Category Archives: George B. McClellan

Ball’s Bluff

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Ball’s Bluff – An Early Union Battle Disaster

October 21, 1861

“I want sudden, bold, forward, determined war.”

Senator Edward D. Baker’s reaction to Fort Sumter as he declared it to the Senate. Baker was a unique individual who would play a key role in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff.

Edward D. Baker: A Man On The Move

Colonel Edward D. Baker

Colonel Edward D. Baker

When Edward D. Baker was four, his family moved from England to Philadelphia. Baker later lived in Illinois where he was admitted to the bar in 1830. In 1835, he started in local Illinois politics and along this path he met a young Abraham Lincoln.

In 1837 Baker was elected to the United States Congress and in 1840 to the United States Senate. Edward D. Baker defeated Abraham Lincoln in 1844 for the United States congressional seat, and was elected. Despite their political competition Lincoln and Baker were good friends and later Lincoln named his second son, Edward Baker Lincoln, after him.

Baker was a veteran of the Black Hawk War of 1832 and in the Mexican War he served as a colonel of the 4th Illinois Volunteers. After this he moved to Galena, Illinois to run for the United States Congress, thus avoiding running against his friend Abraham Lincoln from Springfield whom he had previously defeated in political contest. Baker was elected to Congress, but he failed to obtain a cabinet appointment from President Franklin Pierce in 1852, so he moved on west to follow the California Gold Rush. Edward D. Baker was admitted to the bar in California.

In 1860 Baker was on the move again, this time to Oregon. Following in his tradition of political success, he was elected to the United States Senate. At Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration Edward D. Baker rode in the presidential carriage and introduced Lincoln before his inaugural address.

In May, 1861 Baker’s star once again was on the rise as the Civil War began to boil. He was authorized by the Secretary of War to form an infantry regiment that would be counted as part of the California quota. Baker raised the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry (also known as the 1st California) by mostly recruiting troops from Philadelphia and he served as the regiment’s colonel. Only a few month’s later, Baker gained command of a brigade in General Charles P. Stone’s division. Baker’s duty as brigade commander was to guard fords of the Potomac River north of Washington.

By the fall of 1861, Edward D. Baker was fifty-years-old. He was handsome, beardless, a close personal friend of President Abraham Lincoln, and a staunch Union supporter. He was both an Oregon senator and a colonel in the army. Baker had distinguished himself at many levels of law and politics, and now further achievement apparently awaited him as a Civil War officer.

Edward D. Baker was a man fond of reciting poetry who was always on the move, he was larger than life. Soon Baker would have the opportunity to “promote sudden, bold, forward, determined war.”

With a Civil War now underway, may God bless and protect any Confederate found in Colonel Edward D. Baker’s path of success and accomplishment.

Ball’s Bluff Civil War Battlefield

https://youtu.be/HR9vsK6VIo0

Ball’s Bluff

Ball’s Bluff is along the Potomac River about 35 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., and is northeast of Leesburg, Virginia. It is a steep 100-foot-high bank rising above the Potomac on the Virginia shore. In 1861 there was a 50-yard-deep floodplain from the river, and the bluff itself was about 600 yards wide. The steep and wooded bank of the bluff had a 10 to 12 foot-wide cow or cart path meandering from the shore up to the top.

Approximately halfway across the Potomac River from Ball’s Bluff and toward the Virginia shore, is Harrison’s Island. The water runs swiftly through this narrow channel between Ball’s Bluff and Harrison’s Island. From Harrison’s Island across the Potomac over to the Maryland shore, the channel is wider and shallower.

General George B. McClellan Takes Action

After First Bull Run, the Confederates were firmly planted and in control of most of northeast Virginia. In October, CSA General Joseph E. Johnston had accumulated the majority of Confederate troops at Centerville. There were still some Rebel troops around Leesburg north of Centerville, but there were rumors floating about that Johnston was pulling his Leesburg men back (a black deserter of the 13th Mississippi had told that the Confederates at Leesburg had removed supplies back to Manassas, thus preparing for a retreat).

Union General George B. McClellan thought it might be worthwhile to see how sincere Johnston was about keeping troops at Leesburg. Camped at Langley on the Virginia side of the Potomac was the Pennsylvania Reserves division and it had 13,000 troops led by George McCall. McClellan sent McCall to Dranesville (about halfway between Leesburg and Washington, D. C.) on October 19, thinking this advancement of Yankee troops might help urge Joe Johnston to move his troops out of Leesburg.

