Why was irvin mcdowell fired

President Lincoln told Secretary of the Salmon P. I told him I had already done so, and would do so again. After two defeats at Bull Run, he lost the trust of troops and politicians although he was subsequently cleared by a military court of inquiry of any negligence during the Second Battle of Bull Run.

In , McDowell was named to command the Department of the Pacific, which effectively removed him from the combat theater.

After army service, he served as a San Francisco parks commissioner. Lincoln and Friends James S. McDowell repeatedly asked government officials to let him send his men against Richmond. Before he could advance on Richmond, his command was assigned to the Army of Virginia, under the command of John Pope. Pope's army met advancing Confederates under Robert E. Following this Union defeat, McDowell requested that Lincoln remove him from command.

Lincoln agreed because he believed that Union soldiers did not view McDowell as a competent commander. The court cleared McDowell of all misconduct. Lincoln also still trusted McDowell's abilities, but he realized that many politicians and soldiers did not think that McDowell was an able commander.

The general remained unassigned until , when Lincoln placed him in command of the Department of the Pacific. He remained in this position until his retirement from the military in McDowell then became commissioner of parks in San Francisco.

He died in Toggle navigation. Jump to: navigation , search. Irvin McDowell was a nineteenth century American military leader. Dee, Christine, ed. Athens: Ohio University Press, Jordan, Philip D. Williams, is almost comically pro-McDowell and anti-McClellan. He is truly patriotic, but is not a politician…That he is a true brave man I have no doubt. I like General Irvin McDowell. Had anyone known of his obvious bias toward McDowell, Garfield might never have received this assignment. However, he did not long remain on this case and was instead soon transferred to the much higher-profile court martial of Fitz John Porter.

As Garfield was just as anti-McClellan and therefore anti-Porter as he was pro-McDowell, his placement on this court might have been questioned if his developing friendship with McDowell had been public knowledge. General Porter, unaware of all of these machinations, was asked if he objected to any members of the court martial before the proceedings began.

He answered that he did not. One wonders how strongly he might have objected to Garfield had he known all the details. Pope as a fool. The court martial was also comprised entirely of general officers of volunteers like Garfield. No West Pointers were permitted on the jury for fear they might have sympathy for their fellow alum Porter. The Porter court martial convened in December His history will yet be vindicated. The only question in their minds was the proper sentence.

Despite some initial extreme suggestions that Porter be executed, James A. Garfield and the court eventually decreed that Maj. Fitz John Porter be immediately dismissed from the United States Army and forever barred from holding any federal office. Porter fought for his own vindication for the rest of his life, and two decades later his conviction was overturned.

Of course, the damage to his personal and military reputation was long since done. For his part, James A. Though he hoped to return to battlefield command against the Confederacy, he was instead basically exiled in the West, eventually becoming commander of the Department of the Pacific.

He remained lifelong friends with James A. Garfield and even visited Garfield at his Mentor, Ohio home on November 21, , almost three weeks after Garfield was elected President of the United States. Ten years prior to that visit, on August 3, , James and Lucretia Garfield had welcomed their fifth child into the world. When Lincoln found that the 74, men McClellan claimed he had left behind existed largely on paper, he was furious.

McClellan had assigned a force of only 26, to protect the capital. Now McClellan was furious. For the next two months, McDowell found himself caught in the middle. McClellan, who still believed McDowell was conspiring against him, continually clamored for reinforcements. Lincoln refused to leave the capital vulnerable to attack. Lincoln next established a Department of the Rappahannock with McDowell as commander.

Now both McDowell and McClellan were frustrated. His case would be disposed of one way or the other before I could arrive! McClellan decided to stretch his right flank and sent a corps under Brig. If McDowell no longer inspired praise from his superiors, he fared even worse with his men. John Pope, junior in rank to McDowell, was given command, with McDowell one of his three corps commanders. Jackson would frustrate Pope throughout the month of August.

Then, on August 24, Robert E. Jackson reached Manassas practically unfettered August 26, commandeered much-needed supplies and destroyed much of the depot. Once Pope realized Jackson was there, he jumped at the opportunity to trap him before he could reunite with Lee. James Longstreet in fact was marching hard in his direction. McDowell had trouble getting his troops to move, and then took a wrong turn.

Upon learning that Rebels were approaching Gainesville, he placed Rufus King in command and rode off to find Pope to report the news. Hearing the gunfire, McDowell turned back but got lost in the woods. The way now lay open for the elements of the Confederate army to reunite. He ordered McDowell to hold his position at all costs and planned to attack the next morning, using men under his own command to smash Jackson between them.

Pope issued a joint order to McDowell and Porter that left both confused. McDowell took a division of troops and returned to Pope, while Porter did nothing. Porter finally got his men going at 3 a. August 30, linking up with the rest of the Federal army. Later that morning, McDowell rode out toward the Confederate lines and concluded that Jackson had retreated during the night.

Pope got concurring reports from other sources and firmly believed Jackson had indeed departed.