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McClellan, has well said: “A general of high spirit and sensitive soul might have found in the government's action the occasion for sending in his resignation; but
General McClellan continued in command, accepted the situation, and endeavored to make the best of it.”
And still another has said, although inclined to be partial and unfair, in his account of the battles of
Antietam and
Fredericksburg:
His capacity and energy as an organizer are universally recognized.
He was an excellent strategist, and, in many respects, an excellent soldier.
He did not use his own troops with sufficient promptness and vigor to achieve great and decisive results, but he was oftener successful than unsuccessful with them; and he so conducted affairs that they never suffered heavily without inflicting heavy loss upon their adversaries.
It may appear a strange statement to follow the other matter which this volume contains, but it is none the less true, that there are strong grounds for believing that he was the best commander the Army of the Potomac ever had.
Concluding a comparison, that redounds much to the credit of
General McClellan, both as a soldier and a patriot, the same writer says :
A growing familiarity with his history as a soldier, increases the disposition to regard him with respect and gratitude, and to believe, while recognizing the limitations of his nature, that his failure to
