Wars are often determined by the good and bad military decisions made. After a series of poor decisions by northern generals and successes by southern generals, decisive action by the North was necessary for the northern victory. At the beginning of the war, George McClellan was the general for North. General McClellan made many great mistakes, which prolonged the war. He makes a mistake before he even starts fighting, McClellan waited eight months before taking any action. Once he started fighting, he won, but thought he lost and therefore retreated. Immediately following this battle, Lincoln ordered McClellan to attack Richmond, but McClellan refused and returned to Washington. McClellan was fired, but later in the war was reappointed and
