Headquarters Army of the Potomac, Camp near Rectortown, Va., November 7th, 1862.
Officers and Soldiers of the Army of the Potomac:
An order of the President devolves upon Major General Burnside the command of this army. In parting from you I cannot express the love and gratitude I bear you. As an army, you have grown up under my care. In you I have never found doubt or coldness. The battles you have fought under my command, will probably live in our nation’s history. The glory you have achieved; our marches, perils and fatigues; the graves of our comrades fallen in battle and by disease; the broken forms of those whom wounds and sickness have disabled; the strongest associations which exist among men, unite us still by an indissoluble tie. We shall ever be comrades in supporting the Constitution of our country, and the nationality of its people.
GEORGE B. McCLELLAN,
Major-General United States Army.
On the Sunday evening following, he gave an informal reception at his tent, where several hours were spent in conversation. Upon one of the guests remarking to him, “General, we shall see you back again in a fortnight,” he replied, “If I never return to the Army of the Potomac, may I live to write its history. It is a task to which I shall devote myself.”
To another he remarked, “I feel as if the Army of the Potomac belonged to me. It is mine. I feel that its officers are my brothers, its soldiers my children. This separation is like a forcible divorce of husband and wife.” Of his successor, he said: “Burnside is the best and honestest of men. He is no Mr. Pope, he will do a great deal better than you expect.” Monday he rode among the troops, accompanied by a large retinue, and took an affectionate adieu of all of them. History fails to present, if we except the parting of Napoleon from his soldiers, so affecting and imposing a spectacle as was this farewell of Gen. McClellan to the army, whose leader he had been for eighteen months. After visiting the troops at Warrenton and vicinity, he rode out to New Baltimore, where Smith’s Division had arrived. The various Regiments were drawn up in line, with bright uniforms and burnished arms, and as their late Chief passed slowly before them, rent the air with cheers. It was a great ovation, shrouded in the gloom of a funeral occasion.
Gen. McClellan’s connection with the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac was ended, but nothing could sever the bonds of friendship and affection which united him to them. To many the secret of this great popularity has ever been a mystery. It arose from a variety of causes. It is rarely the case that a Regiment does not become attached to its Colonel, a Brigade to its Brigadier, and a Division or Corps to its Major-General. In the same manner the army became attached to its commander. Long connection increases this attachment, and General McClellan had been associated with these soldiers for nearly a year and a half.
Gen. McClellan possessed a physique and address calculated to excite admiration. Indeed, it was proverbial in the army that no one could doff his hat so gracefully as “Little Mac.” In addition to being Napoleonic in his appearance, he was Napoleonic in his speeches and orders, which equally won their hearts. He was likewise free from that boasting spirit which had made Pope so unpopular.
He visited frequently among his troops—an important means of winning popularity. His Generals, appointed and promoted through his influence, thoroughly infused a McClellan element into their commands. An army of Generals bear very much the same relation to their Chief that office-holders do to the head of their party. By maintaining him in his position, they ensure their own, and in promoting his interests, they promote themselves. Especially is this true under a Democratic form of Government, where politics exert such an undue influence in the army.