Contrary to McClellan’s expectations, instead of withdrawing Confederate commander Nathan “Shanks” Evans took up a defensive position west of Dranesville. Then to further complicate the situation, on the morning of October 20 McClellan received an incorrect message saying the Confederates had responded to McCall’s movement by withdrawing. Shanks Evans’s defensive actions west of Dranesville were misinterpreted as a withdrawal.

General Charles Stone Moves Troops

McClellan wanted to be sure about the Confederate retreat, so he sent an order containing these words to General Charles Stone on the Maryland side of the Potomac:

“…keep a good lookout upon Leesburg, to see if this movement has the effect to drive them away. Perhaps a slight demonstration on your part would have the effect to move them.”

General Stone interpreted McClellan’s orders freely and proceeded to cross a regiment or two at Edward’s Ferry below Ball’s Bluff, and sent other troops three miles up the Maryland side of the Potomac so they could cross over to Virginia at Harrison’s Island. Stone’s thoughts were that he could apply some pressure to the Confederates and urge them to retreat from Leesburg.

Where Are The Rebels? How Many Are There?

Stone’s men marching toward the crossing at Harrison’s Island were the 20th Massachusetts. It was a nighttime march and by midnight they found themselves making the crossing from the Maryland shore. This crossing was difficult and slow because they only had three small boats that could only ferry a combined total of 25 men at a time. There was a lot of standing around, waiting, and confusion for those men waiting to cross and for those who had crossed over the river.

Near dawn on October 21, all the 20th Massachusetts found itself on Harrison’s Island and looking out at the remaining river crossing of 150 yards over to the Virginia shore. Beyond the river there was a high and wooded bluff, Ball’s Bluff was its name. They also learned that the previous evening the 15th Massachusetts had moved five companies over to the Virginia shore. Those men were now up on the high bluff and something was going on up there.

The 20th Massachusetts continued on and made its crossing from Harrison’s Island, then it climbed up Ball’s Bluff by the meandering cow or cart path. At the top they found themselves in a glade of open ground and not much seemed to be going on. That dawn, Colonel Charles Devon of the 15th Massachusetts had taken some troops almost all the way to Leesburg, west of Ball’s Bluff. Devon ran into some Confederate outposts during his foray and some shots were fired. Devon was now back at the glade.

Confederates were off somewhere in the woods beyond the glade and on higher ground. There were some pickets doing some shooting. No one knew exactly where the Rebels were, nor how many of them there might be. Colonel Devon sent word off to General Stone, reporting what he knew. Stone sent word back telling Devon to wait for Colonel Edward D. Baker, who would arrive soon with more troops and he would take charge.

Colonel Edward D. Baker Takes Charge At Ball’s Bluff

After some delay, Colonel Baker arrived at Ball’s Bluff and took command, ready to satisfy his want of: “sudden, bold, forward, determined war.” Abraham Lincoln’s close friend was now in charge, ready to move (Remember, Baker was always a man on the move!) against the Confederates. One can only imagine how much Baker, the successful lawyer and politician, had longed for this moment.

Edward D. Baker was known to occasionally recite poetry, and once on a battlefield had told a friend to:

“Press where ye see my white plume shine amidst the ranks of war.”

As Baker assumed command he told Colonel Devon, “I congratulate you, sir, on the prospect of a battle,” and to the troops nearby he inquired, “Boys, you want to fight, don’t you?” The boys responded positively. The fight was on.

The Battle of Ball’s Bluff Video

https://youtu.be/rlJTny3MFpI

Seeing The Elephant

The Rebel fire was becoming more and more frequent. The Johnny Rebs were concentrating in greater numbers on the high ground beyond in the woods. Baker had moved a couple of guns up on the bluff and they were put to work shelling the woods from where the Rebel sniping fire came. The 20th Massachusetts returned fire, but men were being hit and falling to the ground. The troops were green and new to the idea that the enemy shot back at them, and with accuracy too. The men felt their nerves frazzle as they saw the elephant first-hand. This was no camp practice drill, blood flowed and lives were ending.

