McClellan in Kentucky 1861

            The document I found was a letter written from Major General George McClellan to President Abraham Lincoln.  McClellan wrote the letter on May 30, 1861 from the Head Quarters Department of the Ohio, in Cincinnati.  Just seventeen days earlier, Lincoln had commissioned him as a Major General in the army, making him the second highest ranked soldier in the Union Army.  Only General Winfield Scott was ranked higher at the time.

            McClellan starts the letter by telling Lincoln that General William "Bull" Nelson has arrived to distribute arms to the leading Union men of Kentucky.  Nelson was sent by President Lincoln to see if he could keep Kentucky in the Union, and then after reporting back to the President, Lincoln ordered him to distribute weapons to the people of Kentucky who supported the Union.  In the letter, McClellan tells Lincoln that the distribution of arms has been "extremely beneficial" to the Union for two reasons.  First, it simply gave strength to the Union supports, while it discouraged the secessionists of Kentucky.  Then McClellan said that the second benefit was it "proved to the minds of all reasonable men that the government has confidence in the loyalty" of the people of Kentucky and it proved that they had "no intentions of subjugating" the people of Kentucky.  The decision by Lincoln to distribute arms to the Kentuckians was a very smart move because by this point, all eleven Confederate states had seceded and it was important to the Union to hold onto the remaining border states.  Perhaps this move by Lincoln reinforced the Union's strength in Kentucky, and prevented them from seceding from to the Confederacy.

            After that McClellan begins to reveal his agenda to the President.  He says, "I am confidently assured that very considerable numbers of volunteers can be raised in Western Virginia as well as in Kentucky, and I would most respectfully urge that an ample supply of arms be placed at my disposal to arm such regiments- we shall need in addition equipment, money, and clothing."  McClellan, knowing he has just asked for a lot from the President, is quick to remind the President of his current popularity in Kentucky by saying, "The issue of arms to the Kentuckians is regarded by the staunch men as a masterpiece of policy on your part, and has very much strengthened your position among them."  It seems as though McClellan is eager to strike while the iron is hot in an attempt to put a quick end to this war. 

            Finally, in the end of the letter, McClellan reveals the final part of his plan.  He tells Lincoln that he is worried about the portion of western Kentucky west of the Tennessee River known as the Jackson Purchase.  He tells Lincoln that, "a convention is now being held at Maysville which may declare the Jackson Purchase separate from Kentucky." and that would "be followed by an advance of Tennessee troops upon Columbus and Paducah."  I believe that McClellan wanted Lincoln to be aware that the Confederacy did have a strong following in Kentucky and if they did not act quickly, they would perhaps lose the state to the Confederacy. 

McClellan, George B.  Letter to Abraham Lincoln,  May 30, 1861. In The Lincoln Papers. Vol II, David C. Mearns.  Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1948.