 Returning to the East , McClellan began courting his future wife , Mary Ellen Marcy ( 1836 – 1915 ) , the daughter of his former commander . Ellen , or Nelly , refused McClellan 's first proposal of marriage , one of nine that she received from a variety of suitors , including his West Point friend , A. P. Hill . Ellen accepted Hill 's proposal in 1856 , but her family did not approve and he withdrew . 
