 Scott's plan was leaked to the public, and was derided by most Northern newspapers, which tended to favor an immediate assault on the Confederacy.As Scott was too old for battlefield command, Lincoln selected General Irvin McDowell, an officer whom Scott saw as unimaginative and inexperienced, to lead the main Union army in the eastern theater of the war.Though Scott counseled that the army needed more time to train, Lincoln ordered an offensive against the Confederate capital of Richmond.