General Field Orders No. 38.
In obedience to orders from the War Department, the Commanding General this day resigns to Major-General John G. Foster the command of the Army of the Ohio.
On severing the tie which has united him to this gallant army he cannot express his deep personal feeling in parting from men brought near to him by their mutual experiences in the eventful scenes of the past campaign, and who have always, regardless of every privation and of every danger, cheerfully and faithfully performed their duty. Associated with many of their number from the earliest days of the war, he takes leave of the army not only as soldiers, to whose heroism many a victorious battle-field bears witness, but as well-tried friends, who in the darkest hours have never failed him. With the sincerest regret he leaves the department without the opportunity of personally bidding them farewell.
To the citizen soldiers of East Tennessee, who proved their loyalty in the trenches of Knoxville, he tenders his warmest thanks.
With the highest confidence in the patriotism and skill of the distinguished officer who succeeds him, with whom he has been long and intimately connected in the field, and who will be welcome as their leader by those who served with him in the memorable campaign in North Carolina, and by all as one identified with some of the most brilliant events of the war, he transfers to him the command, assured that under his guidance the bright record of the Army of the Ohio will never grow dim.
By command of Major-General Burnside,
LEWIS RICHMOND, A.A.G.
In a speech at Cincinnati, a few days after, with that modesty which characterizes the true soldier, Burnside said that the honors bestowed on him belonged to his under-officers and the men in the ranks. Those kindly words his officers and men will ever cherish; and in all their added years, as they recall the widely separated battle-fields, made forever sacred by the blood of their fallen comrades, and forever glorious by the victories there won, it will be their pride to say, "We fought with Burnside at Campbell's Station and in the trenches at Knoxville."
The following general orders are inserted as a fitting conclusion to this chapter:—
Head-quarters First Division, Ninth Army Corps,
Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 4, 1863.
General Orders No. 82.