Nathaniel McLean
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Collins McLean (February 2, 1815 – January 4, 1905), was a lawyer, farmer, and Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 general during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Early life and career

Born in Warren County, Ohio
Warren County, Ohio
Warren County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. The population was 212,693 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Lebanon. Warren County was erected May 1, 1803, from Hamilton County, and named for Dr...

, Nathaniel McLean was the son of John McLean
John McLean
John McLean was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice on the Ohio and U.S...

, an 1856 and 1860 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 presidential candidate and Associate Justice
Associate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...

 of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 known as "the politician of the Supreme Court".

McLean was well educated, and graduated from Augusta College in Kentucky at the age of sixteen. He then attended Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 and received his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 He was married in 1838 to Caroline Thew Burnett, the daughter of a Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 judge. While practicing law, he fell ill, and he was advised to travel to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and attempt to regain his health. Shortly after his trip, his wife died. He remarried in 1858 to a woman from Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

.

Civil War service

At the beginning of the Civil War, McLean organized the 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment under authority from Maj. Gen
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...

 and became its colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 September 18, 1861. McLean, with Lieutenant-Colonel R.A. Constable and Major Robert Reily, organized and trained the 75th in Wyoming, Ohio
Wyoming, Ohio
Wyoming is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 8,261 at the 2000 census.Wyoming has a renowned education program - the Wyoming City School District was ranked first in the State of Ohio on the 2004-2005 State Report Card, with an index score of 108.2...

, (north of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

) at Camp John McLean, which he of course named after his father. The regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 was organized into a brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

 commanded by Brig. Gen
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

 Robert Milroy and assigned to duty in western Virginia under Frémont and the Mountain Department.

Western Virginia

In January 1862, McLean's troops were shipped from Cincinnati to Grafton, Virginia
Grafton, West Virginia
Grafton is a city in, and county seat of, Taylor County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 5,489 at the 2000 census. The only two national cemeteries in West Virginia are located in Grafton. Mother's Day was founded in Grafton on May 10, 1908; the city is the home to the International Mother's...

, where they remained until February 17, when they marched 43 miles to Huttonsville, Virginia
Huttonsville, West Virginia
Huttonsville is a town in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States, along the Tygart Valley River. The population was 217 at the 2000 census.-History:...

, to join with the rest of the Mountain Department. From Huttonsville, Milroy moved his brigade out towards Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....

, in order to distract Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...

 from attacking other Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley as part of his 1862 Valley Campaign
Valley Campaign
Jackson's Valley Campaign was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's famous spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War...

; McLean's troops were at the head of this march. Bogged down by muddy roads, McLean and his men were forced to stop in Monterey, Virginia
Monterey, Virginia
Monterey is a town in Highland County, Virginia, United States. The population was 158 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Highland County.-Geography:Monterey is located at ....

, so the rest of the column could catch up. Here, McLean saw his first action of the war, repulsing two hours of attacks from a small force of Confederates. Jackson soon turned his attention to Milroy's march. When the 75th Ohio was within 10 miles of Staunton, Milroy ordered the march to turn back at Buffalo Gap, so he could engage Jackson. Milroy made his headquarters at McDowell, Virginia, and Jackson positioned his men east of the town on top of a hill known as Bull Pasture Mountain. Trying to catch the Confederates by surprise, the Union attacked late on May 8, 1862, with McLean leading several regiments up the hill on their right flank. McLean was able to push the Georgians at the top of the hill to their second line of defense, but that was all. After the fighting, Generals Milroy and Schenck both praised McLean's attack as being "gallant." The following day, Milroy withdrew his troops west. At the Battle of Cross Keys
Battle of Cross Keys
The Battle of Cross Keys was fought on June 8, 1862, in Rockingham County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War...

, McLean was promoted to the command of a brigade, consisting of four Ohio regiments, though he was held in reserve along the Keezletown Road on "Frémont's Final Line."

Second Bull Run

On June 26, 1862, President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 combined the forces under Frémont, Major General Nathaniel P. Banks
Nathaniel Prentice Banks
Nathaniel Prentice Banks was an American politician and soldier, served as the 24th Governor of Massachusetts, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and as a Union general during the American Civil War....

, and Brigadier General Irvin McDowell
Irvin McDowell
Irvin McDowell was a career American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War.-Early life:...

 into the Army of Virginia
Army of Virginia
The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E...

 commanded by Major General John Pope
John Pope (military officer)
John Pope was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the East.Pope was a graduate of the United States Military Academy in...

. McLean was given control the "Ohio Brigade" in the I Corps of this army, which included his 75th Ohio.

At the Second Battle of Bull Run
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen...

, McLean's brigade was placed at the extreme left of the Union line on Chinn Ridge. McDowell and Pope had placed him there to slow down a Confederate flank attack, which could have potentially overrun the rest of the Army of Virginia. McLean's troops took many casualties, but they were able to hold off the Confederates for a half hour, which allowed Pope to establish a second line of defense further north of Chinn Ridge. This line of defense allowed the Army of Virginia to withdraw from the field without being destroyed.

For his actions here, McLean would be rewarded with a brigadier generalship on September 29, 1862.

Chancellorsville

After Second Bull Run, McLean and his regiments were posted in defense of Washington. Here, the Army of Virginia was discontinued (Pope would be sent to Minnesota for his failures), and the Ohio Brigade was folded into Major General Franz Sigel
Franz Sigel
Franz Sigel was a German military officer, revolutionist and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...

