GDG- Lurker Request....McClellan Background

[Tom Ryan]

<<I think it's very interesting that Meade was only a couple of months
removed
from Chancellorsville where he was among the generals advising Hooker to
stay
and fight, and being largely ignored. This experience and his confidence in
these generals must neccesarily have weighed heavily on his initial
decisions
during the Gettysburg Campaign.
I wonder if he held a council before he retreated from Lee's defensive
position at Mine Run, Virginia in Fall 1863? It seems likely he would
have.>>

June,

	From Meade's testimony to the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct
of the War
on March 5, 1864, he did not hold a commander's meeting prior to retreating
from Mine Run.  From his description, he consulted with Warren and Sedgwick
individually (they were to lead attacks on Lee's left and right
respectively), and, based on their concerns about the strength of the Rebel
positions, cancelled the attacks before withdrawing.  Depending on which
accounts you read about this situation, Meade was not happy with his
generals for not following his orders to attack.

	It is interesting to note that in his testimony to the JCCCW Meade fudged
on the size of Lee's army and his own strength at Mine Run.  In response to
a question, he responded that Lee "had about 60,000 men" and that the AoP
was "from 5,000 to 10,000 his superior."  In fact Meade had received an
intel report prior to Mine Run giving Lee 40,000 troops, while Meade forces
numbered in the vicinity of 80,000.  It turned out that Lee actually had
about 48,000, yet Meade still had close to twice as many troops available
for the battle.

	This is reminiscent of his testimony about Gettysburg to the JCCCW in
response to a question about the comparative strength of the two armies.
Meade stated "My opinion about that was that General Lee was, as far as I
could tell, about 10,000 or 15,000 my superior."  He went on to say that "my
strength was a little under 100,000 men--about 95,000.  I think General Lee
had abut 90,000 infantry, from 4,000 to 5,000 artillery, and about 10,000
cavalry."

	These statements tend to undermine Meade's credibility.  While Meade was
correct about the size of his army, he inflated Lee's by almost 40,000
troops at Gettysburg.  This is the Army of the Potomac syndrom:  McClellan
did it in spades, Hooker did it, and Meade followed suit.  It is difficult
to take these men seriously.

Tom Ryan

P.S.  All Meade had to do was ask his intel people how many troops Lee had
at Gettysburg, and he would have gotten an answer that would have been right
in the ballpark.