1864 Democratic Candidates and Platform

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Candidate for President
George Brinton McClellan​

Born: December 3, 1826

Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Father: Dr. George McClellan 1796 – 1847

(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)​

Mother: Elizabeth Steinmetz Brinton 1800 – 1889

(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)​

Wife: Mary Ellen Marcy 1835 – 1915

(Buried: Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey)​

Married: May 22, 1860 at Calvary Church in New York City, N.Y.

Children:

Mary McClellan Desprez 1861 – 1945​

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George Brinton McClellan Jr. 1865 – 1940​

(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​

Education:

Attended University of Pennsylvania​

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1846: Graduated West Point Military Academy – (2nd in class)​

Occupation before War:

1846 – 1847: Brevet 2nd Lt. United States Army Engineers​

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1847: Served in the Siege of Veracruz, Mexico​

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1847: Served in the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Mexico​

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1847 – 1853: 2nd Lt. United States Army Engineers​

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1847: Brevetted 1st Lt for his role at Contreras and Churubusco​

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1847: Declined Brevet as Captain for his role at Molino Del Rey​

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1847: Brevetted Captain for his role at Battle of Chapultepec​

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1851 – 1852: Assistant Engineer for building Fort Delaware​

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1852 – 1853: In charge of survey of Rivers Gulf Coast of Texas​

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1852: Translator of French manual of Bayonet Exercises for Army​

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1853 – 1855: 1st Lt. United States Army Engineers​

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1853 – 1861: Member of many Scientific Associations​

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1854 – 1855: Collector of railroad statistics for U.S. War Dept.​

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1855 – 1857: Captain United States Army, 1st Cavalry​

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1855 – 1856: Member of military commission in Europe​

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1857: Resigned from United States Army on January 16th​

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1857 – 1858: Chief Engineer for Illinois Central Railroad​

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1858 – 1860: Vice President of Illinois Central Railroad​

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1860 – 1861: President of St. Louis and Cincinnati Railroad​

Civil War Career:

1861: Major General of Ohio State Volunteers​

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1861: Commander Department of the Ohio​

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1861 – 1864: Major General of United States Army​

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1861: Served in the Battle of Philippi, West Virginia​

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1861: Union Army Commander at Battle of Rich Mountain​

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1861 – 1862: Commanding General of United States Army​

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1861 – 1862: Commander of Army of the Potomac​

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1861 – 1862: Organizer of Union Army of the Potomac​

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1862: Union Army Commander during Peninsula Campaign​

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1862: Commander of Union Army Defenses in Washington, D.C.​

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1862: Commander of Army of the Potomac in Maryland Campaign​

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1862: Removed by President Lincoln as commander on Nov. 9th​

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1862 – 1864: Waiting on orders stationed in Trenton, New Jersey​

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1863: Declared his entrance into politics as a Democrat​

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1864: Unsuccessful Democratic Party Presidential Candidate​

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1864: Resigned from United States Army on November 8th​

Occupation after War:

1865 – 1868: Lived in Europe not returning until 1868​

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1868 – 1869: Engineer for completion of Stevens Ironclad Floating Battery​

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1868: Declined the Presidency of University of California​

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1869: Declined the Presidency of Union College​

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1870 – 1872: Engineer – in – chief, NYC, Department of Docks​

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1871: Appointed and declined Controller for City, of New York City​

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1878 – 1881: Governor of New Jersey​

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1881 – 1885: Member board of managers, National Disabled Soldiers Home​

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Author of McClellan's Own Story memoirs printed after his death​

Died: October 29, 1885

Time of Death: 3:00 AM

Place of Death: Orange, New Jersey

Cause of Death: Heart Attack and chest pain

Age at time of Death: 58 years old

Last Words: "I feel easy now. Thank you"

Burial Place: Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey

Candidate for Vice President
George Hunt Pendleton
​

Born: July 19, 1825

Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio

Father: Nathaniel Greene Pendleton 1793 – 1861
(Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio)

Mother: Jane Frances Hunt 1802 – 1839
(Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio)

Wife: Mary Alicia "Alice" Key 1824 – 1886
(Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York)

Children:

Francis Key "Frank" Pendleton 1850 – 1930​

(Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York)​

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Mary Lloyd Pendleton Abney 1852 – 1929​

(Buried: Edgefield Village Cemetery, Edgefield, South Carolina)​

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Jane Frances Pendleton Brice 1860 – 1950​

(Buried: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.)​

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George Hunt Pendleton Jr. 1863 – 1868​

(Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio)​

Education:

Attended Cincinnati College​

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Attended Heidelberg University in Germany​

Occupation before War:

Attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio​

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1854 – 1856: Ohio State Senator​

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1854: Unsuccessful Candidate for U.S. Congress​

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1857 – 1865: U.S. Congressman from Ohio​

Civil War Career:

1857 – 1865: U.S. Congressman from Ohio​

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1862: House Manager to conduct impeachment of West Humphreys​

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1864: Unsuccessful Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate​

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1861 – 1865: Leader of Peace Party Democratic Party​

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1865: Voted against the House vote for Thirteenth Amendment​

Occupation after War:

1866: Unsuccessful Candidate for U.S. Congress​

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1868: Unsuccessful Candidate for Democratic Nomination​

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Unsuccessful Democratic Candidate for Governor of Ohio​

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1869 – 1879: President of Kentucky Central Railroad​

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1879 – 1885: United States Senator from Ohio​

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1885 – 1889: United States Minister to Germany​

Died: November 24, 1889

Place of Death: Brussels, Belgium

Age at time of Death: 64 years old

Burial Place: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio

Democratic Party Platform
1864 Democratic Party Platform​

Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution as the only solid foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as a people, and as a framework of government equally conducive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern.

Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of a military necessity, or war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, –justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that, at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal union of the States.

Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authorities of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware was a shameful violation of the Constitution; and a repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control.

Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired; and they hereby declare that they consider that the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution; the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection; the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force; the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press; the denial of the right of asylum; the open and avowed disregard of State rights; the employment of unusual test oaths; and the interference with and denial of the right of the people to bear arms in their defence; are calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed.

Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the administration to its duty in respect to our fellowcitizens who are now, and long have been, prisoners of war and in a suffering condition, deserves the severest reprobation, on the score alike of public policy and common humanity.

Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army and the sailors of our navy, who are and have been in the field and on the sea, under the flag of our country; and, in the event of its attaining power, they will receive all the care, protection, and regard that the brave soldiers and sailors of the Republic have so nobly earned.

Source: Edward Stanwood, A History of Presidential Elections (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1896), pp. 237-243