GDG- Re: McClellan

[Biggsk at aol.com]

Hello,
 
One post wondered if there wasn't a more sympathetic biography of George  
McClellan waiting in the wings.  That book has been out for some time  actually 
by historian Ethan Rafuse.
 
Much of his argument was to show that Mac did not want to wage the heavy  
hand of war too hard as he felt that if the Union one the defeated Confederates  
would once again be their fellow countrymen.  Thus he never wanted to  really 
smash a Confederate army in battle.
 
Sounds like a decent excuse but in reality it was the smashing of enemy  
armies that won wars - nothing less usually does.  For someone nicknamed  the 
"Young Napoleon" he certainly failed to understand how the Emperor fought  his 
battles - and that his goal WAS to smash enemy armies and then dictate peace  by 
the point of his sword.  Did pretty well for the Romans too in their  history 
and from their perspective.
 
Greg Biggs