1862. GENERAL POPE'S ASSUMPTION OF COMMAND. 129

WASHINGTON, MONDAY, July 14, 1862.

TO THE OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF VIRGINIA. By special assignment of the President of the United States, I have assumed command of this army. I have spent two weeks in learning your whereabouts, your condition, and your wants; in preparing you for active operations, and in placing you in positions from which you can act promptly and to the purpose.

I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies - from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and to beat him when found, whose policy has been attack and not defense.

In but one instance has the enemy been able to place our western armies in a defensive attitude. I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same system, and to lead you against the enemy. It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily.

I am sure you long for an opportunity to win the distinction you are capable of achieving; that opportunity I shall endeavor to give

you.

Meantime, I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry to find much in vogue amongst you.

I hear constantly of taking strong positions and holding them; of lines of retreat, and of bases of supplies. Let us discard such ideas. The strongest position a soldier should desire to occupy is one from which he can most easily advance against the enemy.

Let us study the probable lines of retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves. Let us look before us and not behind. Success and glory are in the advance. Disaster and shame lurk in the rear.

Let us act on this understanding, and it is safe to predict that your banners shall be inscribed with many a glorious deed, and that your names will be dear to your countrymen forever.

JOHN POPE, Major-General Commanding.

Our general was, however, destined soon to have to look behind him for a line of retreat; and fortunate it was for us and the country that he was not taken unawares, and that, in spite of his bluster, he was willing when the time came, to turn the backs of his men on the mighty force which was gathering in our front. A strong cavalry expedition sent

across the Rapidan on the 16th of August, which captured an important despatch from General Lee to General Stuart, and a gallant reconnoisance by our 2d Maryland regiment, on the night of the 17th, disclosed not only General Lee's determination to make short and decisive work with General Pope and his army, but also that a rebel force amply sufficient to crush us, masked by the hills across the river, was rapidly moving into position for an advance.

POPE'S RETREAT. SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS, AND RETREAT TO

CENTREVILLE.

AUGUST 18th. On the Rapidan. All the early part of the day was spent by General Pope's army in a muster, ordered by the Secretary of War, to ascertain exactly how many men. were required to fill all the regiments to the maximum. Our splendid band, which had delighted us so often, was mustered out, and immediately started for home.

About noon, it was evident that something was in the wind; long trains of wagons, which had just brought up immense supplies of rations and ammunition, were moving rapidly to the rear; and, as the afternoon wore away, we saw great piles of rations burning. Up to that time, we had interpreted everything into meaning an advance, for we had not entertained an idea that our braggart commander, with an army of at least a hundred thousand men (as we supposed), was on the point of a retreat.

As soon as it grew dark, our troops began to move towards the rear; and about nine o'clock it was officially announced to us that General Pope's army was falling back about twenty miles, to get behind the line of the Rappahannock, for strategical reasons; that General Reno's command would act as rear-guard to the army in the movement; and that our brigade were to have the honor of serving as the infantry rearguard. As it was considered certain that we should be engaged by the enemy's cavalry as soon as it became light enough to disclose the movement which our army was mak

ing, the officers were cautioned as to the proper formation of the men in such an event. To show us the need of the greatest caution in our movements, we were further informed that two divisions of the enemy were massed at Raccoon Ford, a couple of miles on our left, and within half a mile of which we had to pass; but, whether the rebels were there with the

OF 1862.

intention of crossing to attack us, or simply as a precaution against a possible advance by our army, was of course all conjecture. As we lay on the ground that long night, watching the rebel signal-lights and anxiously waiting for the order to move, we wondered whether it was possible that our vaunted advance was to end before it had begun, in a disgraceful retreat, or whether we were really making a strategical move

ment. We talked over our chances on the march, and imagined its possibilities. General Pope had acted in the style advised by our old commander, Colonel Maggi, that in going through an enemy's country it was the best policy "to leave nothing but the crying eyes;" the rebels regarded him as a barbarian, and we knew that, as being his troops, we would receive no favors in the event of getting into a tight place.1 We were also sorry to see, by the fires along the line of retreat, that the Union stragglers were burning buildings. At half-past one o'clock on the morning of the 19th, we commenced to move, carrying on the person five days' rations and one hundred rounds of ammunition. The moon, which rose about midnight, was obscured by thick clouds, and, soon getting on the wrong road, we were obliged to return, and take a fresh start, actually getting away a little after three o'clock. It was just beginning to grow light when we came upon a strong picket of Union cavalry, standing silent as statues, among the trees, and learned that we were passing the dangerous point near Raccoon Ford; but the rebels there were happily unconscious of their opportunity, and we passed unmolested. We marched slowly on, without any incident of interest until noon, when we reached Mountain Creek, a tributary of the Rappahannock, and took our first rest, after a march of nineteen miles without a straggler; it was a splendid two hours' rest under fine shade trees, with a chance to get a bath in the beautiful shaded stream. Moving on, we waded the Rappahannock River at Kelly's Ford at four o'clock in the afternoon, having made a march of twenty-three miles, in perfect order and without much fatigue. A detail from the regiment was at once set at work throwing up a breast

1 The rebel government, by an order issued from their adjutant-general's office, August 1, 1862, declared General Pope and all commissioned officers under his command to be outlaws, not subject to exchange if captured, but to be kept in close confinement as hostages to be hung from time to time, as occasion required, for the purposes of retaliation. General Lee notified our government of this order on the 2d of August, by a letter in which he declared that "Major-General Pope and his officers are in a position which they have chosen for themselves — that of robbers and murderers, and not that of public enemies entitled, if captured, to be treated as prisoners of war." - ED.