Following his presidential defeat, McClellan resigned from the army and spent several years in Europe. He would return to the railroad business in 1872 as president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. From 1878 to1881, he served one term as the governor of New Jersey. McClellan’s later years were spent writing a memoir called “McClellan’s Own Story,” which was published after his 1885 death at the age of 58.Fun and interesting fact about him, in 1865, while doing a Europe trip, McClellan designed a saddle for horse based upon a very popular Russian model, used in the Crimean War. This “McClellan saddle” was instantly adopted by the U.S Department of war and remained the standard saddle for the cavalry until disbanded in World War II.