Examines the contentious relationship between President Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan, discussing the high-born McClellan's tendency to look down on Lincoln, and charging that even though the president gave the general all that was needed to fight, McClellan, a great organizer and strategist, was apparently reluctant to go into battle.

Parallel beginnings -- Between two wars -- Catching the brass ring -- The real McClellan -- Man on horseback -- The numbers game -- Under siege -- Presidential angst -- Planning for Armageddon -- Troubled minds -- Yorktown blues -- At the gates of Richmond -- Shifting blame -- Dogfight down the James -- New policy and old brains -- In command of nothing -- The road to Sharpsburg -- Hellfire on the Antietam -- The quiet after the storm -- McClellan's bodyguard -- Fatigued horses -- Sacked -- The unpolitical politician -- Two storks by a frog pond -- Sound and fury.