It had been a successful (but costly) summer campaign. In late June 1862, Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had pushed the Army of the Potomac from the outskirts of Richmond back down the Peninsula. Then, portions of Lee’s army tangled with another Federal army at Cedar Mountain in August, scoring a victory. In August, Stonewall Jackson stole a march on his Federal counterpart, destroying a large Federal supply depot, then falling back into a defensive position and inviting the Federals to attack. They did, and Jackson was able to hold on until Lee arrived with the rest of the Army, beating the Federal army in detail. This was followed by another small victory at Chantilly on September 1.
Lee and his lieutenants
had faced a couple of different commanders. Major General George B. McClellan
had commanded the Army of the Potomac during the Seven Days Battles, while Jackson
had faced off against Maj. Gen. John Pope at Cedar Mountain. Lee, Jackson, and
James Longstreet fought Pope, reinforced by elements of McClellan’s command, at
Second Manassas.
The campaigns in
Virginia had led Lee to the outskirts of the Washington, D.C., the Federal
campaign. However, with wrecked rail lines and a war-ravaged countryside, Lee
was unable to support his army. He chose to move north into Maryland, hoping
that the people of that state would rally to the colors and carry the state out
of the Union. Lee would go on to fight a Federal force led by McClellan at
South Mountain, Sharpsburg, and Shepherdstown.
McClellan was an
early rising star of the Federal army. After winning a victory at Rich
Mountain, McLellan was brought in to take command of the Army of Potomac
following the defeat at First Manassas. When General-in-Chief Winfield Scott
retired in November 1861, McClellan was appointed to the role. McClellan was a brilliant
organizer. However, he failed to use the
army he had built. In the spring of 1862, Abraham Lincoln removed him as
General-in-Chief. McClellan then allowed the Confederates to slip away from a
thinly defended line in Northern Virginia, back behind the Rappahannock River.
After landing on the Peninsula east of Richmond, McClellan squandered an opportunity
to brush aside a small Confederate force and capture Richmond, instead becoming
bogged down in a month-long siege at Yorktown. Eventually he was able to
advance to the outskirts of Richmond, not so much a deed performed due to his
daring, but because the Confederate command at the time was trying to draw
McClellan away from his naval support. In a series of bloody battles, new Confederate
commander, Robert E. Lee, pushed McClellan back down toward his base. Unable,
or more likely unwilling, to take the offensive, McClellan was ordered to abandon
his position at Harrison’s Landing on August 3 and transfer the army to
Washington, D.C. The movement began on August 14 and was completed on August16.
McClellan was without a field command from the time he left Harrison’s Landing
until September 2, when he was placed in command of the troops in the fortifications
around Washington, D.C.[1]
However, Henery
Halleck, who had been appointed General-in-Chief after McClellan, testified
that the meeting between Lincoln, Halleck, and McClellan took place on the
morning of September 7.[2]
So the greater question
is just when Lee knew McClellan was back in command of Federal forces in and
around Washington, D.C. On August 30, 1862, Lee writes Davis that he has won “a
signal victory over the combined forces of Genls. McClellan and Pope.” While
there were elements of McClellan’s army present (like Porter’s Corps) it was in
no way a combined army. If McClellan had been present, he would, by nature of
rank, have assumed command of both forces.[3]
Lee wrote Jefferson Davis on September 3 that there were now “two grand armies
of the United States that have been operating in Virginia.” Lee wrote that he had
“been told by some prisoners” that “Pope’s army, and. . . that the whole of
McClellan’s, the larger portion of Burnside’s and Cox’s, and a portion of
Hunter’s, are united to it.” Lee never states that McClellan was in command or
even present.[4] Lee’s
missive the next day refers to “the movements of McClellan’s army,” and that
his “latest intelligence shows that the army of Pope is concentrated around
Washington and Alexandria in their fortifications.”[5]
His letters to Davis on September 5-7 make no mention of the commanders of
Federal armies. On September 8, Lee writes that “nothing of interest, in a
military point of view, has transpired.”[6]
Again on September 9, he writes that “Nothing of interest, in a military point
of view, has transpired since” the previous day. Lee does have intelligence
that Federals-- Sumner, Sigel, Burnside, and Hooker--are advancing along the
Potomac River toward Seneca Mills.[7]
In a postwar account,
Maj. Gen. John G. Walker recalled meeting with Lee on September 9 in Frederick.
As Lee laid out the upcoming campaign to Walker, Walker recalled Lee directly
mentioning McClellan.[8]
What do the
historians say? Stephen Sears writes that Lee had learned of McClellan’s reappointment
as army commander when Lee wrote to Davis on September 3.[9]
Michael Korda writes that Lee “could not have guessed that McClellan would
replace the ignominious and clumsy Pope as his opponent…”[10]
Freeman writes, regarding McClellan assuming command right before Sharpsburg,
that “It was known that McClellan had replaced Pope in general command, and
that was not pleasant news, for Lee regarding McClellan as the ablest of the
Federal commanders…”[11]
Clifford Dowdey: “McClellan had just been restored to command and, given his
second chance…”[12] Emory
Thomas: Sooner “or later, Lee knew that McClellan or someone else would lead
the Union army out of Washington to confront him.”[13]
Joseph Harsh: “Unknown to Lee, John Pope had already been stripped of army
command. The very panic that Lee had worked so hard to create had impelled
Lincoln—over the angry protest of his cabinet—to restore George McClellan to a measure
of authority.” However “by midday of the 9th Lee did surmise he
would be contending against McClellan [;] his assumption was based on
inconclusive information he had received within the last twenty-four hours.”[14]
Every one of the
accounts by historians misses a key point. What evidence did Lee have that
McClellan was not in command? McClellan was the ranking field commander. If
McClellan and Pope’s armies were merging into one unified fighting force, McClellan
would, by nature of seniority, have been in command. When McClellan arrived in
Washington, D.C., he would have assumed command as the ranking officer (Henry Halleck,
as General-in-Chief, would technically outrank McClellan due to his position.
However, Halleck’s confirmation to major general was dated February 10, 1862.
McClellan’s confirmation was August 3, 1861.) Many of Lee’s missives mentioned
McClellan, and Lee must have assumed that McClellan exercised some element of
command. It does not seem that the conflict between McClellan, Lincoln, and the
cabinet filtered into any of Lee’s correspondence at the time.
We will probably
not ever really know the answer to this question and speculation will continue
for some time.
[1] Sears,
Georga McClellan, 259-60; Carman, The Maryland Campaign, 1:121.
[2] Hartwig,
To Antietam Creek, 703, n4.
[3] Freeman,
Lee’s Dispatches, 60.
[4] OR,
19, 2:590-91.
[5] OR,
19, 2:591-2.
[6] OR,
19, 2:600.
[7] OR,
19, 2:602.
[8] B&L,
2:605.
[9] Sears,
Landscape Turned Red, 66.
[10] Korda,
Clouds of Glory, 462.
[11]
Freeman, R.E. Lee, 2:356.
[12] Dowdey,
Lee, 303.
[13] Thomas,
Robert E. Lee, 257.
[14] Harsh,
Taken at the Flood, 84, 141.
