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George B. McClellan

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:800.00 - 1,200.00 USD
George B. McClellan

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Auction Date:2011 Apr 13 @ 19:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Union general (1826–1885) removed from command by Lincoln for his failure to exert pressure on Lee’s army during the crucial Peninsula Campaign. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1864 and later served as Governor of New Jersey. War-dated ALS signed “Geo B. McClellan,” one page, 5.25 x 8.25, no date [but penned in January 1864 based on its content]. Letter to Edwin Bartlett. In full: “Your kind note inviting me to attend your Whist party reached me this afternoon. I am very busy just now in writing against time–being engaged in preparing a Chapter on Western Virginia to accompany the New York Edition of my Report, so that I fear it will not be in my power to avail myself of your kindness. Mrs. McC unites with me in kindest regards to Mrs Bartlett & yourself. With my sincere thanks for your thoughtfulness.” In fine condition.

Newspaper accounts of McClellan’s early battle victories in western Virginia made him a national hero, with the New York Herald going so far as to dub him the ‘Napoleon of the Present War.’ As referenced here, McClellan soon put details of the fight on paper, “writing against time” and “being engaged in preparing a Chapter on Western Virginia to accompany the New York Edition of my Report.” This ‘Chapter on Western Virginia’ would became the introductory chapter—as well as part of the title—of his Report. Several months later, with McClellan dismissed from his post by President Abraham Lincoln, the Democratic Party nominated the general as their presidential candidate. Supporters used his government publication to tout his abilities while opponents used the same facts against him. One review, in The Atlantic Monthly, noted that, ‘The Report is a political manifesto, and not only that, but an attack on the administration which appointed him to the command, supported him with all its resources, and whose only fault it was not sooner to discover his incapacity to conduct aggressive political movements.’ Great correspondence with a direct reference to his soon-to-be-published Report.