Lincoln & McClellan’s Relationship
by Clark Zimmerman
Level: High School
Pennsylvania Standards: 8.1.9.A-D, 8.3.9.A, C
Length: 2 days (45 minute period/1 block)
Overview:
The American Civil War was one of the most significant events in our nation’s history. President
Abraham Lincoln and General George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, were two
important figures that helped shape the landscape in the early years of the Civil War. Their personalities
were stark contrasts to one another and opinions on how to run the military properly were equally at
odds with one another. McClellan, known as the “Young Napoleon,” was quite apt at building the army
during the early years of the war but moved too slowly for the likes of his Commander-in-Chief.
Although McClellan could prepare an army for battle he could never muster the courage to attack the
enemy at the speed Mr. Lincoln desired.
The relationship between Lincoln and McClellan, some would say, could be seen as torturous for
President Lincoln. Their main predicament was Lincoln constantly had to urge McClellan to fight.
McClellan always had superior numbers in men and weaponry but always found reasons and excuses
not to pursue his enemy. With Lincoln’s will to fight and his commanders will not to fight, Lincoln will
remove McClellan as commander of the Union army after his failed Peninsula Campaign in 1862.
McClellan would be summoned by Lincoln again after the Union army was defeated at the Battle of
Second Bull Run, but McClellan’s shortcomings will lead to his removal, yet again, after the Battle of
Antietam. President Lincoln will demote seven generals, McClellan twice, before confirming General
Ulysses S. Grant as his general in charge of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan would face the
President once more in the presidential race of 1864. McClellan was easily defeated by Lincoln.
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to recognize and describe two significant Civil War personalities.
2. Students will recall and assemble key words and important characteristics of both President
Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan.
3. Students will be able to compare and contrast vocabulary analysis.
4. Students will read, analyze and interpret primary documents (letters) from the Civil War era.
5. Students will be able to create word clouds or lists that describe each of the significant individuals
studied.
Activity One: Who is Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan
Have a picture of President Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan displayed as the students
enter the classroom. Ask the students the following question:
“What do you think these two men are talking about?”
Have each student review briefly a biography of Abraham Lincoln and his top General George McClellan
during the early years of the American Civil War. The following sites should provide a picture and a
comfortable amount of information about each individual. The students will be required to take notes
for content knowledge.
Lincoln/McClellan Picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln_and_McClellan_1862-10-03.jpg
Lincoln Biography http://www.civilwarhome.com/lincolnbio.htm
McClellan Biography http://www.civilwarhome.com/macbio.htm
Lincoln/McClellan Relationship
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=129&CRLI=177
Class discussion: Using the research and biographies of each individual, discuss and clarify the following:
- Background knowledge of both Lincoln and McClellan
- Significance of each individual’s role during in the Civil War
- Possible opinions of the war among the states
- First impressions and attitudes toward one another (Lincoln and McClellan)
Activity Two: Word Clouds Exercise
In separate columns, have each student recall ten key words, terms, characteristics or phrases that best
describe Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan from their classroom discussion and notes. Collect the
student’s lists and enter the findings into a Wordle cloud that will be shared at the beginning of Activity
Three.
http://www.wordle.net (directions for use of website at the end of the lesson plan)
Homework: Issue each student a copy of the Lincoln letter and the McClellan letter. Have each student
read and analyze the two letters written during the Civil War. Each student should make notes from
their interpretation on each author’s attitude and demeanor toward the other person.
Lincoln Letter http://www.familytales.org/dbDisplay.php?id=ltr_abl410
McClellan Letter http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/letter-from-mcclellan.html
Activity Three: Lincoln and McClellan Relationship
Discuss the student’s interpretations from the reading of the Lincoln and McClellan letters. Have each
student create another list from their interpretations from the readings. Again, using key words, terms,
characteristics and phrases of each individual, have the students create their own Wordle cloud using
their terms and phrases from the readings. Show the results of the Lincoln and McClellan Wordle clouds
from the Second Activity.
- Do the terms from the first Wordle exercise match that of the second exercise?
- How does the first cloud compare or contrast to the second cloud?
- What factors in the letters made the students use different words, terms and phrases?
Activity Four: Short Essay
Have the students write a short essay on their opinion on which individual they believed strained the
relationship between Lincoln and McClellan.
How to Use Word Clouds in History
http://www.wordle.net
Overview
The close reading of historical documents is a challenge for students at all levels but it can help them to
make the process more structured.
Word Clouds help introduce both more structure and more creativity to the process of close reading.
Word Clouds are graphic representations of word frequency. Wordle is the most notable online producer
of word clouds.
Five Key Steps for Organizing a Close Document Reading
Identify the total word count of the historical document under analysis.
Define key words, especially those whose definitions may have shifted over the years.
Create word clouds or lists that illustrate most frequently used words or phrases.
Identify key words or phrases that have been omitted from the document.
Compare document to others –from the same author, same period, or in different eras.
Using Wordle To Create Word Clouds
Go to http://www.wordle.net and click on Create your own
Cut-and-paste or write text into the “Paste in a bunch of text” box and click “Go”
Use “Layout” button to begin customizing cloud. Key customizable functions include:
Maximum words
Alphabetical order
Various layout options (rounder edges, horizontal, any way, etc.)
Use “Font” and “Color” buttons to customize additional design elements
Right click on individual words to eliminate them from cloud
To keep phrases together use the tilde character, pictured here ~ like this “balance ~of~power”
Saving to the House Divided Gallery
When you are ready to save click on “Save to Public Gallery” below cloud
In Comments section, make sure to note maximum words in cloud, source of document (if relevant) and
your name introduced with “Created By”
DON’T SAVE TO HOUSE DIVIDED UNLESS YOU’RE SURE –NO WAY TO DELETE
Capturing Your Word Cloud
Since Wordle clouds are generated by JAVA, you cannot just save them as standard image files
Instead you must capture the screenshot (usually control PrintScr een) and then paste into document
(note –will require some image cropping and re-sizing to make pretty).