Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-12-16
REPORT OF TTE FEDERAL GEN
EgAIa.EN.CMIEE
Headquarters OF THE Army,
Washington, Nov. 25, 1862.

| Hon. 4 h. Stanton, secretary OF war:
SIR: In compliance with your orders, / hav'
the honor to submit the following report Of mill
tary operations since the 23d of July last when
in compliance with the Presidents order Of july
j IL, I assumed command of the army as Gen
eral-in- Chief
The first thing to which my attention wa!
called on my arrival here Uss the condition o
the army at HsTison's Landing, on the James
river. / Immediately visited Gen. Mcclellan
headquarters for consultation / left Washing
ton on the oath, and returned on the 27sh. The
main object Of this consultation was to sscsr
tain i there was q possibility Of an advance
upon Richmond from Harrison's Landing, and
if not, 10 form some plan Of uniting the armies
Of General Mcclellan and General Pope on
some other line. Not being familiar with the
position and number Of the troops in Virginia
and on the coast, took the Presidents estimate
of the largest number of reinfOrcemen's that
could at that time be sent to the Army Of the
Potomac.
On the day of my arrival at Harrison's Land
ing, Gen. Mcclellan was Of opinion that he
would require at least fifty thousand additional
troops. Uniformed him that this number could
not possibly be sent, that I was not authorised
| to promise him over twenty thousand, and that
could not well see how even that number could
be safely Withdrawn from other places. He took
the night for considering the matter, and ia
| formed me the next meTning that he would make
the attempt upon Richmond with the additional
! twenty thsusBnd. But Immediately on my re-
| turn TO Washington, be telegraphsd that be
would require thiTty-fve thousand, a force which
| il was impossible to send without leaving WASH
| ington and Baltimore almost defenselsss. The
only alternative now Left was to withdraw the
Army of the Potomac to some position where 1t
could unite with that of Gen. Pope and cover
I tho firY1a thct II OnarRtad
against the enemy.
| After full consultation with my officers. de-
| serEined to attempt this junction on the Kappa
hammock, by bringing McClellsn's forces to
! Aqua creek; accordingly on the 3Oth JAY l
| autographed to him to send aWay his SICK as
! quickly as possible, preparatory to a snovement
Of his troops. This was preliminary to the
withdrawal of his entire army, which wss or
] de7ed by telegraph on the Sd of august IL
order that the transfer to Aqua creek might be
made as rapidly as possible, l authorized Gen.
] Mcclellan to assume control Of all the vessels
on the James river and Chesapeake bay, of
which there was then q vast feet The quar-
termaster general was also requested to send to
that point all the transports that could be pro-
cured.
! On the 5sh received protest from General
| Mcclellan, dated the Ash, against the removal
Of the army from Hanison's landing, copy Of
which is Anse1ed, marked exhibit No. /, with
my reply on the 6ih marked exhibit No 2.
| On the lst of August I ordered Gen. Burnside
| to Immediately embark his troops al Newport
| News, trausfer them to Aqua creek, spd take
position opposite fredericksburg. This officer
moved with great pTomptness, and reached
Aquis creek on the night of the Sd. His troops
were Immediately landed, and the transports
sent back to General Mcclellan.
About this time I received information that
the enemy was preparing a large force to drive
back General Pope, and attack either Washing
ton or Baltimore. The information was SO direct
and reliable, that could not doubt its csrrect
ness. This gave me serious unessiness for the
safety of the capital and Maryland and I re
peatedly urged upon Gsnsrsl McClollan the
necessity of promptly moving his army so ss tC
form junction with that Of General Pope. The
evseualion of Hsrrison's Landing, however, was
not commenced till the I4th, eleven days after
it was ordered.
Greatly discouraged at the prospect of timely
aid from that quarter, I authorized Gen. Pops
to order the main forces Of Gen. Cox IN Western
Virginia, with ell possible dispatch By railroad
to join him via Washington.
