turned when Lincoln foiled his attempt to take over administration in April 1861), Welles and Blair were favorable in any way at this time.

McClellan's "original gorilla" comments stems from Stanton. This is the same Stanton who was an informer for the opposition during the Buchanan administration. Stanton despised Lincoln prior and during the first two years of the civil war. Stanton utterly ridiculed Lincoln during a train trial(which McClellan provided transportation). Then during the first year of the war he attached himself to McClellan and fed him continually derogatory comments about Lincoln (according to Stanton's diary). It seems pretty plain what side of the fence he was playing. Stanton was an anti-slavery democrat. McClellan was a Unionist.
There is a huge disparity between the two.

 

[senior deacon]

Gray Mouser You bring up a point that most of us forget and that is the West Point crowd were a bunch of engineers, Civil Engineers. At that time in American History they were more interested in building a Nation than waging war. It hit me as I am now reading a book on Navigation of the upper Red River and the Great Raft that Captain Henry Shreve broke up to cause Steamboats to be able to go from Jefferson, Texas to New Orleans,Louisiana. In the 1830's thru the 1850's military training was almost a afterthought. Outside the Mexican War it was build up the Nations roads, rivers, and Transportation system. It seems as if the Government turned this over to the Army and it's corp of West Point Engineers.

It would not be unexpected that these West Pointers would have had strong political views as they were ask to go out and Build up the infrastructure of a then young U.S. of A. Both had to go hand in hand in order to expand and prosper.

Senior Deacon

 

[Rebel - KGC]

When President Tyler annexed Texas as a part of the United States,diplomatic relations were immediatly broken off between Mexico and the US.In 1845,President Polk tried to renew them by sending John Slidell of New Orleans to adjust the Mexican claims and the Texas boundary,and offer Mexico 30 million dollars for New Mexico and California.Slidell was refused an audience with the Mexican government.
John Slidell was a KGC member in New Orleans,along with other members of the MYSTIC KREWE OF COMUS.mainly Albert Pike and Judah P Benjamin,who met at the Pickwick Club.The Mexican-American War was highly supported by the Southern Democrates,and could be considered as an attempt to start building the GOLDEN CIRCLE.
It is interseting to note those who fought in this war,who later fought for the South,including Lee,Jackson,and Jefferson Davis,whose first wife was the daughter of Zachary Taylor,who also fought in the Mexican War and later became President after Polk.
Slidell's nephew in law,August Belmont was connected to the Rothschilds Bank,and Belmont paid for Franklin Pierce's 1852 Presidental Campaign.
There are many connections within connections,and plots and schemes within schemes and plots behind closed doors that led to the Civil War,with states rights as the issue.

Mexican War...? Gen. Robert E. Lee (CSA) was Capt. Robert E. Lee (US Army)... MAY have been CAPTAIN Thomas J. Beale in BEALE PAPERS, dunno.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

First of all, I would suggest that one reads the whole letter instead of taking a statement out of context. The meaning is lost by doing so.
General McClellan to President Lincoln

"Can you provide actual evidence to the contrary?".....Believe it or not, most secret societies do not write down the moments from there meetings. Some of the most secret of all whisper from mouth to ear and have by-laws that subject anyone that may write materials pertaining to the organization to death. At best I can only draw your attention to someone like Oliver North. Not all of what he appeared to be doing was above the table. The C.I.A. is much like the K.G.C...

"The Constitution and the Union must be preserved, whatever may be the cost in time, treasure and blood".....was the sentiments of many a Civil War soldier and "copperhead" prior to the war. As you know, most copperheads wanted an immediate compromise with the southern states to save the "Union".

"As far as military necessity will permit, religiously respect the constitutional rights of all." White Men?


The period that you speak of is the cocoon stage of the O.A.K. The period when the O.A.K. came out of the cocoon was from 1865 until 1930.....what was the good General involved in during those years just after the Civil War? Who were his money making friends and appointees?


Great research of materials on hand. It is a shame we can't find the whole truth written down for us to study.

L.C.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

To clarify what this thread was about:

#1...This post is in the form of a question, not a statement because we want to know more facts and opinions. "WAS McClellan INVOLVED with the K.G.C.?" We are looking for good information and edgucated opininion which has created this exellent debate thanks to you guys

#2...Involved....We have reasons to suspect him of being involved with the O.A.K. after the Civil War. So the question I was presenting here was IS IT POSSIBLE that he could have been involved with the Knights of the Golden Circle who prior to Lincolns election (the previous administration), had full control of the United States Government from a presidential and judicial level down to the common merchant.The Templar/Freemasons which were IMO the Sun and Moon or "Father and Mother" of the Knights of the Golden Circle, just as the K.G.C /Freemasons were the sun and moon of the Order of American Knights MOST LIKELY had spies at the highest level that were recruited long before there was a Civil War. (call me CRAZY)

#3..In my opinionWhen looking at McClellan like an F.B.I. behavior analyses team would do to profile an unknown subject by his actions, behavior and subsequent emotions..... It looks highly possible that he could have been involved or possibly influenced by the K.G.C.'s promises of wealth and future political position when they were at the helm of places like West Point....and then the Civil War happened thrusting McClellan into the position of a rock and a hard place.

