Henry Wager Halleck Quotes
The President does not expect impossibilities, but he is very anxious that all this good weather should not be wasted in inactivity. Telegraph when you will move, and on what lines you propose to march.
There are many theories as to why McClellan was so reluctant to attack even when he had more guns, more men, and better field position, but he almost always came up with a reason. Some historians believe that he really sympathized with the South and wanted the Union to end the war by allowing slavery to continue in the South. McClellan disliked Lincoln and even ran against him for President in 1864. Halleck was McClellan’s superior as General in Chief, but he could not get McClellan to attack any more than the President or others could. When Lincoln fired McClellan, things turned around with the Army of the Potomac.
Henry Wager Halleck, 1815-1872, U.S. Army General, Civil War Union General in Chief, Communique to General McClellan, October. 21, 1862
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
He was very critical of Arraham Lincoln even though he was a Republican. Many percieved that Lincoln's administration could not get anything done. Lincoln might have lost the 1864 campaign but for the great victory that General Sherman's troops had in taking Atlanta. This changed a lot of mionds about Lincoln's War strategy. Actually, in the first 2 years of the Civil War, Lincoln could not get his generals to fight his preferred kind of war until he appointed Grant who brought Sherman to high command.
He had wanted more troops for the Afghan War than President Obama would approve. The Republican members of the Congress tried to make the difference a major issue of a President not supporting his commanders. The General made this brilliant response.
McClellan liked to parade and drill his troops but not fight them. Lincoln wanted him to take the offensive but the general always found an excuse not to. Many historians believe that McClellan wanted the war to end, the South to rejoin the Union and be allowed to maintain slavery. Others feel that he was just a military man who maintained his popularity by minimizing casualties. Finally, Lincoln fired McLellan and the complexion of the war changed thereafter. McClellan ran against Lincoln for the Presidency in 1864. See {633923}
McClellan liked to parade and drill his troops but not fight them. Lincoln wanted him to take the offensive but he always found an excuse not to. Many historians believe that McClellan wanted the war to end, the South to rejoin the Union and be allowed to maintain slavery. Others feel that he was just a military man who maintained his popularity by minimizing casualties. Finally, Lincoln fired McLellan and the complexion of the war changed thereafter. McClellan ran against Lincoln for the Presidency in 1864. . See {633922}
Lincoln used the very “estimate” to mean value or hold in esteem, a meaning which is no longer in use.
Connecticut’s militia had the large contingent of British Troops outside of Boston to their North and the extensive British military to their South in New York City. So there was no where they could maneuver without running into overwhelmingly superior British Forces.
Henry Wager Halleck was a United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important participant in the admission of California as a state and became a successful lawyer and land developer. Halleck served as General-in-Chief of all Union armies from 1862 to 1864 during the American Civil War.
