This is the story of Lincoln's famous Army of the Potomac during the early years of the Civil War, when it was under the command of the dashing General George B. McClellan. Clearly a man of destiny, McClellan quickly became obsessed with the idea -- and the country and his troops shared his view, for a time -- that he was divinely chosen as the instrument of the Republic's salvation. But he failed to understand either the President's problems with respect to the army or the fateful significance of the war itself, and at last he was removed from command. But the living story here, viewed through McClellan's command, is that of the army itself. It is an account gathered from diaries, letters, and published reports of the ordinary foot soldiers, who discovered that their skylarking "picture book war" was grim and deadly.