^Lot 443 George B. McClellan

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.

McClellan writes Edwin Bartlett, a New York merchant, from New Jersey, where he had been ordered to report after Lincoln removed him from command in 1862. He was busy writing his “Report on the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac: to which is added an Account of the Campaign in Western Virginia with Plans of the Battle Fields.” The lengthy report recounted his two campaigns, rebutted his critics, and accused the administration of undermining him. The work was published in February of 1864, the year McClellan would challenge Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. A review in the Atlantic Monthly called the report “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.” A fine war-dated letter from the erstwhile General-in-Chief written as he prepared to run against Lincoln.