 

[Gray Mouser]

"The Constitution and the Union must be preserved, whatever may be the cost in time, treasure and blood"

Abraham Lincoln agreed completely with this sentence up until about June of 1862. Then he decided he needed to take harsher methods. No Copperhead agreed with that sentence. The Peace Democrats (Copperheads) favored peace at any cost, not the preservation of the Union at any cost. They did not agree at all with re inclusion of blood to that statement.

Take a look at McClellan's acceptance speech.

http://ia700202.us.archive.org/1/items/democraticplatform00mcclrich/democraticplatform00mcclrich.pdf

He clearly says that he would never allow the sacrifice of all his comrades to lead to any circumstance where the union is not preserved. Every qualification he makes is founded on the principle of the Union being preserved. There is no compromise on this point and it stands directly against the Copperheads. I fail to see any evidence that he ever entertained views other than this.

He spent 7 out of the 20 years remaining in his life in Europe. The other 13 were spent as an engineer once again or a railroad president. According to McClellan his nomination for governor was a surprise to him and his entire political career was a 2 year stint as governor of New Jersey.

Lots of people supported him. That doesn't mean he was beholden to them. You are referring to a man that stood against any figure of authority if he felt it was against his stated principles. So now I am expected to believe that he would change his pin cooked in the face of some people who face him money? That doesn't really fly. The other instance he showed any inclination to return to politics was when the democrats briefly wished for him to run for president in 1868. Grants nomination quashed that effort.

The last post he sought was secretary of war under Cleveland. He was a patriotic American who always put the union and constitution first. Other statements tend to be rather libelous. Facts would be a nice touch.

It is a staple of modern politics to color any person who is part of a party with every principle that party may represent. That certainly wasn't the case in the 1860s and 70s. That is a more modern phenomena. There were War democrats, peace democrats and moderates. All of McClellan's actions place him firmly in the camp of war democrats. It is interesting how he is ways represented as having treasonous intentions because he was a strict constitutionalist.

Lincoln's statements in reference to the constitution, especially later in his reign, shows that he didnt hold that document with the same respect McClellan did.

 

[Gray Mouser]

"Can you provide actual evidence to the contrary?".....Believe it or not, most secret societies do not write down the moments from there meetings. Some of the most secret of all whisper from mouth to ear and have by-laws that subject anyone that may write materials pertaining to the organization to death. At best I can only draw your attention to someone like Oliver North. Not all of what he appeared to be doing was above the table. The C.I.A. is much like the K.G.C..."


I could fill pages of this thread with historical references where secret societies did exactly that.

Both KGC and copperheads semed to have carried visible signs of their allegiance. How secret is that?

This site has a link to a published document of one:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/kgc/202274-authentic-exposition-k-g-c-knights-golden-circle.html

 

[uglymailman]

I've watched this thread w/interest L.C. I have no idea if McClellan was involved or not. I don't think he tried to "throw" the war. From what I've read he wanted superior firepower before engaging.
On the other hand. He did not free the slaves in areas he occupied. Gen. Fremont did this in the Trans Mississippi and it got him recalled to Washington. It should be noted the Emancipation Proclamation never addressed those slaves held in unoccupied areas of Missouri (basically North of the Missouri River),those in Maryland and some occupied areas of Louisiana.
The Union Pacific went south from Omaha because they were paid by the mile and in some areas (maybe all) they were deeded alternate sections (one mile by one mile, 640 acres). They wanted to sell this land and the closer to civilization they were the quicker it would sell.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

I've watched this thread w/interest L.C. I have no idea if McClellan was involved or not. I don't think he tried to "throw" the war. From what I've read he wanted superior firepower before engaging.
On the other hand. He did not free the slaves in areas he occupied. Gen. Fremont did this in the Trans Mississippi and it got him recalled to Washington. It should be noted the Emancipation Proclamation never addressed those slaves held in unoccupied areas of Missouri (basically North of the Missouri River),those in Maryland and some occupied areas of Louisiana.
The Union Pacific went south from Omaha because they were paid by the mile and in some areas (maybe all) they were deeded alternate sections (one mile by one mile, 640 acres). They wanted to sell this land and the closer to civilization they were the quicker it would sell.

