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General MacClellen was four years younger than me when they put him in charge of the army of the Potomac. I am pretty competent in most areas of my life, and am generally pretty willing to take risks. Yet, I'd feel pretty uncomfortable in charge of a whole army, especially in a war where 30% casualties per battle was the norm.

Very few of the Commanders had fought in a War before. All that was left from the Mexican War were a handful of sick old men. Guys like Mac had never faced enemy fire before, but were expected to make life or death decisions, organize everything, and cope with all the technological changes that had shifted the very way war was fought. Some guys could handle it. (U.S. Grant comes to mind). Others couldn't. The only way to find out was to put them in charge and hope they didn't botch it. A botch meant that all the young men in towns all over your half of the country would die. If this isn't a scary prospect, I don't know what is.