Note 25 — MEXICAN WAR DIARY OF GEORGE B. McCLELLAN 1846-1847

“McClellan’s sobriquet in Mexico, among his intimate friends, was ‘Polance’ (sugar). On the march, when [he] first arrived, he insisted upon eating a lot of the sugar arranged on even cobs and persuading his companions to eat it too. He was always fond of sweet things. They all became ill in consequence, and he more than any of them. After that they addressed him as ‘Polance’ for he kept saying,—‘Why it’s Polance, the best sugar—it can’t hurt anyone’.” (Note in writing of McClellan’s daughter, McClellan Papers, Vol. 108.)