Colonel Milton Cogswell

Baker returned to the edge of the bluff and saw the New York Tammany Regiment making its way up the path. With the arrival of the Tammany men, there would be a total of four Union regiments on Ball’s Bluff. Colonel Baker felt more and more confident. Upon seeing Colonel Milton Cogswell of the Tammany Regiment approaching the top of the bluff, Baker waved and greeted the colonel with a line from Sir Walter Scott’s “The Lady of the Lake“:

“One blast upon your bugle horn is worth a thousand men.”

Colonel Milton Cogswell of the Tammany Regiment was not a lawyer and politician turned officer. Cogswell was a genuine professional soldier from West Point and he saw the situation at the top of Ball’s Bluff much differently than Colonel Edward D. Baker. To Cogswell’s trained military eye, things looked bad. Very bad.

A Turkey Shoot

The Confederates held the high ground in woods, brush, and timber, and they were picking off Union men at will. It was like a turkey-shoot. Cogswell knew the Confederates were building up to an attack and fearfully the Union men were backed up to a steep bluff with an unfordable river below. To increase the trouble that Cogswell anticipated, soon one of the guns recoiled over the cliff’s bluff. The Rebels had already silenced the other gun with sniper fire and now the Union men were left with no big gun.

Colonel Edward D. Baker’s Death

Death of Col. Edward D. Baker

Death of Col. Edward D. Baker (not true to life).

Colonel Edward D. Baker may have been a lawyer-politician made into a colonel, but he was not an idiot. Baker immediately caught on to the dire circumstances facing the Union men. He moved along the Union line encouraging the troops to stand fast.

Perhaps Colonel Edward D. Baker realized that if they retreated down the bluff, then there were only three small boats waiting to ferry everyone across the river. It would take hours to cross back over the river and they would be at the non-existing mercy of Rebels firing down on them from Ball’s Bluff. It was better to stay and fight.

Certainly, Baker must have had a plan in mind for success, and to save the day for the Union. We’ll never know.

A Rebel sharpshooter, perhaps one not fond of poetry, drew a bead on Colonel Edward D. Baker and killed him instantly with a bullet through the brain.

The Battle Is Lost For The Union

The Union men had lost their poetry quoting lawyer-politician turned colonel. Baker’s body would now be on the move back down Ball’s Bluff. Things began to erode into a complete skedaddle for the men in blue. After all, how can you conduct a battle on a bluff where you are sitting ducks, without inspiring poetry recitation?

Some resistance and maneuvering was attempted, but as dusk came the day was lost for the Union. As Mississippians and Virginians shot at the compacted group of Yankees, men went over the bluff as fast as they could. Union men toppled over the bluff and in their haste to flee they fell agonizingly onto the bayonets and heads of others making their way down. The sides of the bluff were worn down to the dirt, and made smooth by men and bodies. More horror awaited them after they made it down to the river’s narrow shore.

All day long the wounded were coming down the bluff for evacuation, and now two boatloads of wounded soldiers were trying to make their way over to Harrison’s Island. Rebel bullets fired from the bluff above turned the water: “as white as in a great hail storm” as one man described. The boats were soon swamped by panicked men climbing on board in their rush to save their lives.

Many of the wounded of the swamped boats could not help themselves, they drowned and were swept downstream. A remaining sheet-metal skiff soon sank after being shot full of holes. Now there were no boats.

Night fell with bright and scarlet muzzle flashes continuing from high above. Some Union troops surrendered, some stripped down and swam to safety, others found a neck-deep ford and made it over to Harrison’s Island. Finally, over 200 Union men were killed or injured and over 700 were taken prisoner. The Confederate losses were minimal.

Sadness For Abraham Lincoln

Ball’s Bluff was a Union disaster. A day that was once interlaced with poetry, was now more appropriate as a subject for a dirge.

Back in Washington, bodies from Ball’s Bluff would float downstream and gather on the Potomac. Abraham Lincoln would now mourn a Union loss and the death of a close friend.

