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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02382.069 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt |
| Title | George Brinton McClellan to Henry Jackson Hunt regarding the Peninsular Campaign |
| Date | 1 April 1880 |
| Author | McClellan, George Brinton (1826-1885) |
| Recipient | Hunt, Henry Jackson |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | McClellan, governor of New Jersey, writes on the 18th anniversary of the Peninsular Campaign. Discusses plotting against him in Peninsular Campaign, further to Hunt's prior discussion. States that the campaign was affected by "the ill[?] impression that I had political aspirations in those days, & the intention to prevent any [illegible] success until the Emancipation proclamation had been issued & gone into effect." Recalls hearing that in July 1862 Lincoln discussed McClellan's "Harrison Bar" letter with General Francis Preston Blair. Lincoln said, 'I'll tell you what I think of it [McClellan's letter] - it means that McClellan is a candidate for the Presidency." (In his July 7, 1862 "Harrison Bar" letter, McClellan had outlined his advice on the proper conduct of the war and the government. The letter, which he hand-delivered to the visiting president the next day, was considered to be high-handed and presumptuous.) McClellan says that Hunt is correct in his belief that "It was the purpose of Stanton & Co. to prevent success until after Jany 1/63…had I not been relieved when I was, I could in a few days (hours almost) have placed Lee in such a position that we could virtually have thrown him off the [chess board?], have carried Richmond, & cleared the way for an insurrection in the Mountain region. In /61 when in West Virginia - it was part of my plan (after clearing the Kanawha Valley) to move down in [illegible] & raise the Union men of that part of the world…that I could then strike a terrible…blow. The orders which brought me to [Washn.?] prevented this…" Transmits Barry's letters (possibly William F. Barry), and expresses his hope that Hunt will write on the Peninsula Campaign. In McClellan's opinion, the writer Mr. Curtis can not handle the topic of the Peninsula Campaign. |
| Subjects | Union General Military History Civil War Battle Union Forces Politics Emancipation Emancipation Proclamation Government and Civics Corruption and Scandal Election President Confederate General or Leader Confederate States of America Rebellion |
| People | McClellan, George B. (1826-1885) Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) Blair, Francis Preston, Jr. (1821-1875) Franklin, William Buel (1823-1903) Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Stanton, E. M. (Edwin McMasters) (1814-1869) Barry, William Farquhar (1818-1879) Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (1807-1870) |
| Place written | Trenton, New Jersey |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Government & Politics; The Presidency |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Folder information: Henry Jackson Hunt was Chief of the Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. Considered by his contemporaries the greatest artillery tactician and strategist of the war, he was a master of the science of gunnery and rewrote the manual on the organization and the use of artillery in early modern armies: Instruction for field artillery. Prepared by a board of artillery officers, consisting of Captain Wm. H. French...Captain Wm. F. Barry...Captain H.J. Hunt...To which is added The evolutions of batteries, tr. from the French by Brigadier General R. Anderson (New York, D. Van Nostrand, 1864). Hunt was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Samuel Wellington Hunt, a career infantry officer. As a child he accompanied his father in 1827 to the Kansas Territory on an expedition to found Fort Leavenworth. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1839 as second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He served in the Mexican War where he was elevated to captain and major. Hunt received attention when in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, his four-gun battery covered the retreat of a Union force with an artillery duel. He soon afterword became the chief of artillery in defense of Washington, D.C. As a colonel on the staff of McClellan, he organized and trained the artillery reserve and fought in the Peninsular Campaign. His keen work influenced battles at Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. His most famous service occurred at Gettysburg. He served in Virginia through the end of the war. Following the Civil War, Hunt held various military posts. He served as president of the permanent Artillery Board. He also served at Fort Sullivan, Eastport, Maine (1868), Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island (1869-1872 definitely, and possibly until 1874), military commander at Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia (1875-1880), commander, Department of the South (1880-1883), and as Governor of the Soldier's Home in Washington D.C. (1883-1889). Hunt had served as Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. He was military commander at Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia 1875-1880. McClellan commanded the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, before being relieved of command. He was Governor of New Jersey 1878-1881. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Main Eastern Theater |