Published in Vanity Fair on March 29, 1862, this cartoon pokes fun of General George B. McClellan. McClellan had been cautious to attack the Confederates gathered by Manassas. However, when McClellan finally got around to moving his forces forward he discovered that Joseph E. Johnston had actually withdrawn his troops. Furthermore, the cannons that had caused much of McClellan’s hesitation turned out to be logs which were painted black (“Quaker guns”).
Do you think that General McClellan deserved the criticisms he received? Was he too cautious?
Find more political cartoons and other great Civil War artifacts at Musselman Library’s Civil War Era Collection that can be found online at GettDigital (http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/gettdigital/civil_war/civilwar.htm).
