However, he died before it was half completed and his literary executor, William C. Prime, editor of the pro-McClellan New York Journal of Commerce, included excerpts from some 250 of McClellan's wartime letters to his wife, in which it had been his habit to reveal his innermost feelings and opinions in unbridled fashion.
Han døde imidlertid inden han var halvt færdig, og hans litterære eksekutor, William C. Prime, redaktør af den pro-mcclellanske New York Journal of Commerce, medtog uddrag fra omkring 250 af McClellans breve til sin kone under krigen, hvor det var hans vane at afsløre sine inderste følelser og holdninger ganske utilsløret.