Reading a few accounts of the American Civil War, McClellan's incompetence as a general is one of the common themes throughout. Time and again he overestimated the enemy strength and in doing so failed to utilize his superior numbers due to a fear of the deployment of non-existent Southern reserves. He failed to follow up on victories and crush the Southern army, and indulged in inaction to the point of driving Lincoln and his inferior officers mad. Yet whenever Lincoln challenged McClellan, and especially when the President relieved him of command, accounts state that his men rallied to him and even proposed marching on Washington. Whenever McClellan rode into town, men and women would gather to get a glimpse and to praise him. Why was this? Could the average soldier and civilian not see that McClellan was incompetent? The papers openly questioned the inaction of the Army of the Potomoc. Did the general population not put the blame for this at McLellan's feet?