American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

Lithograph, [1864],  sheet 15 3/4 x 12 1/2 in., on wove paper, significant tear, with a few additional marginal tears or chips, framed to 22 1/2 x 16 1/2 in., not examined out of frame.

The Democratic candidate of the 1864 election and Union General George B. McClellan is depicted sitting in a saddle on the spanker boom of the U.S.S. Galena during the Battle of Malvern Hill which took place on 1 July 1862. McClellan looks through a spyglass at his battling troops on shore quipping: "Fight my brave Soldiers and push the enemy to the wall, from this spanker boom your beloved General looks down upon you." The cartoon lampoons the fact that General McClellan was not present during the opening exchanges at the Battle of Malvern Hill where his troops were routed, having taken the Galena to inspect Harrison's Landing. It also recalls the Battle of Drewry's Bluff in May 1862, when the Galena was forced to retreat under accurate fire from the Confederate Fort Darling.