's XI Corps
XI Corps (ACW)
The XI Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War, best remembered for its involvement in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in 1863.-Formation and the Valley Campaign:...

 of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

 under Major General George McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

. As part of the XI Corps, they stayed posted in Washington during the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...

 in September, and they were not called on to move again until December. At this point, McClellan had been replaced by Major General Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...

, who called the XI Corps to Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...

, but kept them in reserve during the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...

 in mid-December. Afterwards, McLean was put in charge of protecting a small town on the Northern Neck
Northern Neck
The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This peninsula is bounded by the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River on the south. It encompasses the following Virginia counties: Lancaster,...

.

By the next May, there had been some rearrangements in the Army of the Potomac, which was now under the control of Major General Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker was a career United States Army officer, achieving the rank of major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, Hooker is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E...

. Hooker placed in command of the XI Corps Major General Oliver Otis Howard
Oliver O. Howard
Oliver Otis Howard was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War...

, because the latter had been angry he was passed over for command of the III Corps. Since March 10, McLean had grown popular with the men as commander of the First Division of the XI Corps, but Howard opted to replace him with Brigadier General Charles Devens
Charles Devens
Charles Devens was an American lawyer, jurist and statesman. He also served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...

, a New England man very much like Howard; McLean was relegated to brigade commander. As such, he found himself on the right flank of the Union battle line for the Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

. This would be the part of the line that Stonewall Jackson attacked with his famous Flank March.

McLean was at corps headquarters with Devens when the attack happened (Howard had left the area, inexplicably escorting reinforcements to another part of the battlefield). As Confederates were approaching the Ohio Brigade's position, McLean implored Devens for orders to turn their front. Devens refused, possibly because he had been using brandy to dull the pain of a leg injury that occurred the previous day, when his horse ran him into a tree. As a result, the Ohio Brigade managed an impromptu defense, and even attempted a counterattack, before being driven back towards Chancellorsville. Devens was shot in the foot during the retreat, giving McLean command of the division once again. They reformed on Mineral Springs Road, northeast of Chancellorsville and away from any fighting, with the rest of the XI Corps.

Howard accepted no personal blame for the fiasco at Chancellorsville, and in his autobiography suggests that he thought it was entirely his corps's fault for running, not his. McLean, coincidentally, would be ordered west May 18. He was given a desk job, provost marshal general. under Burnside in the Department of the Ohio
Department of the Ohio
The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...

.

The Western Theatre

McLean was relocated back to his home of Cincinnati. As provost marshal, he dealt with prisoners-of-war and "citizen-prisoners" who applied to take oaths of allegiance to the United States. McLean did not hold another field command for a year, although he was transferred to command of the first division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

 of the District of Kentucky under Maj. Gen. Stephen Gano Burbridge, consisting of four brigades.

McLean commanded a brigade in the XXIII Corps during the Atlanta Campaign
Atlanta Campaign
The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...

 and again came into conflict with Howard for alleged failures at the Battle of Pickett's Mill
Battle of Pickett's Mill
The Battle of Pickett's Mill was fought on May 27, 1864, in Paulding County, Georgia during the American Civil War between Union and Confederate forces. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman attempted an attack on the right flank of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.After the Union defeat at...

. This time, while assaulting Confederate positions on May 27, 1864, McLean's brigade was to be used as a distraction. But, they separated from the brigade on his left, whom they were supposed to stay linked with, and were not able to provide a distraction. Ultimately, Howard's corps took many casualties. He would later write, "General McLean…disregarded the request and moved off at once…leaving [General Thomas Wood’s and General Richard Johnson’s] divisions isolated. He (McLean) alleged in excuse that his men were entirely without rations."

McLean was once again relegated to a staff position and later transferred to North Carolina, where he served again in the XXIII Corps during Sherman's Carolina Campaign. The corps took Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865....

, and intended to meet the rest of Sherman's army in central North Carolina, but they got as far as Goldsboro
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 37,597 at the 2008 census estimate. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The nearby town of Waynesboro was founded in 1787 and Goldsboro was...

 before the Battle of Bentonville
Battle of Bentonville
At 3 p.m., Confederate infantry from the Army of Tennessee launched an attack and drove the Union left flank back in confusion, nearly capturing Carlin in the process and overrunning the XIV Corps field hospital. Confederates under Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill filled the vacuum left by the retreating...

 in March. Seeing the end of the war coming, McLean resigned his commission April 20, 1865, six days before the surrender of General Joseph Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

 at Bennett Place
Bennett Place
Bennett Place, sometimes known as Bennett Farm, in Durham, North Carolina was the site of the largest surrender of Confederate soldiers ending the American Civil War, on April 26, 1865.-History:...

 in Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...

. During the whole war General McLean was off duty for the space of thirty days, having had leave of absence once for twenty, and again for ten days.

Postbellum career

After the war, McLean returned to Cincinnati and his life as a lawyer. Within a few years, he relocated to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, where he retired to the quiet occupation of a farmer and built a church. In 1885, he moved once again, this time to Bellport, New York
Bellport, New York
Bellport is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 2,363 at the 2000 census. The village is named after the Bell family, early settlers of the area. The public education system in Bellport makes up the South Country Central School District consisting of six...

, where within a year he set up another Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

 congregation. He would die in Bellport in 1905.

See also

  • List of American Civil War generals
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