About this episode:
It's been written that Helen of Troy possessed "the face that launched a thousand ships." Well, may I introduce to you Ellen Marcy McClellan, the wife of Union MG George Brinton McClellan, who launched thousands of words. Her husband wrote to her daily, and through his letters, we know so much more than, perhaps, he ever intended for us to know.
Excerpts of more than 250 of his letters to her were included by Geroge McClellan's literary executor, William C. Prime, in his biographical work McClellan's Own Story which was published in 1887-two years after the general's death. Prime wanted to honor McClellan-to tell his side of the story. However, the biographer's work reopened old wounds and damaged, forever, McClellan's military reputation. This is the story of the brilliant yet controversial "Young Napoleon"...the Union's "Little Mac."
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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:
McClellan's Own Story
Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.
*Title Image by Mathew Brady Studio
Producer: Dan Irving
073 - The Confederacy's Last First Lady: Varina Howell Davis
072 - The Dawning Of A New Age: The Fight Between The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia
071 - Edwin McMasters Stanton: Lincoln's "Unloved" Secretary Of War
070 - Combatting The Invisible Enemy: Medicine During The Civil War
069 - Fredericksburg Revisited
068 - The Confederacy’s Last Salvo - The Career of the CSS Shenandoah
067 - Return to the ”Daughter of the Stars” - The Valley Campaign of 1864
066 - Waging War: Strategy, Tactics, Arms and Technology in the American Civil War
065 - The Soldier’s Friend: Clara Barton
064 - Taking Down The Citadel: The Siege of Vicksburg
063 - Then And Now: The Lost Cause
062 - ”...Hell Can’t Beat That Terrible Scene”: Spotsylvania Court House
061 - Duty, Honor, Countries: The West Point Class of 1846
060 - Desperate Times, Desperate Battle: The Battle Of Bentonville
059 - Connecting The Coasts: The Building Of The Transcontinental Railroad
058 - Breaking The Chains: The Passage Of The 13th Amendment
057 - Jefferson Davis: First and Final Confederate President
056 - Abraham Lincoln: Commander-In-Chief
055 - Bound To Duty: The Post-War Life Of Robert E. Lee
054 - ”The River of Death”: The Battle Of Chickamauga
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