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Auction: 284 - Bond, Share & Americana Mailbid & Internet Exclusive
Lot: 1166

[McClellan] Joseph Totten Totten: American soldier (1788-1864); Chief of Engineers for most of the US Civil War, serving from 1838 until his death. Great association DS "Jos. G. Totten / Bv Brig Gen" as Chief of Engineers, Washington, 6/12/1851. Engineer Order No. 10, in which he directs that "Lieut. & Bvt. Capt. George B. McClellan, Corps of Engineers, will be relieved from duty at West Point, New York, on the 21st inst, and will report in person without delay at Fort Delaware, to Brevet Major John Sanders, Corps of Engineers, for duty as his assistant." In fine condition. Fort Delaware, on an island in the mouth of the Delaware River, would not be completed until 1859, when it was the largest fort in the US. During the Civil War it was used as a prison for captured Confederates. By then McClellan had resigned his commission and gone into the much more profitable railroad business. In 1861 he was commissioned a major general and would rise to command the Army of the Potomac. Ultimately, his perfectionism, ego, and simple bad luck would gain him a reputation as a timid leader and he was removed from command. Estimate US$ 200-300

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