"All right. Let him. I am perfectly willing that he shall have it if he will only put an end to this war."
But if the President refused to remove him from command, Halleck and Stanton managed quickly to strip him of half his army by detaching and sending it to join the new army of General Pope. McClellan, with the remainder of his men, had been sent by transport back to Alexandria. General John Pope was summoned from the West to take command of the new "Army of Virginia," composed of the divisions of Fremont, Banks and McDowell, and the detached portion of McClellan's men.
All eyes were now centred on the new Commander. The West had only seen success—Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Shiloh, and Island No. 10.
The new General on the day he began his advance against Lee and Jackson issued an address to his army which sent a chill to the heart of the President.
"I have come to you from the West," he proclaimed, "where we have always seen the backs of our enemies—from an army whose business has been to seek the adversary and beat him when found. I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry to find much in vogue among you. I hear constantly of 'lines of retreat' and 'bases of supplies.' Let us discard such ideas. Let us look before us, not behind. From to-day my headquarters will be in the saddle."
Every man in the Army of the Potomac which McClellan had created and fought with such fierce and terrible, if unsuccessful power, resented this address as an insult. McClellan himself was furious. For some reason only part of the forces from his army which were detached ever reached Pope, and those who did were not enthusiastic. It was expecting too much of human nature to believe that they could be.
The outlook for the coming battle was ominous.