ARMY OPERATIONS. 



139 



for marching orders upon an hour's notice. On 

 the llth he issued a call for fifty thousand of 

 the freemen of the State to enter immediate 

 service to repel the imminent danger of inva- 

 sion. On the same day he addressed the fol- 

 lowing despatch to the mayor of Philadelphia: 



We have reliable information this evening that the 

 rebel generals have moved their entire army from 

 Frederick to Cumberland Valley, and their destination 

 is now Harrisburg and Philadelphia. We need every 

 available man immediately. Stir up your population 

 to-night. Form them into companies, and send us 

 twenty thousand to-morrow. Xo time can be lost in 

 massing a force on the Susquehanna to defend the 

 State and your city. Arouse every man possible and 

 send him h'ere. 



Gov. Bradford, of Maryland, also issued a 

 proclamation calling upon the citizens to or- 

 ganize without delay such a force as might 

 effectually assist in defending their homes and 

 firesides. The effect of these appeals, especially 

 in Pennsylvania, was to bring to the governor 

 a response from more than seventy-five thou- 

 sand men. Harrisburg, the capital, overflowed 

 with troops. The excitement, however, was 

 not confined to Pennsylvania. In the adjacent 

 States, troops under the 'first call for three hun- 

 dred thousand men were hurried to Washing- 

 ton and to Harrisburg. It created another 

 military excitement, and volunteers promptly 

 came forward in all the States to fill up the call 

 of the President. 



On the 2d of September, the following order 

 was issued by the general-in-chief : 



WAS DEPABTMENT, ADjrTAjrr-GENEp.Ai.'s Ozncz, ) 

 WASHINGTON, September 2, 1S62. ) 

 General Orders, No. 122. 



Mai. -Gen. McClellan will have command of the 

 fortifications of Washington, and of all the troops for 

 the defence of the capital. 



By command of Maj.-Gen. HALLECK. 

 E. D. TOWXSEXD, Assist. Adj. -Gen. 



"When Gen. McClellan arrived at "Washington 

 from Harrison's Landing, he was in the de- 

 partment of Gen. Pope, which included the 

 District of Columbia. This was about the mid- 

 dle of August. Subsequent to that time he was 

 without a command, excepting a body of nine- 

 ty-six men, until this order was issued. Each 

 corps of his army had been sent forward to 

 Gen. Pope In fact the active forces under the 

 command of Gen. Pope consisted of the Army 

 of Virginia, embracing the corps of Gens. 

 McDowell, Banks, Sigel, a portion of Gen. Cox's 

 force from western Virginia, a part of Gen. 

 Burnside's force from North Carolina, about 

 ten regiments from Port Royal in South Caro- 

 lina, under Gen. Stevens, and the Army of the 

 Potomac, consisting of the corps of Gens. 

 Heintzelman, Sumner, Porter, and Franklin, 

 and the divisions of Gens. McCall and Couch, 

 without including the troops stationed in the 

 fortifications around "Washington. With this 

 force he was not able to withstand the over- 

 whelming march of the Confederate army. 

 Tet this same Confederate army was the force 

 which the Army of the Potomac, under Gen. 

 McClellan, single handed and unaided, was re. 



quired to meet and conquer, and thus obtain 

 the capital of the Confederacy, which was in 

 their possession. In this unequal struggle no 

 dishonor ever tarnished the Army of the Poto- 

 mac. 



On the 4th of September, Gen. McClellan, 

 having received the order above stated, issued 

 another assuming command of the forces above 

 mentioned, together with some new levies which 

 had arrived at Washington under the call of 

 the President for three hundred thousand men. 

 His order assuming the command acted like 

 an electric shock upon these dispirited, defeat- 

 ed masses. It was as follows : 



HEAJXJTTABTEES, "WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 1S62. 

 General Orders, No. 1. 



1. Pursuant to General Orders Xo. 122, from the 

 War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, of the 2d 

 instant, the undersigned hereby assumes command of 

 the fortifications of Washington and of all troops for 

 the defence of the capital. 



2. The heads of the staff departments of the Army 

 of the Potomac will be in charge of their respective 

 departments at these headquarters. 



3. In addition to the consolidated morning reports 

 required by circular of this date from these headquar- 

 ters, reports will be made by corps commanders as to 

 their compliance with the assignment to positions here- 

 tofore given them, stating definitely the ground occu- 

 pied and covered by their command, and as to what 

 progress has been made in obedience to orders already 

 issued to place their commands in condition for imme- 

 diate service. GEO. B. McCLELLAN, Mnj.-Gen. 



Official : S. WILLIAMS, Assist. Adj. -General. 



It was now known that Gen. Lee had march- 

 ed into Maryland, and the orders given to Gen. 

 McClellan were to pursue him with all the 

 troops which were not required for the defence 

 of Washington. On the next day most of his 

 army was in motion, and rapidly advanced into 

 Maryland. Gen. Couch's division, consisting 

 of three brigades, commanded by Gens. Howe, 

 Devens. and Cochrane, on the morning of the 

 6th had reached the road from Rockville to 

 Great Falls, eight miles beyond Tenallytown. 

 Other corps were rapidly pressing on. Three 

 days after assuming command, on the Vth, at 

 six P. M., he left Washington to take the field. 

 That night he passed through Rockville, fifteen 

 miles from Washington, stopping only long 

 enough to refresh his horses. On the morning 

 of the 10th, the army had advanced to Damas- 

 cus, thirty-four miles from Washington and 

 sixteen miles from Frederick. The first move- 

 ments of the army were such as to occupy po- 

 sitions which commanded all the lower fords 

 of the Potomac, thus presenting to the Con- 

 federate army the alternative of meeting him 

 in battle, or retiring before him, and crossing 

 the Potomac higher up, which would take 

 them further from Washington, and oblige them 

 to retreat through the Shenandoah Valley. 



Meantime Gen. Lee, after his successes 

 against Gen. Pope, had no reason to apprehend 

 that the same army would soon be in pursuit 

 of him ; yet, like a prudent commander, he, upon 

 learning of the approach of Gen. McClellan, 

 immediately took precautions to secure his 

 own safety. His army had met with no such 



