Who was the main commander of the union forces?
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On November 1, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln names George Brinton McClellan general in chief of the Union army, replacing the aged and infirm Winfield Scott. In just six months, McClellan had gone from commander of
the Ohio volunteers to the head of the Union army. McClellan, a Pennsylvania native, graduated from West Point second in his class in 1846 and went on to serve with distinction under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican-American War (1846-48).
McClellan left his successful military career in 1857 for an engineering position with the Illinois Central Railroad, and by the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, he was president of the St. Louis and Cincinnati Railroad. He resigned that position to accept command of the Ohio volunteers with the rank of major general. During the summer of 1861, McClellan led Union troops in a series of
small battles in western Virginia that resulted in Federal control of the strategic region. He earned a national reputation, though it is debatable just how much McClellan contributed to these achievements; in several cases, decisions by his subordinates were the main reason for the success. Nonetheless,McClellan provided Northern victories when they were in scarce supply. On July 16, 1861, the U.S.
House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing his accomplishments in Virginia. Just five days later, the main Union force, commanded by General Irwin McDowell, suffered a humiliating defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, Virginia. In the aftermath of the debacle, many
turned to McClellan to save the war effort. He arrived in Washington, D.C., on July 26 to take command of the disorganized and demoralized Army of the Potomac and quickly began to build a magnificent fighting force, establishing a rigorous training procedure and an efficient command structure. He also demonstrated brashness, pomposity and arrogance toward many of the nation’s political leaders. He loudly complained about Scott, and treated the president with utter contempt. Still,McClellan
was the only real choice to replace Scott. No other Union general had achieved much of anything at that point in the war. After alienating much of the administration by early 1862, McClellan moved the Army of the Potomac to the James Peninsula for an attack on Richmond, Virginia. As a field commander, he proved to be sluggish and timid, and he retreated from the outskirts of the Confederate capital when faced with a series of attacks by Confederate General
Robert E. Lee during the Seven Days Battles in June 1862. In July, Henry W. Halleck was named general in chief, and much of McClellan’s Army of the Potomac was transferred to General John Pope’s Army of Virginia. After Pope was defeated at Second Bull Run in August, much of McClellan’s command was restored to him. Lee invaded
Maryland, and McClellan defeated him there at the Battle of Antietam in September. Despite this victory, McClellan’s refusal to pursue the retreating Confederates led to his permanent removal in November 1862. In 1864, he challenged Lincoln for the presidency as the Democratic nominee but lost decisively. On November 1, 1946, the New York Knickerbockers beat the Toronto Huskies in the first NBA game, 68-66. The Knickerbockers are led by guard Leo Gottlieb, who scored 14 points in the game played before 7,090 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Although they lost to the ...read more On November 1, 1959, the day after Halloween, Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens revolutionizes hockey by donning a facemask, the first NHL goaltender to do so in a regular-season game. Plante wears the custom-made fiberglas mask after suffering a badly cut nose and lip on ...read more The Maastricht Treaty comes into effect, formally establishing the European Union (EU). The treaty was drafted in 1991 by delegates from the European Community meeting at Maastricht in the Netherlands and signed in 1992. The agreement called for a strengthened European ...read more The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s finest works, is exhibited to the public for the first time on November 1, 1512. Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists, was born in the small village of Caprese in ...read more On November 1, 1800, President John Adams, in the last year of his only term as president, moved into the newly constructed President’s House, the original name for what is known today as the White House. Adams had been living in temporary digs at Tunnicliffe’s City Hotel near ...read more On November 1, 1924, William Tilghman is murdered by a corrupt Prohibition agent who resented Tilghman’s refusal to ignore local bootlegging operations. Tilghman, one of the famous marshals who enacted law and order in the West, was 71 years old. Known to both friends and enemies ...read more A devastating earthquake hits Lisbon, Portugal, killing as many as 50,000 people, on November 1, 1755. The city was virtually rebuilt from scratch following the widespread destruction. Lisbon was Portugal’s capital and largest city during the prosperous 18th century, when ...read more On November 1, 1950, Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman at the Blair House in Washington, D.C. Truman escaped unscathed. In the autumn of 1950, the White House was being renovated and President Truman and his family were living ...read more The United States detonates the world’s first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific. The test gave the United States a short-lived advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. Following the successful Soviet detonation of an ...read more In the face of widespread opposition in the American colonies, Parliament enacts the Stamp Act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America. Defense of the American colonies in the French and Indian War (1754-63) and Pontiac’s Rebellion ...read more Who was the best Union commander?Ulysses S. Grant was the most acclaimed Union general during the American Civil War and was twice elected president. Grant began his military career as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1839.
Who was the commander for the Union in Gettysburg?On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union's Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg.
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