I believe the Union Pacific went south from Omaha because the K.G.C's money was already laid out in expectation of Nebraska City becoming the state capitol and the transcontinental railroad would have came from the east to Nebraska City before heading west through the land they had speculated on heavily before Thomas Cumming through a monkey wrench in the plan upon Francis Burt's death and he made Omaha the capitol instead to make a fortune on his own speculation. This move led to cumming's early death....

L.C.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

"Can you provide actual evidence to the contrary?".....Believe it or not, most secret societies do not write down the moments from there meetings. Some of the most secret of all whisper from mouth to ear and have by-laws that subject anyone that may write materials pertaining to the organization to death. At best I can only draw your attention to someone like Oliver North. Not all of what he appeared to be doing was above the table. The C.I.A. is much like the K.G.C..."


I could fill pages of this thread with historical references where secret societies did exactly that.

Both KGC and copperheads semed to have carried visible signs of their allegiance. How secret is that?

This site has a link to a published document of one:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/kgc/202274-authentic-exposition-k-g-c-knights-golden-circle.html

By all means let er rip Mouser you have my attention. By the way that book was written anonymously and has no actual facts that were documented as 100% proof from written K.G.C. records.

Great stuff, L.C.

P.S. remember to think in the past and not in the present...at what point were the rumors made public? Obviously not during the heat of the moment or they would have all been arrested for treason....

 

[L.C. BAKER]

"The Constitution and the Union must be preserved, whatever may be the cost in time, treasure and blood"

Abraham Lincoln agreed completely with this sentence up until about June of 1862. Then he decided he needed to take harsher methods. No Copperhead agreed with that sentence. The Peace Democrats (Copperheads) favored peace at any cost, not the preservation of the Union at any cost. They did not agree at all with re inclusion of blood to that statement.

Take a look at McClellan's acceptance speech.

http://ia700202.us.archive.org/1/items/democraticplatform00mcclrich/democraticplatform00mcclrich.pdf

He clearly says that he would never allow the sacrifice of all his comrades to lead to any circumstance where the union is not preserved. Every qualification he makes is founded on the principle of the Union being preserved. There is no compromise on this point and it stands directly against the Copperheads. I fail to see any evidence that he ever entertained views other than this.

He spent 7 out of the 20 years remaining in his life in Europe. The other 13 were spent as an engineer once again or a railroad president. According to McClellan his nomination for governor was a surprise to him and his entire political career was a 2 year stint as governor of New Jersey.

Lots of people supported him. That doesn't mean he was beholden to them. You are referring to a man that stood against any figure of authority if he felt it was against his stated principles. So now I am expected to believe that he would change his pin cooked in the face of some people who face him money? That doesn't really fly. The other instance he showed any inclination to return to politics was when the democrats briefly wished for him to run for president in 1868. Grants nomination quashed that effort.

The last post he sought was secretary of war under Cleveland. He was a patriotic American who always put the union and constitution first. Other statements tend to be rather libelous. Facts would be a nice touch.

It is a staple of modern politics to color any person who is part of a party with every principle that party may represent. That certainly wasn't the case in the 1860s and 70s. That is a more modern phenomena. There were War democrats, peace democrats and moderates. All of McClellan's actions place him firmly in the camp of war democrats. It is interesting how he is ways represented as having treasonous intentions because he was a strict constitutionalist.

Lincoln's statements in reference to the constitution, especially later in his reign, shows that he didnt hold that document with the same respect McClellan did.

Do you know who was secretary of agriculture under Cleveland? Did you know it was under his administration that the La Abra mining company finally started getting paid again? Of course it was due to a presidential move while congress was out of session...(La Abra was a K.G.C. fraud against Mexico that used the U.S. government to strong arm the mexicans out of money....the litigation initiated by S.F. Nuckolls and H.P. Benet, and Allen Alexander Bradford all members of the K.G.C. from Nebraska City, began in 1865 and continued through many administrations.

L.C.

 

[Gray Mouser]

Guilt by Non-Association

Being a prospective member of a cabinet by no means ensures each individual has the same views as their peers. Take a look at Lincoln's cabinet, or any cabinet really. This type of analysis could lead one to state Lincoln wanted to try every southerner who bore arms against the administration as a traitor to be executed if guilty. That was the view of several of his cabinet members and it was A. Johnson's attempt to continue Lincoln's reconstruction methods and continue with Lincoln's cabinet that led to his impeachment proceedings.

The coloring of McClellan's began very early into Stanton's attaining the post of secretary of war. This was the double taking double dealing member of the previous administration, who ingratiated himself with McClellan and constantly ridiculed Lincoln. Once in the administration he became a staunch enemy of McClellan. Have to take that sort of man with a huge grain of salt.

