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as to the plan of campaign, and the judgment of his able subordinates as to operations on the field. There is no evidence that his officers withheld their loyal support, or that they failed to construe the conflicting orders given them, according to the accepted meaning of the language in which they were written or verbally delivered. General Burnside states, in his report of the operations of the army while under his command, the condition of the army and his efforts:

"The army had not been paid for several months, which caused great dissatisfaction among the soldiers and their friends at home and increased the number of desertions to a fearful extent, and, in short, there was much gloom and despondency throughout the entire command. When to this is added the fact that there was a lack of confidence on the part of many officers in my ability to handle the army, it does not seem so strange that success did not attend my efforts. I made four distinct attempts, between November 9, 1862, and January 25, 1863. The first failed for want of pontoons; the second was the battle of Fredericksburg; the third was stopped by the President; and the fourth was defeated by the elements and other causes. After the last attempt to move I was, on January 25, 1863, relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac."

In addition to the reasons above named by General Burnside, there were other conditions and circumstances beyond his control, which are best explained in his own words, in his testimony before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War1:

"I did not want the command; it had been offered to me twice before and I did not feel that I could take it, or that I was competent to command such a large army as this. I had said the same over and over again to the President and the Secretary of

Vol. I, page 650.

War; and also that if things could be satisfactorily arranged with General McClellan, I thought he could command the Army of the Potomac better than any other general in it."

General Burnside's order assuming command of the Army of the Potomac indicated the feelings expressed in his testimony above quoted, and his command at once concluded that he was unequal to the duties he had reluctantly assumed. Men seldom attain honors when they doubt their ability to win them. The qualities essential to an army commander are, first, capacity, and, secondly, that self-confidence whose superlative is faith; these assure success, but one wanting either, however worthy in all other respects, is sure to fail in the performance of duties beyond his capacity. General Burnside declined all offers of command, but, when ordered to assume it, he loyally and zealously did the best he could, and his failure should be charged to his superiors and not to his subordinates.

G

CHAPTER XXI

HOOKER IN COMMAND

ENERAL BURNSIDE was put in command of the Army of the Potomac by President Lincoln, with the approval of the Secretary of War and of the General-inchief, and from the official records it is clear that all concurred in the order relieving him of the command. The appointment of General Hooker was the sole act of the President without the concurrence of Secretary Stanton or of General Halleck. The President's letter to General Hooker, will be a fitting introduction to the chapters which will treat of the reorganization of the army, his administrative reforms, his plans for engaging the enemy, and his generalship in fighting an aggressive battle which developed into his acting on the defensive:

"MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER,

"EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, D.C., January 26, 1863.

"General:- I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course, I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe that you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not an indispensable, quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm; but I think that during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambition

and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The Government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now, beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victory.

"Yours very truly,

"A. LINCOLN."

General Hooker's order assuming command of the Army of the Potomac expressed his appreciation of the responsibility of the trust, of the army's great achievements, and a desire for the co-operation of all in securing success. One clause he may have thought, at a latter day, to have been slightly overdrawn: "In equipment, intelligence, and valor the enemy is our inferior; let us never hesitate to give him battle wherever we can."

The consolidated report of this army for January 31, 1863, shows that there were present for duty equipped, 145,818 infantry, 14,072 cavalry, and 17,888 artillery, a total of 177,778. This number included 21,155 under General Heintzelman, commanding the Defenses of Washington. On the 15th day of February, he reported to the War Department that

"a total of 85,123 officers and men were absent from this command when first placed in my charge." General Hooker prescribed rules for granting leaves of absence and furloughs, limiting the time of absence to ten days to residents of nearby States, and to fifteen days to residents of Eastern and Western States, and limiting also the number to be granted in each organization of the army. Later, he increased the number allowed to go on leave from organizations favorably reported by inspecting officers. General William F. Smith was tranferred from the command of the Sixth Corps to the Ninth Corps, which was at the same time embarked for Fortress Monroe; and General John Sedgwick was placed in command of the Sixth Corps. On the 5th of February, he ordered a reorganization of his army as follows:

"The division of this army into grand divisions, impeding rather than facilitating the dispatch of current business, and the character of the service it is liable to be called upon to perform being adverse to the movement and operations of heavy columns, it is discontinued, and the corps organization is adopted in its stead. "They will be commanded as follows:

"First Corps, Major-General John F. Reynolds.
"Second Corps, Major-General D. N. Couch.
"Third Corps, Brigadier-General D. E. Sickles.
"Fifth Corps, Major-General George G. Meade.
"Sixth Corps, Major-General John Sedgwick.
"Eleventh Corps, Major-General Franz Siegel.
"Twelfth Corps, Major-General H. W. Slocum.

"Hereafter the corps will be considered as a unit for the organization of the artillery, and no transfers of batteries will be made from one corps or division to others except for the purpose of equalization, and then only under the authority of the chief of artillery.

"The cavalry of the army will be consolidated into one corps, under the command of Brigadier-General George Stoneman, who will make the necessary assignments for detached duty."

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