GDG- Lurker Request....McClellan Background

[Tom Ryan]

<<Esteemed Colleagues:
  I'm not sure if "Team of Rivals" is off pint, but I guess we could draw a
squiggle line from Lincoln to Gettysburg, n'est ce pas?
  Anyway, about mid-way through the book, Goodwin mentions that McClellan's
Peninsula Plan was to go down the Potomac, go up the Rappahannock to Urbanna
and march southwest toward Richmond...As we all know the executed Plan went
to Yorktown and up the York (and down the James, but that, as they say, is
an entirely different story...)
  The questions are:(1) who changed the original Plan?, and (2) why?
  If this is too far off-point, I'll understand....
  Thanx
  The Black-Belt Lurker...
  Hugh Regan>>

Hi Hugh,

	In part, Joe Johnston caused the plan to be changed by abandoning Manassas,
and falling back behind the Rappahannock.  McClellan realized that the basis
for his Urbanna plan had been undermined, since he longer had the advantage
of being able to bypass Johnston's forces in order to reach Richmond
uncontested.

	McClellan dropped the ball into the lap of his generals to make the
decision whether to abandon the Urbanna plan and change it to using Fort
Monroe as the jumping off point to move up the Peninsula.  The generals
agreed with this, and then Pres. Lincoln approved the change -- and the rest
as they say is history!

	Stephen Sears has a good explanation of this situation in "To the Gates of
Richmond:  The Peninsula Campaign."

	It is interesting to compare McClellan and George Meade's use of war
councils at Gettysburg.  McClellan  used them to maneuver around political
issues that were not in his favor.  At Gettysburg and during the retreat,
Meade called war councils to get opinions from his generals, and accepted
their decisions in each case.  McClellan manipulated the councils, while
Meade simply deferred to their judgment.  Neither method was ideal in my
opinion.

Regards, Tom Ryan