Take a gander at these facts: of all the democratic generals of the army of the Potomac only burnside was treated with undue respect. This was mostly due to his endearing manner. Most people couldn't help lining him. McClellan was respected up until the time Lincoln perceived him as a political threat. Then came the accusations of treason, taking from him the forces McClellan believed necessary for victory, keeping him from control over the fleet needed to ship his troops to and from the peninsula. Stanton controlled them from March to September. McClellan never had control of his base of operations at fort Monroe. Over 40% of his force was detained around Washington, obstentiously to cover the capital, though Grant left far less troops as a covering force for Washington during his campaign. This is even though the army of Virginia was stronger at that time than in 1862.

Now take Meade. After Gettysburg Lincoln penned an insulting letter to him which he never sent. Good thing since Meade would have resigned. Compare that with the treatment of McDowell, Hooker and Grant. They were either republicans or did t poses threat to him. He treated them with kid gloves.

No general was beaten more badly than Grant in the battle of the wilderness. If Longstreet wasn't injured and if Gordon's flank attack had been ordered earlier the army of Potomac might have met with disaster. I mean at the critical moment of battle Grabt's army was in almost the unique position in all the annals of war in having not just both his flanks in the air, but an almost mile long gap in his center. That is poor generalship of among the highest order. And Grabt sat their whittling. If Jackson was still alive, OMG. After this battle Grant went into his tent and cried. To his credit he recovered quickly but he was spanked badly and knew it.

The real clincher are these two facts. One: when the army of Potomac began the peninsula campaign, Stanton and Lincoln issues orders closing all recruitment offices around the north and selling all the supplies. How people don't consider this treasonous but consider every action of McClellan's to be so is beyond me? To compound this after Second bull run when the capital was "in danger" (total BS. There were 20k troops in Washington garrison in mutually supporting forts. Lee never considered assaulting Washington thanks to the forts McClellan had built), Stanton was trying to have the arsenal shipped to NY. Thankfully McClellan was given control and countermanded that idiotic order.

If I plunge further research I could surely pull out several private letters where KGC was discussed. They all has their secret handshakes which is hard to hide, as well as emblems. Unfortunately I am engrossed in writing but I like to look more into it later.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

After the war, Ulysses S. Grant was asked to evaluate McClellan as a general. He replied, "McClellan is to me one of the mysteries of the war." What do you think he meant by that reply? Why do you think he was asked the question? There must have been a lot of doubt and speculations about Gen. McClellan at that time. Some suspicion of something underhanded about the man's actions during the war and Questions about his character and judgement would lead one to believe that he had done the opposite of the right things for the right reasons. McClellan himself eventually became a writer to defend his actions during the Peninsula Campaign and the Civil War, he must have been feeling some real pressure to go to that length to try and defend himself publicly although the work would not be published until 1887 after his death. His reputation must have been on the line do to the Democratic Party expressing some interest in nominating him for president again, but when it became clear that Ulysses S. Grant would be the Republican candidate, this interest died. McClellan worked on engineering projects in New York City and was offered the position of president of the newly formed University of California instead. starting in 1872, he also served as the president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad these could have been the public positions that required the early attempts to protect his reputation after the war. He was also a member of the Freemasons (initiated in 1853) and the Democratic party and would run against Lincoln in 1864....but that probably doesn't mean anything

L.C.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

After the war, Ulysses S. Grant was asked to evaluate McClellan as a general. He replied, "McClellan is to me one of the mysteries of the war." What do you think he meant by that reply? Why do you think he was asked the question? There must have been a lot of doubt and speculations about Gen. McClellan at that time. Some suspicion of something underhanded about the man's actions during the war and Questions about his character and judgement would lead one to believe that he had done the opposite of the right things for the right reasons. McClellan himself eventually became a writer to defend his actions during the Peninsula Campaign and the Civil War, he must have been feeling some real pressure to go to that length to try and defend himself publicly although the work would not be published until 1887 after his death. His reputation must have been on the line do to the Democratic Party expressing some interest in nominating him for president again, but when it became clear that Ulysses S. Grant would be the Republican candidate, this interest died. McClellan worked on engineering projects in New York City and was offered the position of president of the newly formed University of California instead. starting in 1872, he also served as the president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad these could have been the public positions that required the early attempts to protect his reputation after the war. He was also a member of the Freemasons (initiated in 1853) and the Democratic party and would run against Lincoln in 1864....but that probably doesn't mean anything

L.C.

HA! 1872...? McClellan was with OAK...

 

[L.C. BAKER]

THE O.A.K. MADE MONEY ON ANOTHER TYPE OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

https://books.google.com/books?id=N...&q=george b mcclellan and paul morton&f=false


https://books.google.com/books?id=w...&q=george b mcclellan and paul morton&f=false


Birds of a feather.........make their nest out of hundred dollar bills!

L.C. Baker