George B. McClellan Quotes

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George Brinton McClellan – The Young Napoleon

George_B_McClellan

George B. McClellan The Young Napoleon

Early in the Civil War, General George B. McClellan provided needed leadership to the Union military efforts with his organization, administration, and training of men in the rapidly growing and forming army. This was very important at the time and McClellan’s abilities were much-needed. He provided a great service to the inexperienced, raw, and untamed army with his preparation and organizational skills. However, as the war progressed McClellan was ineffectual and unsuccessful at actually taking an army to battle. For President Abraham Lincoln, George B. McClellan was a continual source of frustration because of his inability or unwillingness to move the army and have it do what an army exists to do… which is to fight and defeat the enemy.

George B. McClellan seemed destined for greatness. He was the son of a distinguished Philadelphia doctor and finished second in his class at West Point. In the Mexican War he earned three brevets for gallant and meritorious conduct. Later, he spent a year in Europe and a report he wrote of his observations of foreign military methods brought him acclaim and recognition. Captain McClellan resigned from the United States Army in 1857, and began a career in business. He became vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad where he met a tall, country bumpkin lawyer who represented the railroad. This rough-hewn lawyer’s name was Abraham Lincoln. McClellan looked down on Lincoln, considering Lincoln his inferior both socially and intellectually. Another influential man George B. McClellan met during his railroad times was Allan Pinkerton, who was working as a contract private detective of the railroad. McClellan, Lincoln, and Pinkerton were all destined for importance and greater things when the Civil War came.

With the start of the Civil War, George B. McClellan began as a Major General of Ohio volunteers, then became Major General of the Regular Army and having command of the Department of the Ohio. McClellan was only 35-years-old. During the first year of the Civil War, he’d achieved prominence with Union victories at Rich Mountain and Carrick’s Ford in western Virginia (This part of Virginia would later become the Union State of West Virginia.). McClellan seemed to have the world by the tail. After Irvin McDowell’s defeat at Bull Run, President Lincoln replaced McDowell with McClellan as the commander of the Division of the Potomac, made up of the armies around Washington. General Winfield Scott soon retired as general in chief, and Abraham Lincoln gave George B. McClellan that title and responsibility as well as being the commander of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan told Lincoln: “He could do it all.”

Soon it was apparent to President Lincoln that although George B. McClellan could prepare an army for war, he had no plans, ability, or inclination to actually lead an army into war. Because of his strong skills at organizing and motivating an army, McClellan was dubbed with praiseworthy monikers such as; “The Young Napoleon” and “Little Mac,” but McClellan was always finding fears and reasons not to move the army towards the enemy. McClellan would claim that the army did not have enough supplies, that the horses are too tired, that he needed more and more troops, that his army was vastly outnumbered by the enemy, (Allan Pinkerton, who was now McClellan’s personal secret operative, contributed to this fear and reason for delay of McClellan’s. Pinkerton would often overestimate the number of enemy forces, sometimes by as much as three times their actual number.) and on and on with more and more reasons for delay and more preparation. With McClellan, there was always a reason not to move forward towards the Rebels and engage them in battle.

Instead of considering George B. McClellan as “The Young Napoleon” or “Little Mac,” others had a more critical and disparaging opinion of the arrogant, conceited, strong-willed, constantly delaying, and unmoving McClellan. They referred to him as: “McNapoleon.”

Quotes By and About George B. McClellan

“The true course in conducting military operations, is to make no movement until the preparations are complete.”
–George B. McClellan, while preparing in Washington.

“Who would have thought, when we were married, that I should so soon be called upon to save my country?”
–George B. McClellan’s words from a letter to his wife. President Abraham Lincoln had made George Brinton McClellan commander of the Division of the Potomac after First Bull Run.

“By some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land.”
–George B. McClellan said this of himself shortly after he assumed command of the Union forces around Washington in 1861.

“All quiet along the Potomac.”
–Attributed to General George B. McClellan, c. 1861.

“Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?”
–President Abraham Lincoln’s question directed to George B. McClellan, who had excused his lack of action in the fall of 1862 because of exhausted horses. McClellan was removed from command soon afterward.

“If he had a million men he would swear the enemy has two millions, and then he would sit down in the mud and yell for three.”
–Edwin M. Stanton, the United States secretary of war commenting on General George B. McClellan. McClellan often overestimated the number of enemy forces opposing him, and so he always needed and wanted more men and more supplies before he could take offensive action.

It is called the Army of the Potomac, but it is only McClellan’s bodyguard…If McClellan is not using the army, I should like to borrow it for a while.
–Abraham Lincoln on April 9, 1862, regarding George B. McClellan. McClellan often tested Lincoln’s patience because of his failure to take action against the Confederates. This quote is from a note Lincoln eventually decided not to send.

