{"id":930,"date":"2013-06-28T20:27:43","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T20:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=930"},"modified":"2016-06-19T12:23:02","modified_gmt":"2016-06-19T12:23:02","slug":"letter-to-george-mcclellan-october-13-1862","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-george-mcclellan-october-13-1862\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to George McClellan (October 13, 1862)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributing Editors for this page include Brian Elsner and Susan Segal<\/em><\/p>\n

Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

#44<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n

Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n

Context.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>George Brinton McClellan was appointed the Commander of the Army of the Potomac in 1861 and then General-in-Chief later that year. In March of 1862, he was removed as the General-in-Chief while he was away from Washington as part of the Peninsula Campaign. Then, on November 5, 1862, he was removed as Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Although McClellan was popular with the troops under his command, who called him \u201cLittle Mac,\u201d he had vocal critics in the Republican-controlled Congress and President Lincoln had become increasingly frustrated with McClellan\u2019s delays in pursuing the enemy. This letter from October 13, 1862, less than a month after the Union victory at Antietam (Sharpsburg), clearly illustrates that frustration. (By Susan Segal)<\/p>\n

“Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim?”<\/a><\/p>\n

Audio Version<\/h3>\n