So McClellan was general-in-chief to you, but no one else, after March 11.No, I am going with what actually happened.
Nothing in GWO3 relieved McClellan from being General-in-Chief. It redefined his responsibilities, but because it did not relieve him, he remained in that post. It was the post that was redefined, not McClellan's occupation of it.
If you don't see the distinction, well...
It may have been that Stanton intended to have McClellan removed from the position when he drafted the order, but like a bad lawyer he made a mistake in his drafting. I'm sure you've experienced badly negotiated contracts etc., and that "I meant to write this instead" doesn't work in a court.
What was written was:
"Major General McClellan having personally taken the field at the head of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the command of the other Military departments, he retaining command of the Department of the Potomac."
Note, whilst he was relieved of command of other departments, he was not relieved from the position of general-in-chief. If he was, it would say "relieved from the position of General-in-Chief".
If you wanted to make a comparison to a king, then Charles I of England would be better. As he was led to the block, he was still nominally the King of England, it's just England had redefined itself to be a Republic.
Which shows how out of touch Stanton was. Wool's department was excluded from the command of the General-in-Chief in the same November 1861 order appoint McClellan to the position. It had never been under McClellan's command, and would not by under McClellan's command until Wool was assigned out of the department in June 1862, at which point McClellan assumed command of it.
Wool refused to recognise the authority of McClellan, citing that he had the brevet rank of major-general in the regular army with seniority predating McClellan.
The fact that Lincoln was able to remove Wool from McClellan's command whilst it is undisputed that he was General-in-Chief shows that authority over all departments and the position of GINC were not indivisible. Lincoln could redefine the limits of the general-in-chief as much as he wanted, but it did not change who the general-in-chief was.
In reality, whilst it was Stanton's intent to remove him, no doubt, that is not the order he actually wrote for Lincoln.
- He had none of l the power of the general-in-chief -- but you say he was the general-in-chief.
- The US Army thinks the position was vacant from the March removal of McClellan to the July appointment of Halleck -- but you say McClellan was the general-in-chief. There is a JAG paper back in the 1940s that says the position was vacant from March to July, but you say McClellan was the general-in-chief.
- After the documents I posted above, Stanton and Lincoln request Wool to refrain from exercising his authority in his own department and do everything he can to assist McClellan, Wool willingly agrees to do so without orders -- but you say McClellan was the general-in-chief.
- Army Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas also says McClellan is no longer General-in-Chief:
- WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 15, 1862.
Brig. Gen. AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE:
U. S. Volunteers, Comdg., &c., Roanoke Island, N. C.:
SIR: On Sunday last the iron-clad steamer Merrimac, called by the rebels the Virginia, ran out from Norfolk, attacked our blockading squadron, destroyed two frigates and two gunboats. She was subsequently beaten back in a severe battle with our steamer Monitor, and has not since attempted to come out.
The rebel army has retreated from Winchester and Manassas, and retired, without fighting a battle, beyond the Rappahannock. The batteries on the Potomac have also been abandoned. These movements were made evidently in great haste, as they left behind pieces of artillery and other stores which they had not time to destroy.
The President's Order, No. 3, herewith inclosed,(*) relieves Major-General McClellan from the command of the Army, and confines him to the Army of the Potomac. The Secretary of War directs that you make your reports and returns to him. He also directs that you forward dispatches to him on the return of the dispatch vessel, and permit no officer to detain her on any pretext whatever.
I inclose herewith a copy of a dispatch from Major-General McClellan, dated the 13th instant.(+)
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. THOMAS,
Adjutant-General.
- WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
You remain completely wrong on this.