McClernand Relieved

[Jim Klag]

After a bloody and unsuccessful assault against the Vicksburg entrenchments (ordered by Grant), McClernand wrote a congratulatory order to his corps, which was published in the press, contrary to an order of the department and another of Grant.

Grant sent a copy of the newspaper clip to McClernand with the following note attached:

"I would respectfully ask if it is a true copy. If it is not a correct copy furnish me one by bearer as required by regulation and orders of this department."

HEADQUARTERS THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
June 18, 1863.

Major-General GRANT:
I have just returned. The newspaper slip is a correct copy of my congratulatory order Number 72. I am prepared to maintain its statements. I regret that my adjutant did not send you a copy promptly as he ought, and I thought he had.
JOHN A. McClernand
Major-General.

Said Grant, "I had no choice but to direct Lt. Col. Rawlins to issue the following order."

SPECIAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE
Number 164. near Vicksburg, MISS., June 18, 1863.
IV. Major-General McClernand is hereby relieved from the command of the Thirteenth Army Corps. He will proceed to any point he may select in the State of Illinois, and report by letter to Headquarters of the Army for orders. Major General E. O. C. Ord is hereby appointed to the command of the Thirteenth Army Corps, subject to the approval of the President, and will immediately assume charge of the same. By order of Major-General Grant:
JNO. A. RAWLINS,
Assistant Adjutant-General

He was relieved of his command on June 18, two weeks before the fall of Vicksburg, and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward O. C. Ord. The duty of notifying him of his dismissal fell to Lieutenant Colonel James H. Wilson, who'd held a grudge against him for an earlier chastising. Once McClernand read the order, he exclaimed in shock "I am relieved!" Then seeing the look on Wilson's face, he made a joke out if it by saying "By God sir, we are both relieved!"

 

[5fish]

McClernand and Rosecrans crossed Grant. Grant waited till they screwed up to pounce and end their military careers. History portrays Grant as a political novice but he was far from that if you watch his military career. He play our political system well as a general but it helps if you win battles...

My point is he was no political novice when he took office as president.

He(Grant) had no political experience before becoming president.
His time in charge of the Union Army notwithstanding, Grant was a political novice when he was inaugurated as the 18th president in 1869.

Snip... His last words are a lie... at worst a rookie politician...

His time in charge of the Union Army notwithstanding, Grant was a political novice when he was inaugurated as the 18th president in 1869. He’d never held any elected position, and had shown little interest in running for office before the Republican Party nominated him as its candidate. Critics would later blame his lack of experience for the economic turmoil and scandals that dogged his administration, a claim that Grant himself acknowledged. “It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training,” he wrote in his final message to Congress. “Under such circumstances, it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred.”

 

[Jim Klag]

McClernand and Rosecrans crossed Grant. Grant waited till they screwed up to pounce and end their military careers. History portrays Grant as a political novice but he was far from that if you watch his military career. He play our political system well as a general but it helps if you win battles...

My point is he was no political novice when he took office as president.

He(Grant) had no political experience before becoming president.
His time in charge of the Union Army notwithstanding, Grant was a political novice when he was inaugurated as the 18th president in 1869.

Snip... His last words are a lie... at worst a rookie politician...

His time in charge of the Union Army notwithstanding, Grant was a political novice when he was inaugurated as the 18th president in 1869. He’d never held any elected position, and had shown little interest in running for office before the Republican Party nominated him as its candidate. Critics would later blame his lack of experience for the economic turmoil and scandals that dogged his administration, a claim that Grant himself acknowledged. “It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training,” he wrote in his final message to Congress. “Under such circumstances, it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred.”

Let's stay on point. This thread is about the firing of McClernand. Grant's political acumen is discussed in several other threads.

 

[5fish]

Let's stay on point. This thread is about the firing of McClernand

McClernand brought it on himself. He runs to Lincoln to get his own independent command going over Grant to get. Grant like with Rosecrans waiting for his time to strike. Grant had no problem ending soldiers careers and getting rid of political threats.

 

[5fish]

Grant and McClernand were both from Illinois... it said they been rivals from early on...

Snip.. the beginning of the end...

A close friend and political ally of Abraham Lincoln, McClernand was given permission to recruit a force to conduct an operation against Vicksburg, Mississippi, which would rival the effort of Grant, his department commander. Grant was able to neutralize McClernand's independent effort after it conducted an expedition to win the Battle of Arkansas Post, and McClernand became the senior corps commander in Grant's army for the Vicksburg Campaign in 1863. During the Siege of Vicksburg, Grant relieved McClernand of his command by citing his intemperate and unauthorized communication with the press, finally putting an end to a rivalry that had caused Grant discomfort since the beginning of the war.

 

[5fish]

It seems Grant was able to trump and Lincoln and Stanton with words from Sherman and Foote...


