124 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



RICHMOND, July 5, 1362. 

 To the Army in Eastern Virginia, : 



SOLDIEHS ; I congratulate you on the series of brill- 

 iant victories which, under the favor of Divine Provi- 

 dence, you have lately won, and as the President of 

 the Confederate States, do heartily tender to you the 

 thanks of the country, whose just cause you have so 

 skilfully and heroically served. Ten days ago, an 

 invading army, vastly superior to you in numbers and 

 the material of war," closely beleaguered your capital 

 and vauntingly proclaimed its speedy conquest; you 

 inarched to attack the enemy in his intrenchments ; 

 with well directed movements and death-defying valor, 

 you charged upon him in his strong positions, drove 

 him from field to field over a distance of more than 

 thirty-five miles, and despite his reinforcements com- 

 pelled him to seek safety under the cover of his gun- 

 boats, where he now lies cowering before the army so 

 lately derided and threatened with entire subjugation. 

 The fortitude with which you have borne toil and pri- 

 vation, the gallantry with which you have entered into 

 each successive battle, must have been witnessed to be 

 fully appreciated ; but a grateful people will not fail to 

 recognize you and to bear you in loved remembrance. 

 Well may it be said of you that .you have " done enough 

 for glory ;" but duty to a suffering country and to tlie 

 cause of constitutional liberty, claims from you yet 

 further effort. Let it be your pride to relax in nothing 

 which can promote your future efficiency ; your one 

 great object beiug to drive the invader from your soil, 

 and, carrying your standards beyond the outer 

 boundaries of the Confederacy, to wring from an un- 

 scrupulous foe the recognition of your birthright, com- 

 munity, and independence. 



[Signed] JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



Early in July Gen. Halleck resigned his com- 

 mand of the army of the West, and in obedi- 

 ence to an order of the President assumed, on 

 the 23d of July, the duties of general-in-chief 

 of the entire army of the United States. This 

 was the position held by Gen. McClellan, pre- 

 vious to his departure from Washington to con- 

 duct the peninsular campaign. Its duties had 

 been subsequently performed by the Secretary 

 of War, under the supervision of President Lin- 

 coln, assisted by the counsel of Maj.-Gen. Hitch- 

 cock, an elderly officer of the army. Gen. Hal- 

 leck, upon assuming these duties, had his at- 

 tention immediately called to the army of the 

 Potomac. He thus relates his action in relation 

 to it: 



" The first thing to which my attention was 

 called on my arrival here (at Washington), was 

 the condition of the army at Harrison's Land- 

 ing, on the James river. I immediately visited 

 Gen. McClellan' s headquarters for consultation. 

 I left Washington on the 24th and returned on 

 the 27th. Tlie ir.ain object of this consultation 

 was to ascertain if there was a possibility of an 

 advance upon Richmond from Harrison's Land- 

 ing, and if not to favor some plan of uniting 

 the armies of Gen. McClellan and Gen. Pope 

 on some other line. Not being familiar with 

 the position and numbers of the troops in Vir- 

 ginia and on the coast, I took the President's 

 estimate of the largest number of reenforce- 

 ments that could be sent to the army of the 

 Potomac. 



"On the day of my arrival at Harrison's 

 Landing Gen. McClellan was of opinion that 

 he would require at least 50,000 additional 

 troops. I informed him that this number could 



not possibly be sent ; that I was not authorized 

 to promise him over 20,000, and that I could 

 not well see how even that number could be 

 safely withdrawn from other places. He took 

 the night for considering the matter, and in- 

 formed me the next morning that he would 

 make the attempt upon Richmond with the ad- 

 ditional 20,000, but immediately on my return 

 to Washington he telegraphed that he would 

 require 35,000, a force which it was impossible 

 to send him without leaving Washington and 

 Baltimore almost defenceless. The only alter- 

 native now left was to withdraw the army of 

 the Potomac to some position where it could 

 unite with that of Gen. Pope, and cover Wash- 

 ington at the same time that it operated 

 against the enemy. After full consultation 

 with my officers, I determined to attempt this 

 junction on the Rappahannock, by bringing 

 McClellan's forces to Aquia Creek. 



"Accordingly, on the 30th of July, I tele- 

 graphed to him to send away his sick as quick- 

 ly as possible, preparatory to a movement of 

 his troops. This was preliminary to the with- 

 drawal of his entire army, which was ordered 

 by telegraph on the 3d of August. In order 

 that the transfer to Aquia Creek might be made 

 as rapidly as possible, I authorized Gen. Mc- 

 Clellan to assume control of all the vessels in 

 the James river and Chesapeake Bay, of which 

 there was then a vast fleet. The quartermas- 

 ter-general was also requested to send to that 

 point all the transports that could be procured. 

 On the 5th I received a protest from Gen. Mc- 

 Clellan, dated the 4th, against the removal of 

 the army from Harrison's Landing. On the 

 1st of August I ordered Gen. Burnside to im- 

 mediately embark his troops at Newport News, 

 transfer them to Aquia Creek, and take position 

 opposite Fredericksburg. This officer moved 

 Avith great promptness, and reached Aquia 

 Creek on the night of the 3d. His troops were 

 immediately landed, and the transports sent 

 back to Gen. McClellan. 



" About this time I received information that 

 the enemy were preparing a large force to 

 drive back Gen. Pope, and attack either Wash- 

 ington or Baltimore. The information was so 

 direct and trustworthy that I could not doubt 

 its correctness. This gave me serious uneasi- 

 ness for the safety of the capital and Maryland, 

 and I repeatedly urged upon Gen. McClellan 

 the necessity of promptly moving his army so 

 as to form a junction with that of Gen. Pope. 

 The evacuation of Harrison's Landing, however, 

 was not commenced till the 14th, eleven days 

 after it was ordered." 



The following correspondence, respecting 

 this removal of the army of the Potomac, took 

 place between Gen. McClellan and Gen. Hal- 

 leck: 



BERKELEY, Va., Augvst 4, 12 M. 

 Maj.-Gen. Halleck, Commander-in- Chief : 



Your telegraph of last evening is received. I must 

 confess that it has caused me the greatest pain I ever 

 experienced, for I am convinced that the order to with- 

 draw this army to Aquia Creek will prove disastrous in 



