Civil War cartoon referencing George B. McClellan's failed 1862 peninsular campaign to criticize his cautious military performance as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army and his relationship with financier August Belmont and lawyer Samuel M.L. Barlow, New York Democratic Party leaders with Southern ties. Shows McClellan holding a shovel and sitting backwards on a mule that displays a flag marked "Strategy" on its tails and that Belmont and Barlow desperately try to move past human bones and away from Richmond. He advises the men to "coax" the animal because he does not believe in force and to keep his mule's head to the rear or his plans for "conquering the Rebellion will never be developed." Belmont, with several hats layered on his head and Barlow, a paper printed "Harrisons Landing July 7, 1862" in his pocket, "hold fast" and discuss Belmont's European ties and a letter written by Barlow on McClellan's behalf for the president that will be signed and sent following the general's "change of base.", Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to George McClellan and Abraham Lincoln., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
Date
[1862]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1862 Pen [5793.F.7b]