In October 1862 Edwin Stanton, secretary of war, ordered him north to raise troops for the expedition against Vicksburg; and early in January 1863, at Milliken's Bend, McClernand, who had been placed in command of one of the four corps of Ulysses S. Grant's army, superseded Sherman as the leader of the force that was to move down the Mississippi. On the January 11, 1863, he took Arkansas Post. On the January 17, Grant, after receiving the opinion of Admiral Andrew H. Foote and General Sherman that McClernand was unfit, united a part of his own troops with those of McClernand and assumed command in person, and three days later ordered McClernand back to Millikens Bend. During the rest of this Vicksburg campaign there was much friction between McClernand and his colleagues; he undoubtedly intrigued for the removal of Grant; it was Grant's opinion that at Champion Hill (May 16, 1863) he was dilatory; and because a congratulatory order to his corps was published in the press (contrary to an order of the department and another of Grant) he was relieved of his command on June 18, and was replaced by General E. O. C. Ord.

 

[5fish]

Grant and McClernand early days...

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American Civil War: Major General John McClernand
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Major General John McClernand
Photograph Courtesy of the Library of Congress
By Kennedy Hickman
Updated July 03, 2019
John Alexander McClernand was born May 30, 1812, near Hardinsburg, KY. Moving to Illinois at a young age, he was educated in local village schools and at home. First pursuing an agricultural career, McClernand later elected to become a lawyer. Largely self-educated, he passed the Illinois bar exam in 1832. Later that year McClernand received his first military training when he served as a private during the Black Hawk War. A devout Democrat, he founded a newspaper, the Shawneetown Democrat, in 1835 and the following year was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives.

His initial term lasted only a year, but he returned to Springfield in 1840. An effective politician, McClernand was elected to the US Congress three years later.

The Civil War Nears
During his time in Washington, McClernand violently opposed the passage of the Wilmot Proviso which would have banned slavery in the territory acquired during the Mexican-American War. An anti-abolitionist and staunch ally of Senator Stephen Douglas, he aided his mentor in passing the Compromise of 1850. Though McClernand left Congress in 1851, he returned in 1859 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Thomas L. Harris. With sectional tensions rising, he became a firm Unionist and worked to advance Douglas' cause during the election of 1860. After Abraham Lincoln was elected in November 1860, Southern states began leaving the Union. With the beginning of the Civil War the following April, McClernand commenced efforts to raise a brigade of volunteers for operations against the Confederacy. Eager to maintain a wide base of support for the war, Lincoln appointed the Democratic McClernand a brigadier general of volunteers on May 17, 1861.


Early Operations
Assigned to the District of Southeast Missouri, McClernand and his men first experienced combat as part of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant's small army at the Battle of Belmont in November 1861. A bombastic commander and political general, he quickly irritated Grant. As Grant's command was expanded, McClernand became a division commander. In this role, he took part in the capture of Fort Henry and Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862. At the latter engagement, McClernand's division held the Union right but failed to anchor its flank on the Cumberland River or another strongpoint. Attacked on February 15, his men were driven back nearly two miles before Union forces stabilized the line. Rescuing the situation, Grant soon counterattacked and prevented the garrison from escaping. Despite his error at Fort Donelson, McClernand received a promotion to major general on March 21.

 

[diane]

If Forrest had been allowed to blow a second hole in McClernand's lines at Ft Donelson, he would have solved a major problem for Grant. McClernand would have been gone then. More than Grant, even, Sherman had somewhat against McClernand - his win at Arkansas Post was weighed against Sherman's lost at Chickasaw Bayous and McClernand bumped him out of his command. He had also been feeding the Sherman-is-insane brush fires that kept breaking out and Sherman found out he had been behind some of the press activity about that unfortunate episode in Kentucky. If anybody wanted to dribble McClernand's head down the court and make that winning basket with it - it was Sherman! McClernand overestimated his influence with Halleck and Lincoln, and seriously underestimated the Ewing political family. By protecting adopted son Sherman, old man Ewing protected Grant.

Grant wasn't the backstabbing politician some think he was but he was not Jesse's son for nothing. There was a broad streak of ruthlessness and ambition he inherited from his father. It was uneven, too - he could be just as crafty as any career pol and turn around and be a total babe in the woods. Not Sherman! He distrusted everybody and was seldom disappointed.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Grant wasn't the backstabbing politician some think he was but he was not Jesse's son for nothing. There was a broad streak of ruthlessness and ambition he inherited from his father. It was uneven, too - he could be just as crafty as any career pol and turn around and be a total babe in the woods. Not Sherman! He distrusted everybody and was seldom disappointed.

I adhere to the same concept:

Screw me once, bad on you. Do it twice and Hell is a' coming ta' breakfast.

 

[Joshism]

McClernand was not incompetent, but he managed to alienate most of his peers and wouldn't stop his political scheming. Regardless of who had what political connections his peers had, McClernand needed to be removed.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

McClernand was not incompetent, but he managed to alienate most of his peers and wouldn't stop his political scheming. Regardless of who had what political connections his peers had, McClernand needed to be removed.

The Union's Bragg?

 

[diane]

McClernand was not incompetent, but he managed to alienate most of his peers and wouldn't stop his political scheming. Regardless of who had what political connections his peers had, McClernand needed to be removed.

He was sure busy! He believed he answered to nobody but Smith, too, even if an officer had seniority over him. He and Hurlbut butted heads about a transport - Hurlbut had every right to command it by seniority but McClernand asserted he answered only to Smith! Nope - did not work and play well with others even a little bit...