# Why did Robert E. Lee say that George McClellan was the best general he ever faced? Tags: american-civil-war - Score: 9 - Views: 5120 - Answers: 5 - Answered: yes - Asked by: Amorphous Blob (1680 rep) - Asked: 2018-12-04 - Site: history ## Question In administration, preparation, and morale, he may have been excellent, but in starting campaigns he was ruinously cautious and in battles he was reluctant to sustain casualties. In the the Peninsula campaign, Confederate General Joe Johnston said "Nobody but McClellan would have hesitated to attack". In the subsequent retreat (necessitated by his hesitancy and mistakes), he conducted a skillful retreat, but wars aren't won by retreats. ## Answers ### Answer by user27618 (score: 10) Question: Why did Robert E. Lee say that George McClellan was the best general he ever faced? Short Answer The quote was from a conversation Lee had with his cousin after the war and comes to us 3rd hand from someone who was not in the conversation. It was recorded 30+ years removed from Lee's death. So it's very possible Lee never made the statement. It's also possible that Lee said it but that the intent of the statement was mistook. Two old me