Just Trivia

[L Verge]

I have never paid much attention to Gen. George McClellan, other than considering him a pompous Banty (Bantam) rooster in uniform. However, I did recently find something interesting about him and his marriage to Mary Ellen Marcy.

Mary Ellen was the daughter of a military officer and was courted by both Lt. McClellan and Lt. Ambrose Powell Hill (who would fight for opposing sides during the CW). She was actually in love with Hill, but her father objected, likely because Hill intended to be a career military officer (low pay, moving a lot). This left the door open for McClellan to step in. I'm not sure why he may have appealed to dear old dad.

I think Mary Ellen soon learned about her husband's super ego and somewhat nasty demeanor, but evidently kept quiet. They were married for 25 years. And talk about ego, George was three inches shorter than his wife and never allowed them to be photographed together where both were in standing positions. I have seen one photo of them together, and Mary Ellen is sitting demurely in a chair with George standing to her right. P.S. Very pretty lady.

She outlived her husband by 30 years and spent those years in Nice, France, where she died in 1915. She was brought back to the U.S. for burial beside the General in Riverview Cemetery in Trenton, NJ.