1861
More accurately, this photograph should be titled Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan and Staff. Dissatisfied with General McClellan’s nonresponsiveness after Antietam—he did not pursue Robert E. Lee’s army, nor did he convey any urgency in getting his own army back into action—Abraham Lincoln went out to Maryland in October to meet with him. (McClellan had a habit of making the commander in chief come to him, which Lincoln tolerated but also noted as a sign of the officer’s arrogance.) In this portrait, McClellan, diminutive and in a forage cap, faces the figure of the president who, complete with trademark stovepipe hat, towers over him and the rest of the officers. Standing at the far right is cavalry captain George A. Custer.