McClellan’s Own Story – George B. McClellan – 1887 | First Edition

A rare first edition of George B. McClellan’s Own Story which wasn’t published until 1887, after his death. McClellan used this work as a platform to defend his conduct, actions, and decisions during the Mexican-American War and Civil War. This book includes letters to his wife, in which McClellan reveals his pride as a general as well as his feelings toward war.

Some of the most important inclusions in this work are McClellan’s views on the causes and reasons for the Civil War, noting slavery and the Lincoln-Douglas debates as primary causes, but he blamed the South as the culprit for causing the uprising, rather than putting any blame on the North.

Per Eicher,

“This is in large part a reworking of McClellan’s ‘Letter of the Secretary of War’…offers a biographical sketch of McClellan, a treatise on the causes of war…the value of this work is reduced to a historical reflection of his psychology in the early chapters.”

This book also has interesting letter correspondence between McClellan and Abraham Lincoln, in which Lincoln questions McClellan’s decisions and reasoning for not following Lincoln’s tactical plans.

“Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine? Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine? In fact, would it not be less valuable in this: that it would break no great line of the enemy’s communication, while mine would? In case of disaster would not a retreat be more difficult by your plan than mine?” – Abraham Lincoln, to McClellan (p. 229)

Bibliographic Details

• Title: McClellan’s Own Story: the war for the Union, the soldiers who fought it, the civilians who directed it, and his relations to it and them
• Author(s): George Brinton McClellan
• Illustrator(s):
• Contributor(s):
• Publisher: New York, Charles Webster
• Edition: First edition, 1887
• Format: (8vo), single volume
• Binding: Hardcover
• Size:  9.25 in x 6.5 in (23.5 cm x 16 cm)
• Collation: xiv, 678 pp
• Illustrations: Full-page and in-text views
• Contents Include:
  • Biographical sketch
  • Views on the origins of the Civil War
  • Letters to his wife
  • Exchanges with Abraham Lincoln
• Provenance: provenance
• Reference(s): Nevins II, 73; Eicher 539
  • Nevins: “Defensive in tone, the volume covers only the period of McClellan’s generalship”

Condition:

Very Good. The hardcover binding remains tight and secure. Covers show staining. Pages are clean and complete.

Why Collect This?

• Rare first edition, 1887
• Includes correspondence with Abraham Lincoln
• Major Civil War reference, cited by Nevins and Eicher
• Insight into the perspective of a Union general

Item Number: #29358