coln once gave vent to his feelings when he pointed to the endless rows of army tents and asked a colleague if he knew what they were looking at. When the surprised man answered that they were viewing the Army of the Potomac, Lincoln replied: "So it is called, but that is a mistake; it is only McClellan's bodyguard."
             The battle of Antietam is also a genuine example of why the war dragged on for so long. A single victory by Lee would not have altered the military situation, for the Confederate commander could not have followed up victory. But a victory by McClellan could have cut Lee off from his base, or destroyed him and exposed Richmond to imminent capture. General McClellan wasn't Lincolns only disappointment as he soon found out. Gen. Burnside, Hooker, and Meade also proved themselves on the battlefields as unable to bring the war to a close as they too failed to follow Gen. Lee after the battle allowing him time to regroup and thus drag the war on. If anyone one of these generals had followed up after a victory the war might ended earlier than it did bringing the
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