Upon the occasion of his retirement from active service with the ACWGC Union Army, Major General McClellan is presented with the Union Army of the Tennessee Service Medal and Ribbon and the Union Army's Honorable Service Medal.
Major General Gary W. McClellan has, sadly, announced his desire to retire from active service as an officer of ACWGC Union Army, citing increasing demands upon his time. In a time when it is more frequently the result of an officer simply disappearing from the rolls without any word, it is, at least, a more satisfying convention to pay tribute, however small, whenever an officer can and does retain the decorum of making a proper announcement of his decision.
According to the ACWGC Department of Records, Gary McClellan’s earliest recorded game was begun in November of 2001. It was the first of more than 90 such contests that he would play over the next eleven years as an officer of the ACWGC Union Army! As a member of the former Union Army of the Ohio, Gary displayed a steady, constant activity to his membership, frequently posting within the Mason Dixon Tavern and offering his thoughts on a great diversity of subjects. This was especially so whenever the topic pertained to the future of the club or when a new rule was in consideration for adoption.
Nor was Gary hesitant when it came to making a lasting contribution to the welfare of the Union Army on the electronic battlefields. In 2003 he won the II War College Prize for his HPS-related article, Managing Enemy Defensive Fire in HPS Civil War Games, which he wrote as a colonel. At a time when many officers were still struggling with the inherent differences between the Battleground and HPS engines, Gary’s advises on HPS defensive fire provided a realistic perspective on the game mechanics. “Taking meaningless losses is never a good thing,” he wrote, “and there are times that defensive fire can be very painful (moving around in front of enemy cannon especially), but be realistic. Defensive fire is ½ strength, and if the enemy unit is in D status, then it's ½ of ½, or ¼ of normal firepower. Even a 500 man infantry battalion isn't going to hurt you too badly if it's firing at ¼ of its normal firepower. Just bear it as the cost of doing business.”
Gary was promoted to Brigadier General in March, 2005. He took command of the First Division, XXIII Corps, Army of the Ohio in November of that same year, and directed that unit’s fortunes for the next four years, winning his major generalcy in the process! When, in December of 2009, the Army of the Ohio was de-activated and melded within the present Army of the Tennessee, Major General McClellan candidly declined assuming a continuing command role, citing a great number of pressing, personal commitments that would prevent him from doing proper justice to the responsibilities. He thereafter took command of the 6th Artillery Brigade, Second Division, XV Corps and became a steady, veteran member of the “Old Reliable” Division.
He once very gently but characteristically chastised the club membership within the Mason Dixon Tavern for confusing his name with that of George Brinton McClellan. “I am G. W. McClellan,” he quipped, “not G. B. McClellan!”
Major General McClellan’s recent expression of his desire for retirement from active service with the ACWGC Union Army is, of course, met with the same sadness and regret which must attend the similar retirements of any of its long-termed, veteran officers. I am sure that all of you will joined me in wishing Gary the best of fortunes in his time away from us, and that he will retain both the good memories and affections of the American Civil War Game Club.
