Meanwhile, pressure on McClellan to break the Confederate hold on the upper and lower Potomac grew ever stronger. The blockade of that river below Washington cut the capital off from all seafaring traffic save warships; Rebel control of the river above the city obstructed a main rail line between the Atlantic seaboard and the Ohio Valley (the Baltimore and Ohio). An exasperated Lincoln impatiently asked Welles if the enemy batteries along the river could not be destroyed. The navy secretary said it could be easily done by 10,000 troops, but McClellan would never agree to it. Little Mac wishfully assumed that the lower Potomac would be opened when his Urbanna offensive got underway.
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
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