General McClellan, after being put in command of the Army, resented any
“interference” by the President. Lincoln, in his anxiety to know
the details of the work in the army, went frequently to McClellan’s
headquarters. That the President had a serious purpose in these visits
McClellan did not see.
“I enclose a card just received from ‘A. Lincoln,’” he wrote to his wife
one day; “it shows too much deference to be seen outside.”
In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of being “interrupted” by
the President and Secretary Seward, “who had nothing in particular to
say,” and again of concealing himself “to dodge all enemies in shape of
‘browsing’ Presidents,” etc.
“I am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration--perfectly
sick of it,” he wrote early in October; and a few days later, “I was
obliged to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 8 P. M., and was bored and
annoyed. There are some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have ever
seen--enough to tax the patience of Job.”