General Discussion

He received too much adulation too young, and it went to his head. And the Army of the Potomac was split into mutually-hostile factions, with some of the senior officers such confirmed McClellan men they would have (did have) acted disloyally to any other general. Grant left Meade in command because he didn't have such a clique behind him (and he was not completely without merit). Hooker was transferred West where he, too, soon let his ego get the better of him.

McClellan deserves credit not only for building the Army of the Potomac, but in restoring its morale after Second Bull Run so that it could even get to Antietam to fight. Of course, the factions I mentioned were a large part of why the AoP had such poor morale after Second Bull Run; and in that campaign especially you see the effects of raging egos and disloyal conduct, and the refusal to cooperate for the good of the Union. Pope may have been an ass and an incompetent, but if he hadn't been torpedoed by officers loyal to McClellan (I'm thinking Franklin more than Porter), he was still in a position to do a bit of no-no to the ANV. The interesting thing to me is that even the troops who had never served under McClellan (about two-thirds of Pope's army) still fell under his spell immediately, and fought like lions at Antietam. Very poorly-directed lions, but lions nevertheless.

-- Mal