554 



McCLELLAN, GEORGE B. 



He was ordered to West Point, June 22, 

 1848, and became director in field labors and 

 instructor in the bayonet exercise. While at 

 the Academy he prepared a lecture on Napo- 

 leon's campaign of 1812, furnished various esti- 

 mates for the chief engineer, and in 1849-'50 

 adapted from the French of Gomarda ''Manu- 

 al of Bayonet Exercise," which was made part 

 of the system of instruction, on the recom- 

 mendation of Gen. Scott. In 1851-'52 he was 

 assistant engineer in the construction of Fort 

 Delaware. Early in 1852 he accompanied 

 Capt. R. B. Marcy on an expedition to the 

 Red river. In September of the same year he 

 engaged as senior engineer in surveying the 

 rivers and harbors of Texas. In the spring of 

 1853 he reported to Gov. Isaac L. Stevens, of 

 Washington Territory, who had been put in 

 charge of the survey of the northern route for 

 a railroad to the Pacific, and he was detailed 

 to examine the western part of the proposed 

 line, through the Cascade mountains to Puget 

 Sound. His report forms part of the first vol- 

 ume of Government reports on the "Pacific 

 Railroad Surveys." July 1, 1853, he was made 

 first lieutenant. In the summer of 1854 he 

 was sent to the West Indies on a secret mis- 

 sion to determine upon the best site for a gov- 

 ernment coaling-station. He chose the bay 

 and promontory of Samana, on the northeast 

 coast of Hayti. On his return he was engaged 

 on special service in collecting railroad statis- 

 tics for the War Department, and, having been 

 made captain of cavalry, March 3, 1855, he 

 was selected by the Secretary of War, Jeffer- 

 son Davis, to go to Europe in 1855-'56, during 

 the Crimean War, with Maj. Delafield of the 

 Engineers and Maj. Mordecai of the Ordnance 

 Department, to report on the military systems 

 of Europe and suggest improvements in the or- 

 ganization of the United States Army. His 

 report on "The Armies of Europe" was pub- 

 lished by order of Congress in October, 1861. 



On Jan. 16, 1857, he resigned his commis- 

 sion and became chief engineer of the Illinois 

 Central Railroad. In the beginning of 1858 

 he was made vice-president of the road, and 

 assumed general charge of its business, taking 

 up his residence in Chicago. In 1860 he mar- 

 ried Miss Ellen Marcy, daughter of Capt. R. B. 

 Marcy ; and in the same year he was chosen 

 President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, 

 and removed to Cincinnati, where he lived at 

 the outbreak of the civil war. 



When hostilities began, Gov. Dennison, of 

 Ohio, called upon him to aid in organizing the 

 volunteers of that State. He went to Colum- 

 bus at once, and entered upon the task, and 

 on April 23, 1861, under an act of the Legisla- 

 ture for the appointment of officers in the 

 State troops other than militia, he was com- 

 missioned major-general of Ohio militia vol- 

 unteers. May 3, 1861, the States of Ohio, In- 

 diana, and Illinois were erected into the Mili- 

 tary Department of the Ohio, to which West 

 Virginia was afterward added, and he was as- 



signed to the command, with headquarters at 

 Cincinnati, near which a camp of instruction, 

 Camp Dennison, was formed. On May 14,' 

 1861, at the request of the Governor of Ohio 

 and on the advice of Gen. Scott, he was com- 

 missioned major-general in the regular army. 

 The Confederate attempt to suppress the re- 

 sistance of the Union people of West Virginia 

 to the secession movement, and to break the 

 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, brought on the 

 first regular campaign of the war, which was 

 short, sharp, and decisive. Under the orders 

 of Gen. R. E.' Lee, Col. Porterfield took posses- 

 sion of Graf ton, on the line of the railroad, and 

 began burning bridges and destroying the road. 

 On May 26, 1861, McClellan ordered two regi- 

 ments to cross the Ohio at Wheeling, and two 

 others at Parkersburg, both detachments to 

 concentrate by rapid marches upon Porterfield 

 at Grafton. That officer was warned in time 

 to withdraw to Philippi, fifteen miles south- 

 ward, but two converging columns sent after 

 him from Grafton fell upon him, June 3, and 

 routed his force completely. As a result of 

 this preliminary struggle, a convention of dele- 

 gates from about forty counties of Virginia met 

 at Wheeling, June 11, repudiated the acts of 

 the State government, and formed a provision- 

 al government, thus beginning the movement 

 that resulted in the creation of a new State. 

 On June 22, McClellan moved his headquarters 

 to Parkersburg, and thence to Gratton; and 

 about the same time the Confederate General 

 Garnett arrived at Beverly and made arrange- 

 ments for holding the passes at Laurel Hill and 

 Rich mountain, which he described as "the 

 gates to the Northwestern country." He placed 

 Col. Pegram with a regiment and six guns in 

 the pass at Rich mountain, and took position 

 in the pass at Laurel Hill himself, with about 

 three regiments, leaving a detachment at Bev- 

 erly. McClellan pushed forward part of his 

 force from Philippi, threatening the. latter po- 

 sition, while he himself advanced with the rest 

 on Rich mountain, by way of Buckhannpn, 

 aiming at Beverly, with the design of cutting 

 off Garnett from his base at Staunton. On 

 July 9 he reached Roaring creek, two miles 

 from Pegram's intrenched camp. After a re- 

 connaissance the next day, showing that a di- 

 rect assault could only be made at great co^t, 

 he sent Gen. Rosecrans, July 11, at that offi- 

 cer's suggestion, to the crest of the mountain 

 with a strong detachment, designing to attack 

 the enemy in front and rear. Rosecrans, after 

 a toilsome march, encountered a small body 

 of the enemy on the crest of the mountain, 

 defeated it, and then rested. Pegram, seem; 

 the Union troops in front and rear, spiked 1 

 guns and retreated northward along the mount- 

 ain to join Garnett at Laurel Hill ; but that 

 general had fallen back to Leedsville on tl 

 first news of Pegram's defeat. On July 12, 

 McClellan pushed on to Beverly, cutting off tl 

 only line of retreat southward, compelling Gar- 

 nett to turn northward toward St. George and 