General McClellan, if I understand you correctly, before you strike at the Rebels, you want to be sure of plenty of room so you can run in case they strike back.
–This is from Zachariah Chandler, a member of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War as he was questioning McClellan regarding his inability to take offensive movement against the Rebels.

McClellan’s vice…was always waiting to have everything just as he wanted before he would attack, and before he could get things arranged as he wanted them, the enemy pounced on him.
–Union General George G. Meade regarding General George B. McClellan. McClellan was a brilliant organizer and administrator, and he had good strategic sense. His organizational skills as a commander were badly needed to whip the army into shape early in the war. His training of the Union armies for war is highly regarded.

“Stand by General Burnside as you have stood by me and all will be well.”
–George B. McClellan’s advice to his troops after being replaced by Burnside in November of 1862.

The effect of this man’s presence upon the Army of the Potomac–in sunshine or in rain, in darkness or in daylight, in victory or defeat–was electrical, and too wonderful to make it worthwhile attempting to give a reason for it.
–Anonymous comments regarding Union General George B. McClellan. McClellan was loved by his troops and he staged grand reviews to improve the morale of the men. He made the men of the army proud.

“He went beyond the formal military salute, and gave his cap a little twirl, which with his bow and smile seemed to carry a little personal good fellow-ship to the humblest private soldier…It was very plain that these little attentions to the troops took well, and had no small influence in establishing a sort of comradeship between him and them.”
–A Union officer describing General George B. McClellan. The soldiers believed in McClellan, they thought he was the one who would lead them to victory.

“He has got an eye like a hawk. I looked him right in the eye and he done the same by me.”
–A Union soldier from Massachusetts commenting on General George B. McClellan. The soldiers of the Army of the Potomac called him “Little Mac” and in the press he was called “Young Napoleon.”

“Sending armies to McClellan is like shoveling fleas across a barnyard. Not half of them get there.”
–Abraham Lincoln expressing his frustration and dissatisfaction with General George George B. McClellan.

“Action, action is what we want and what we must have.”
–George Brinton McClellan, 1862.

“I regard it as certain that the enemy will meet us with all his force on or near the Chickahominy…If I am not re-enforced, it is probable that I will be obliged to fight nearly double my numbers, strongly entrenched.”
–George B. McClellan on May 10, 1862.

“I feel sure of success, so good is the spirit of my men and so great their ardor. But I am tired of the battlefield, with its mangled corpses and poor wounded. Victory has no charms for me when purchased at such a cost.”
–George B. McClellan on June 2, 1862.

“I prefer Lee to Johnston. The former is too cautious and weak under grave responsibility–personally brave and energetic to a fault, he yet is wanting in moral firmness when pressed by heavy responsibility and is likely to be timid and irresolute in action.”
–Union General George B. McClellan sizing up Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

“McClellan will make this a battle of posts. He will take position from position, under cover of his heavy guns. I am preparing a line that I can hold with part of our forces in front, while the rest I will endeavor to make a diversion to bring McClellan out.”
–Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s thoughts and plans for handling Union General George B. McClellan in June, 1862.

“The spectacle yesterday was the grandest I could conceive of. Nothing could be more sublime. Those on whose judgement I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly, and that it was a masterpiece of art.”
–George B. McClellan commenting on his own performance at the Battle of Antietam. Antietam was not a tactical victory for the North.

“I will hold McClellan’s horse if he will only bring us success.”
–Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Abe would be holding that horse for a long time while waiting for success from George B. McClellan. When McClellan failed to pursue Robert E. Lee after Antietam, Abraham Lincoln made Ambrose Burnside commander of the Army of the Potomac.

My book 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes features quotes made before, during, and after the Civil War. Each quote has an informative note to explain the circumstances and background of the quote. Learn Civil War history from the spoken words and writings of the military commanders, political leaders, the Billy Yanks and Johnny Rebs who fought in the battles, the abolitionists who strove for the freedom of the slaves, the descriptions of battles, and the citizens who suffered at home. Their voices tell us the who, what, where, when, and why of the Civil War. Available as a Kindle device e-book or as a paperback. Get 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes now!