GDG- "...The Ghost of McClellen..."

[Tom Ryan]

-----Original Message-----
From: gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com
[mailto:gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com]On Behalf Of James Cameron
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:54 AM
To: GDG
Subject: Re: GDG- "...The Ghost of McClellen..."


<< My apologies for posting this a few days after the previous discussion,
but I found a quote from a New York soldier's letter that was very
interesting concerning McClellan's influence at Gettysburg: He stated...

  "...it was by mere courage and the ghost of McClellan that we won
Gettysburg..."

  This letter was from a soldier who fought at Gettysburg and wrote home in
August.

  R.L. Murray  >>

<<As with the accounts of the troops cheering rumors that McClellen had been
returned to command, it does show that many in the army still retained a
good deal of respect for the man.  For many, it probably never completely
wore off.

In most cases, especially among the lower ranks, it was probably largely
sentimentality, by this stage in the game.  Among the more senior officers,
though, how one felt about McClellen was a sign of the factionalism which
existed in the officer corps.

Jim Cameron>>

	During the period prior to Meade taking over as AoP commander, there also
appeared to be genuine concern about a repeat of the disaster at
Chancellorsville with Hooker still in command of the army.  Rumors that
"Little Mac" would replace Hooker elicited expressions of relief on the part
of some soldiers and officers that they would not have to bear a similar
humiliation of losing against a vastly inferior army without really engaging
it in battle.

Tom Ryan


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