 On January 10 , Lincoln met with top generals ( McClellan did not attend ) and directed them to formulate a plan of attack , expressing his exasperation with General McClellan with the following remark : " If General McClellan does not want to use the army , I would like to borrow it for a time . " On January 12 , 1862 , McClellan was summoned to the White House , where the Cabinet demanded to hear his war plans . For the first time , he revealed his intentions to transport the Army of the Potomac by ship to Urbanna , Virginia , on the Rappahannock River , outflanking the Confederate forces near Washington , and proceeding 50 miles ( 80 km ) overland to capture Richmond . He refused to give any specific details of the proposed campaign , even to his friend , newly appointed War Secretary Edwin M. Stanton . On January 27 , Lincoln issued an order that required all of his armies to begin offensive operations by February 22 , Washington 's birthday . On January 31 , he issued a supplementary order for the Army of the Potomac to move overland to attack the Confederates at Manassas Junction and Centreville . McClellan immediately replied with a 22 @-@ page letter objecting in detail to the president 's plan and advocating instead his Urbanna plan , which was the first written instance of the plan 's details being presented to the president . Although Lincoln believed his plan was superior , he was relieved that McClellan finally agreed to begin moving , and reluctantly approved . On March 8 , doubting McClellan 's resolve , Lincoln again interfered with the army commander 's prerogatives . He called a council of war at the White House in which McClellan 's subordinates were asked about their confidence in the Urbanna plan . They expressed their confidence to varying degrees . After the meeting , Lincoln issued another order , naming specific officers as corps commanders to report to McClellan ( who had been reluctant to do so prior to assessing his division commanders ' effectiveness in combat , even though this would have meant his direct supervision of twelve divisions in the field ) . 
