 There is indeed ample evidence that the terrible stresses of commanding men in battle , especially the beloved men of his beloved Army of the Potomac , left his moral courage in tatters . Under the pressure of his ultimate soldier 's responsibility , the will to command deserted him . Glendale and Malvern Hill found him at the peak of his anguish during the Seven Days , and he fled those fields to escape the responsibility . At Antietam , where there was nowhere for him to flee to , he fell into a paralysis of indecision . Seen from a longer perspective , General McClellan could be both comfortable and successful performing as executive officer , and also , if somewhat less successfully , as grand strategist ; as battlefield commander , however , he was simply in the wrong profession . 
