St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-11-05
THE DEATH OF GEN. MCCLELLAN.

The sudden death of Gen. George
Brinton Mcclellan of heart disease at
his home in Orange, n. j., Thursday,
removes one of the most conspicuous,
accomplished, and interesting public
men of the country.
He was native of Philadelphia, and
had nearly completed his fifty ninth
year. From his youth he was marked
with distinction, and when he gradual
ed from the Military Academy at West
Point in 1916 he was made an officer in
the elite corps, the engineers. In the
Mexican war he won two brevets, and
in 1856 he was sent to the Crimea to
observe the operations of the allied
war against Russia. A year later he
left the army, and became chief engi
neer of the Illinois Central Railroad.
Thence, until the rebellion opened, he
was railroad man.
Immediately after President Lin
coins first call for troops, the Cover
nor of Ohio made Mcclellan a Major
General in the volunteer force of that
state but so great was his military
reputation that he was almost imme-
diately appointed by the president a
Major General in the regular army.
He achieved such success in some COM
paratively unimpOrtant engagements
in western Virginia that he received
the thanks of Congress-, and directly
after the battle of Bull Run he was or
dered to Washington and put in COM
mand of the Army of the Potomac.
Three months later, on Nov. ], 1861 +,
when Gen. Scott retired, he was ap-
pointed the commando of all the ar
mics of the United States. This Of
flee, however, he did not long eXer-
else. Being relieved of it with his own
consent, he devoted himself to reOrgan-
izing and disciplining the Army of the
Potomac, and to preparing it for de-
cisive movement against the enemy.
He took command of this army in
the beginning of August, and in March,
seven months afterward, he began his
active campaign in the peninsula of
Virginia. We shall not here under
take to narrate the history of that ire
mendOus and disastrous struggle, be-
ginning with the siege of Yorktown
and ending with the retreat to Harri-
sons Landing. 1t is enough to say
that, while it resulted in failure and
involved an immense calamity to the
Union cause. it was yet relieved by in
cidents of brilliant valOr and unfortu-
nate combination and while McClel-
Ian must doubtless be held to severe
responsibility, he enjoyed at the end
of it to an extraordinary degree the
confidence of his soldiers and the de-
voted friendship of the officers who
had shared with him the horrors, the
misfOrtunes, and the glOries of the
campaign.
The confidence of President Lincoln
in Mcclellan was not broken by the
great collapse upon the peninsula. At
the beginning of September, when
Pope was relieved from command of
the troops around Washington, Nc
Clellan was called to take his place ;
and the memorable battle of Antietam
was fought and won under his orders.
But, whether from his own fault, or
from the fault of others, or from the
force of circumstances, he failed to fol-
low up his victory, and the popular
discomfort, represented in Congress by
such men as Vice President Hamlin,
Senator Wade of Ohio, Senator Chand-
Ter of Michigan, Senator Sumner of
Massachusetts. and Henry Winter Da
Wis and Thaddeus Stevens of the
House, finally became so urgent that
at the end of the first week in NOvem-
Der he was removed, that Burnside,
most incompetent of all, might be
made his successor and here his ca
reer as military commander was
closed.
Next came his nomination for the
presidency by the democratic owen
ton of 1864, in opposition to Abraham
Lincoln, and with most unfortunate
platform and in the election he got
exactly 81 electoral votes. Since then
he has travelled in Europe, and has
been employed as consulting engi-
neer in New Jersey, and as superin-
tendent of docks and piers in the city
of New York. He has also been Gov
ernOr of New Jersey, and in every sta
ton he has enjoyed the respect of the
public, and has increased and not di-
unfinished the numbers of his friends.
The news of his friends. The news of
his death will be received with sorrow
by all and with intenser feeling by
many.-[N Y. Sun.