When 'Little Mac' Outwitted Lee at Antietam

We love to bash McClellan, the Union Army's calculating and cautious, contentious and contemptible, conceited and controversial general. You'll find few Civil War historians or buffs willing to defend or stand with “Little Mac.” In many ways, McClellan deserves this censure. Criticisms levied against him include continual exaggeration of enemy strength; incessant demand for reinforcements to neutralize his opponent's imaginary numbers; operational paralysis due to methodical preparation and ad infinitum planning; slow and deliberate movement—if movement at all; excessive caution and abhorrence of risk; and obsession with perfection—a precise condition that is impossible, of course, to attain.