"You cannot separate politics and military operations,"

Doctor Tom Clemens perhaps the foremost living expert on the Maryland Campaign and editor of the 2-volume edition of Ezra Carmen’s papers spoke recently at the Pentagon as part of the Department of Defense Historical Speaker Series.  An article by the American Forces Press Service covered Tom’s speech.  See the article here.  If you entertain any degree of objectivity on the issue of George McClellan's role, read this article.  Afterward in an interview with Claudette Roulo, Tom had this to say. “When we impart history for the masses, we tend to generalize. We tend to create heroes and villains and things become more black and white, good and bad, right and wrong. We know that two of the great icons of American history are Abraham Lincoln, the martyred president, and Robert E. Lee, the noble soldier. So when George McClellan argues with one and defeats the other, it doesn’t fit into the mold. We have to somehow reduce McClellan and minimalize his achievements so that the icons remain icons.”