George B. McClellan : the young Napoleon /
Stephen Sears posits that "General McClellan's importance in shaping the course of the Union during the Civil War was matched only by that of President Lincoln and Generals Grant and Sherman." And yet the "Young Napoleon" has been relegated to the shadows by historians of th...
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Full text (MCPHS users only) |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Boston, Mass :
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Local Note: | ProQuest Ebook Central |
| Summary: | Stephen Sears posits that "General McClellan's importance in shaping the course of the Union during the Civil War was matched only by that of President Lincoln and Generals Grant and Sherman." And yet the "Young Napoleon" has been relegated to the shadows by historians of that great conflict. The youngest in his class at West Point, McClellan was, by age thirty-five, commander of all the Northern armies; he fought the longest and largest campaign of the time and the single bloodiest battle in the nation's history; at thirty-seven, he was nominated for the presidency of the United States by the Democratic party but was soundly defeated by Abraham Lincoln, whom McClellan held in contempt. Believing beyond any doubt that Confederate forces were greater than his and that enemies at his back conspired to defeat him, he equally believed that he was God's chosen instrument to save the Union. Drawing entirely on primary sources, Stephen Sears has given us the first full picture of the contradictory McClellan, a man possessed by demons and delusions By age 35, General George B. McClellan (1826-1885), designated the "Young Napoleon," was the commander of all the Northern armies. He forged the Army of the Potomac into a formidable battlefield foe, and fought the longest and largest campaign of the time as well as the single bloodiest battle in the nation's history. Yet, he also wasted two supreme opportunities to bring the Civil War to a decisive conclusion. In 1864 he challenged Abraham Lincoln as the Democratic candidate for the presidency. Neither an indictment nor an apologia, this biography draws entirely on primary sources to create a splendidly incisive portrait of this charismatic, controversial general who, for the first eighteen months of the conflict, held the fate of the union in his unsteady hands. - Back cover |
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| Item Description: | Title from resource description page (Recorded Books, viewed February 2, 2015). |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource |
| ISBN: | 9780544391222 0544391225 |
