A Union Army commander in the American Civil War, George Brinton McClellan (1826-1885) repelled Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North. He was later a governor of New Jersey.

George B. McClellan was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on Dec. 3, 1826, the son of a prominent physician. He attended the University of Pennsylvania Preparatory School and, by special action, was permitted to enter West Point two years before attaining the minimum age. He graduated second in the 1846 class of 59 cadets.

McClellan won two brevets in the Mexican War in 1847 "for gallant and meritorious conduct." He was named to the American military commission which observed the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War (1853-1856). McClellan then studied military organizations, weapons, and systems in several European countries and wrote an excellent, comprehensive report on his observations (1857). Resigning his commission in the army Jan. 16, 1857, he became an executive with the Illinois...