McClellan's Own Story: The War for the Union: The Soldiers Who Fought It; The Civilians Who Directed It; and His Relations to It and to Them by McClellan, George B[rinton]. (1826-1885) - 1887

New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1887. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. xiv, 678 pages. Fine. A few rubs to extremities, a small stain to medal stamped on upper board. Hinges sound, endpapers not split.. Black & white plates, maps, engravings. McClellan's posthumously published memoir of the Civil War, accompanied by a Brady CDV photograph of Gen. McClellan with his autograph attached to its lower margin. McClellan's memoir, honestly, is mostly McClellan still trying (20 years later) to explain how his brilliance and ability were not appreciated during those early months of the war. While Lincoln's martyrdom definitely skewed his historical standing, at least initially, one does wonder if McClellan gave a second thought at all to writing that "My relations with Mr. Lincoln were generally very pleasant, and I seldom had trouble with him when we could meet face to face. The difficulty always arose behind my back. I believe that he liked me personally, AND CERTAINLY HE WAS ALWAYS MUCH INFLUENCED BY ME WHEN WE WERE TOGETHER (emphasis ours)." Wow. Anyway, the important parts of McClellan's memoir are his treatise on the causes of the war, his autobiographical material, and his narrative of his own substantive role from summer 1861 through his removal from command after Antietam in November 1862. And the signed CDV is nice too.