The American Civil War was the seminal event in US history; our most significant and far-reaching experience to say the least. The expenditure in blood and treasure was absolutely immense. In excess of 3,000,000 men served in the armies, and approximately 625,000 soldiers (more recent estimates as high as 752,000 to 851,000 deaths) perished in a multitude of engagements, more than all the nation's other wars combined. The economic loss was incredible with cities and farms totally decimated, especially throughout the South.
Naturally, the size and scope of such a conflict placed the burden of strategic leadership for the entire Union war effort squarely on the shoulders of President Abraham Lincoln who entered office in 1861 with little to no expertise in military affairs. Like no other President in our history, he met the extreme challenges of Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy with a fierce determination by quickly mastering national security policymaking, both from a political and military perspective. If dealing with the complexities of grand strategy was not enough to overwhelm Lincoln, the true test of his leadership abilities involved the management of some very contentious egos among not just his civil authorities, but especially with his major commanders in the Eastern Theater of Operations.
Just imagine for a moment what the outcome could have been in blood and treasure if General McClellan would have exercised his overwhelming combat power, destroying Lee's Army and occupying Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862. At the time it was anticipated that he would do just that. He certainly had the means to do so with a highly trained, well equipped army that outnumbered Robert E Lee by a ratio of practically 2:1. Many historians agree that a McClellan victory could have brought the war to an end with one stroke of military brilliance. In blood alone an estimated 500,000 or more American lives might have been saved with a victory during the Peninsula Campaign. But of course, that did not happen. Consequently, the American people would endure further bloodshed for three more years in such battles as Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Spotsylvania and the like.
How on earth did Lincoln arrive at such a military strategy to defeat the Rebels? Just as he had done as a boy and later as a lawyer, he devoted endless hours to self-study and literally became quite astute in military strategy, especially as it related to the political-military spectrum. Lincoln possessed numerous good character traits and characteristics; perhaps, common sense being his greatest of all. Where he had a surplus of common sense, for his generals "common sense was uncommon" (Will Rogers). In many ways Lincoln's grasp of political-military strategy was far superior to what his generals possessed. And, of all things...they were all graduates of West Point while Lincoln had just been a self-taught backwoods country lawyer.
This historical narrative brings to light the many struggles Lincoln had with the different commanders of the primary field army in the Eastern Theater of operation, highlighting their ignorance, incompetence, lack of will power and especially their arrogance and egotism on the battlefield. How and why he was able to tolerate these commanders remains a great mystery to many. However, he was typically compelled to accept the best available candidate from a pool of less than qualified military leaders or choose one who had the least amount of liabilities, until he ended up with General Grant, an individual with little to no noticeable ego at all. With Grant in charge Lincoln was finally able to communicate his strategy to a general officer who would finally bring the war to a successful conclusion.