DuringthenextfewdaystheCommitteemusthavebeenquitesatisfiedwiththePresident。Forhim，hewassavage。ThenormalLincoln，themanofimmeasurablemercy，hadtemporarilyvanished。McClellan’sblunderhadtouchedtheonespringthatrousedthetigerinLincoln。Bylettingslipachancetoterminatethewar——asitseemedtothatdeludedWashingtonofMarch，1862——McClellanhadconvertedLincolnfromabroodinggentlenesstoanincarnationofthelastjudgment。HetoldHayhethoughtthatinpermittingMcClellantoretainanycommand，hehadshownhim“verygreatkindness。“[16]Apparently，hehadnoconsciousnessthathehadbeenharshinthemodeofMcClellan’sabatement，nothoughtofthefinemanlinessofMcClellan’sreply。
DuringthisperiodofLincoln’sbriefvengefulness，StantonthoughtthathistimeforclearingscoreswithMcClellanhadcome。Heevenpickedoutthemanwhowastoberushedoverothermen’sheadstothecommandofthearmyofthePotomac。
GeneralHitchcock，anaccomplishedsoldieroftheregulararmy，agrandsonofEthanAllen，whohadgrownoldinhonorableservice，wassummonedtoWashington，andwas“amazed“byhavingplumpedathimthequestion，wouldheconsenttosucceedMcClellan？ThoughGeneralHitchcockwasnotwithoutfaults——andthereisanepisodeinhislaterrelationswithMcClellanwhichhisbiographerdiscreetlyomits——hewasamodestman。HerefusedtoconsiderStanton’soffer。ButheconsentedtobecometheconfidentialadviseroftheWarOffice。ThiswasdoneafteraninterviewwithLincolnwhoimpressedonHitchcockhissenseofagreatresponsibilityandofthefactthathe“hadnomilitaryknowledge“andthathemusthaveadvice。[17]OutofthiscongestedsenseofhelplessnessinLincoln，joinedwiththenewlaborsoftheSecretaryofWarasexecutiveheadofallthearmies，grewquicklyanotherofthoseill-omened，extra-constitutionalwarcouncils，onemorewheelwithinthewheels，thatwerealldoingtheirparttomakethewholemachineunworkable；distributinginsteadofconcentratingpower。ThisnewcouncilwhichcametobeknownastheArmyBoard，wasmadeupoftheheadsoftheBureausoftheWarDepartmentwiththeadditionofHitchcockas“AdvisingGeneral。“OfthetemperoftheArmyBoard，composedasitwasentirelyofthesatellitesofStanton，aconfessioninHitchcock’sdiaryspeaksvolumes。Ontheeveningofthefirstdayoftheirnewrelation，StantonpouredouttohimsuchaquantityoforalevidenceofMcClellan’s“incompetency“astomakethisnewrecruitforanti-McClellanism“feelpositivelysick。“[18]
Bypermittingthisaddedsourceofconfusionamonghisadvisers，LincolntreatedhimselfmuchashehadalreadytreatedMcClellan。BygoingoverMcClellan’sheadtotakeadvicefromhissubordinateshehadputtheGeneralonaleash；
now，bysettingHitchcockandtheexpertsintheseatofjudgment，hevirtually，forashortwhile，puthimselfonaleash。Thushadcomeintotacitbutrealpowerthreemilitarycouncilsnoneofwhichwasrecognizedassuchbylaw——theCounciloftheSubordinatesbehindMcClellan；theCounciloftheExpertsbehindLincoln；theCounciloftheJacobins，calledTheCommittee，behindthemall。