Other Macs

[MikeyB]

After Bull Run, Lincoln realized McDowell wasn't the guy and eventually ended up going with McClellan.

My question is - what other Union personalities had comparable caches/reputations/military resumes to McClellan that Lincoln either considered, or should have considered?

Mike

 

[hoosier]

There wasn't anybody else.

McClellan's political connections allowed him very quickly to attain a commission as a major general. As such, he outranked everybody in the army except the general-in-chief, Winfield Scott.

Though he would later be accused of having "the slows," McClellan moved relatively quickly to occupy western Virginia, winning engagements at Philippi, Rich Mountain, and Corrick's Ford. Though none of these were of the magnitude of Bull Run (Manassas), McClellan became something of a national hero.

After McDowell was defeated, Lincoln was looking to replace him - and there was McClellan, the highest-ranking general available, who also happened to be the only one who had won any battles.

I think it's understandable that Lincoln wasted little time in making McClellan his choice.