On President's Day, a reminder that Philadelphian General George McClellan was the Democratic nominee in 1864.

Submitted by rossdowdell t3_117bexh in philadelphia

McClellan's father founded Jefferson Hospital.

He was beloved by his troops.

He was given the nickname "The Young Napolean."

He was often duped by Robert E. Lee. Lee figured out McClellan feared defeat and aptly and often convinced "Little Mac" that the Rebel force was larger than it really was.

Lincoln removed McClellan from command due to inactivity. Put him back in command and then just sent him home because McClellan was openly defiant of his commander-in-chief.

The fact is, McClellan was partisan against Lincoln and could barely be in a room with him long enough to hide his contempt. He called Lincoln an ape in letters to his wife.

The Dems nominated McClellan in 1864, hoping his stature could convince Americans a peace by any means was preferred. This was an odd move as McClellan ardently supported the preservation of the Union.

McClellan won 3 states: Delaware, New Jersey and Kentucky.

McClellan was elected governor of New Jersey, weird given he was living in NYC at the time. He was widely considered to have been effective in this office.

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Comments

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Uniball38 t1_j9b2agb wrote

Guy sucked ass. Waste of a statue spot at city hall

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A_small_Chicken t1_j9b5ck4 wrote

While he was a terrible battlefield commander, he was an extremely talented organizer and logistician. Basically built the foundations of the Union army that won the war from nothing.

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A_Peke_Named_Goat t1_j9bbgbj wrote

I don't know, now that prices are down maybe we could set up a vendor nearby and let people throw eggs at it?

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interpretivedancing1 t1_j9eo513 wrote

Did that just seem to happen overnight? When I went shopping this week they were way lower than previous weeks

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A_Peke_Named_Goat t1_j9f0cst wrote

sure seemed that way. It was probably one of those things where a real supply shock (avian flu in some parts of the country) lead to panic buying and then just as quickly a drop off in sales so supply and prices could go back to normal.

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DasBeatles t1_j9bxqqo wrote

Ironic we don't have one of Meade in the city.

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rossdowdell OP t1_j9cl4og wrote

Meade is buried up on Ridge Avenue.

Meade was not a terrible commander. He was just such a dour man that when Grant was promoted above him, few thought of it as a bad thing.

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pervert_hoover t1_j9ctket wrote

there's a statue of Meade on top of one of the big pillars at the victory arch up by the please touch museum

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ell0bo t1_j9e18ee wrote

We do in the park, up near cedar ridge if memory serves correct

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FrankGrimesApartment t1_j9b6iv5 wrote

Finally losing his patience, Lincoln was famously quoted as saying, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time."

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napsdufroid t1_j9bxshn wrote

Even better was what Lincoln said when McClellan wrote him complaining about tired horses: "Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietem that fatigue anything?"

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_ShakenNotStirred t1_j9bsjhs wrote

What a pussy. They still teach about him in Military History classes and what NOT to be as an Army Officer or even NCO.

Grant was the shit.

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A_Peke_Named_Goat t1_j9b1vwt wrote

an historic coward

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barchueetadonai t1_j9bdyu0 wrote

Do you somehow not pronounce the “h?”

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A_Peke_Named_Goat t1_j9bgh4p wrote

I do pronounce, though perhaps not as strongly as some others. To my ear/pronunciation, 'historic' falls in the fuzzy border between the sets of H-words that obviously require an 'a' or an 'an'. I think 'an historic' sounds better but if you think 'a historic' is preferable then go ahead and use it, I won't complain.

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napsdufroid t1_j9bwkk1 wrote

One of history's true assholes

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smbiggy t1_j9clug0 wrote

If he had done his fucking job maybe we wouldn't have as many confederate flags still flying around.

I'm not really that angry, but Ulysses S Grant is the man and mclellan sucked

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ScottishCalvin t1_j9czi04 wrote

His battlefield performance (or lack thereof) is almost forgivable because Robert E Lee was one of history's greatest opponents. But then to go into the election with the platform of negotiating a peace, effectively surrendering at the political level, is just gross negligence. A year after that election, Lincoln (and Sherman and Grant) had overwhelmingly won the war and ended slavery in the South. The North was always miles ahead on every metric when it came to whether the war was easily winnable; McClellan was either incompetent or maybe just way over-promoted but he certainly is *far* down the list of historical locals who should get a statue

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FormalManifold t1_j9d6xw0 wrote

Nah Lee was a shitty strategist and the only reason anyone thinks different is because Lost Cause propaganda worked.

In the South during the same period, he was known as "Granny Lee".

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A_Peke_Named_Goat t1_j9f162u wrote

I wouldn't necessarily call Lee a shitty strategist (from a logistics standpoint, he was destined to lose so he did play a bad hand reasonably well for a while), but it's true his reputation is almost entirely built on McClellan being chicken shit. He should be remembered for being a loser and a morally repugnant human being, both in his personal life and for supporting the worst case known to mankind.

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emet18 t1_j9hhrm8 wrote

Redditor try to have a nuanced take challenge Any% [IMPOSSIBLE]

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