To facilitate the Withdrawal of the army o
the Potomac from the Peninsula, and to gair
time by demonstration against the enemy
Gen. Pope pushed his forces across the Kappa
hammock, occupied Culpeper, and threatened
Gordonsvilie. JAcksen's and Ewelps forces
we're hurried to the Rapidsn, and on the 9th o
August encountered Banks corps at Ceda
Mountain. A hard fought battle ensued, and OF
the arrival OF reiniorcemeHts from the corps o
Mcdowell and Sgel, the enemy fel back upoI
the Rspidan and Gordonsyie,
On the 18th, our cavalry surprised party O
the enemy near Louisa Court House, and cap
tured important dispatches, showing thst Lee
was moving by forced marches the main body o
the rebel srmy to attack Pope before a junction
could be formed between him and the army o
the PotomEc On the 10th, telegraphed Gen
Pope not to cross the Rsgidsn, and advised hin
to take position in rear Of the RappahannOck
Il where he could be more easily reinforced. HI
commenced Ibis movement on the l7sh, and bI
the morning of the 18Th had most of his forcs
behind that river, prepared TO hold its passes 81
long as possible He had been reinforced bJ
, Kings division, ard part Of BuTnside's corps
under Gen. Reno, from Fredericksburg. l ais,
directed Gen. Burnside to occupy Richards sn(
Bsrnett's fOTds, which were between him anC
Gen. Pope's main army The enemy made sew
erAl attempts to cross at several points on tn
RSppahsnnock, but WAS always repulsed, an,
cur troops succeeded in holding the line Of thi
river for eight days. It was hoped that durln!
this time sufficient forces from the army of tn
Potomac WoHld reach Aqua creek to enable u
TO prevent any further .advaEce of Lee, an,
eventually, with the combined armies, to driv
him back upon Richmond. On the oath
made flank movement snd crossed portion
Of his forces at Waterloo Bridge, about twelv
milea above the Rappahannock railroad station
: Pope directed an attack upon the forces whic
had crossed the river, hoping to cut them of
but the enemy escaped with no great loss. Tn
annexed telegram frem Gen. Pope, marked eZ
bilit No g. dated the 25th, gives his views {
the condition of affairs at that date.
The enemy, however, had not fallen back q
/; he supposed, but, on being Tepulsed at Waterlo
bridge, had moved further up the river, and eT
= tered the valley which lies between the Blu
! ridge and the Bull Run mountains.
The object of this movement was evidentl
to get in Pope's rear and cut of his supple
from Washington. Anticipating this movemen
, had telesraphed to Gen. Pope on the %,
4 q" By no means expose your railroad cemmun
cation with Alexandra. 1t is of tho utmost in
portance in sending you supplies and Teinforc'
ments" On the26th photographed, 1" If possib
to attack the enemy in flank do SO; but Il
2 main object now is to ascertain his position"
}: From this time till the 30th had no comnl
d nicatiOn with Gen. Pope, the telegraph lint
Il being cut at Kettle run by psE of Jackson
b corps, under Ewell, which had marched aroun
Pope's right and attacked his rear.
: Finding it'doubtful whether we could hold &
d Rsppahannock long enough TO effect the jun
! ton of the two armies, l had directed part
! the Peninsula forces to land at Alexandria, al
s, move out by railroad as rapidly as possible 4
IS soon as l heard that the enemy had turned Gs
Pope's right flank and forced him to change
front, I ordered the remainder of the army
le the Potomac &c Alexandra, and directed Ge
I. Burnside to prepare to evaeuate Fredericksbul
u and Aqua Creek. l determined, however,
e hold this position as long as possible for ba
u for future operations.
u Gen. Pope's dispositions at this juncture we
't we'll planned. The corps of Mcdowell al
re Sigel, and the Pennsylvania reserves und
st Reynolds, were pushed forward to Gainesvil
le Reno and Kearney were directed upon Gree