Synopses & Reviews
A superb piece of historical scholarship. Rafuse has crafted a bookthat is groundbreaking in its conception. -- Joseph L. Harsh, author ofConfederate Tide Rising: Robert E. Lee and the Making of Southern Strategy, 1861--1862
Brings something new, or at least relativelyunknown, to the 'McClellan debate.'... It is the first work I have read thatexplains McClellan's approach in a way that is both somewhat favorable andsatisfactory, showing the basis of McClellan's views. -- Brian K. Burton, author of Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles
Thisbiography of the controversial Union general George B. McClellan examines theinfluences and political antecedents that shaped his behavior on the battlefield, behavior that so frustrated Lincoln and others in Washington that he was removedfrom his command soon after the Union loss at Antietam. Rather than take sides inthe controversy, Ethan S. Rafuse finds in McClellan's politics and his desire torestore sectional harmony ample explanation for his actions. Rafuse sheds new lighton the general who believed in the rule of reason and moderation, who sought apolicy of conciliation with the South, and who wanted to manage the North's militaryresources in a way that would impose rational order on the battlefield.