Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand

[jkBluesman]

Maj. Gen. John Alexander McClernand (b. 1812, d. 1900). A professional politician McClernand failed to separate politics from the military – ironically it would be an intrigue by professional soldiers that ended his military career. Born in Kentucky, he grew up in Illinois. Mostly self-educated he choose the profession of lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 1832. In the same year he volunteered for the Black Hawk War, but saw no fighting in that conflict. As Jacksonian Democrat, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1836, serving until being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives seven years later. He worked together with his mentor, Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, in the compromise of 1850 between North and South. McClernand left Congress a year later, but returned in 1859. Once again he tried to negotiate a compromise in the sectional conflict – when it failed, he supported war to preserve the Union. Pres. Abraham Lincoln chose him as one of the War Democrats to receive a general’s commission thus trying to unite the nation for the war effort. Brigadier general (dating from May 17, 1861) McClernand raised the “McClernand Brigade” in Illinois and was sent to Cairo. Reporting to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant he served as second-in-command to the former. Their first fight was at Belmont, where McClernand got two horses shot under him. After the skirmish, Grant commanded the political general. McClernand also led a division in the successful campaign against Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862. At Fort Donelson, his troops were able to repulse a Confederate brake-out-attempt although almost unsupported. McClernand received promotion to major general of volunteers in March for his good leadership. A month later he served ably through the battle of Shiloh and was afterwards given the Reserve Corps when Gen. Henry Halleck took over army command. After the capture of Corinth, Halleck went east as general in chief. McClernand tried to get away from the at that point inactive Grant and sought independent command. In September he went to the capital and proposed a combined action of army and navy to capture Vicksburg, a vital Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton approved the plan and gave McClernand permission to raise troops for his mission. Halleck however resented the fact that a political general was given such an important task and proposed to Grant to invest Vicksburg. The necessary troops came from McClernand whose new regiments were assigned to Grant by Halleck, as soon as they were raised and equipped. Grant sent Gen. William Sherman with the new troops to assail Vicksburg before McClernand was back in the West. The attack failed. When McClernand arrived in January 1863, he took over command and led on a raid to Arkansas, capturing Arkansas Post. Grant recalled him and took personal command of the army that would take Vicksburg with the help of the navy. McClernand only commanded a corps in the expedition that started in May. When he published a congratulatory order to his troops in a newspaper, thus bypassing the chain of command – as he had done before –, Grant used this as an excuse to get rid of McClernand and relived him on June 18, two weeks before the surrender of Vicksburg. McClernand was given a corps again six months later, in Gen. Nathaniel Banks’ Department of the Gulf but played only a minor role in the Red River Campaign of 1864. When McClernand became ill with Malaria in May, he returned home and resigned in November. After the war he resumed the practise of law, served as district judge in Illinois from 1870 to 1873 and as president of the Democratic National Convention in 1876. McClernand died on September 20, 1900 in Springfield, Illinois and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Ldr: 4
Tact: 3
Init: 5
Cmd: 3
Cav: 0

Teaches: Sustained Volley, Chargers

[Gil R.]

Copied, thanks.

[Gil R.]

Here’s McClernand’s bio. Not many changes, though it seemed to say that Grant served under McClernand initially, which I changed because Belmont was Grant’s affair. Am I missing something?

Maj. Gen. John Alexander McClernand (b. 1812, d. 1900). A professional politician, McClernand failed to separate politics from the military – ironically it would be an intrigue by fellow officers that ended his military career. Born in Kentucky, he grew up in Illinois and chose to practice law, gaining admittance to the bar in 1832. In the same year he volunteered for the Black Hawk War, but saw no fighting in that conflict. As a Jacksonian Democrat, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1836, serving until his election to Congress seven years later. He worked together with his mentor, Illinois Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, on the Compromise of 1850, which attempted to resolve issues festering between North and South over slavery and new U.S. states. McClernand left Congress a year later but returned in 1859, once again he trying to negotiate a compromise in the sectional conflict – and when it failed, he supported war to preserve the Union. As a way of strengthening his ties to the opposition, Pres. Abraham Lincoln soon chose McClernand as one of the “War Democrats” who was to receive a general’s commission. Made a brigadier general (dating from May 17, 1861), McClernand raised the “McClernand Brigade” back home and headed to Cairo, where he reported to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Their first fight, on November 7, was at Belmont, where McClernand got two horses shot out from under him. McClernand also led a division in the successful campaign against Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862. At Fort Donelson, his troops were able to repulse a Confederate breakout attempt although almost unsupported. McClernand received promotion to major general of volunteers on March 21 for his good leadership. Two weeks later he served ably in the Battle of Shiloh and was afterwards given the Reserve Corps when Gen. Henry Halleck took over command of the Army of the Tennessee. After the capture of Corinth, Mississippi, that summer Halleck went east as general in chief. McClernand schemed to get away from Grant, who was mostly inactive, and sought independent command. In September he went to the capital and proposed a combined action of army and navy to capture Vicksburg, a vital Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton approved the plan and gave McClernand permission to raise troops for his mission. Halleck, however, resented the fact that a political general was given such an important task and proposed instead that Grant invest Vicksburg. The necessary troops came from McClernand, whose new regiments were assigned to Grant by Halleck, as soon as they were raised and equipped. Grant sent Gen. William T. Sherman with the new troops to assail Vicksburg before McClernand had returned, but the attack failed. When McClernand arrived in January 1863, he took over command and led a raid into Arkansas, capturing Arkansas Post. Hearing from Sherman that McClernand was unfit, Grant took personal command of the army that would capture Vicksburg on July 4. McClernand, commanding a corps during the Vicksburg Campaign, disappointed Grant at Champion Hill. Grant waited for an excuse to get rid of him, finally doing so on June 18 after McClernand bypassed the chain of command by publishing a congratulatory order to his troops in a newspaper. Due to his political clout, McClernand was given a corps again six months later in Gen. Nathaniel Banks’ Department of the Gulf, but played only a minor role in the Red River Campaign of 1864. McClernand became ill with malaria in May and returned home, resigning that November. After the war he resumed the practice of law, and served as district judge in Illinois from 1870 to 1873 and as president of the Democratic National Convention in 1876. McClernand died on September 20, 1900 in Springfield, Illinois and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery. (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

[jkBluesman]

No, you are not missing anything. McClernand was second-in-command to Grant. I only added that to indicate how well Grant and him got along at first and how big the change was later.
But the final version is fine.