This was way before The Army of the Potomac got on the right track...and got rid of a long line of commanding generals and got guys like Grant, Sheridan and Sherman to get the job done right......
before that was the clown show of George B. McClellan and the comedy styings of Ambrose Burnsides et al....and of course the biggest problem of the north, the running of the war by politicians....(sound familiar?)
As mainpatsfan points out, the war in the West gets little attention. But it was bringing the generals from the West; Grant & Sherman, that got the Army of the Potomac in step. Mead was able to eke out a victory over Lee at Gettysburg, but didn't have the dogged determination that Grant/Sherman had to drive the South to destruction.