twenty-four hours?... You are now
nearer Richmond than the enemy is by the route you can and he must
take. Why can you not reach there before him, unless you admit that
he is more than your equal on a march? His route is the arc of a
circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on your side
as on his ... If he should move northward, I would follow him
closely, holding his communications. If he should prevent our
seizing his communications and move towards Richmond, I would press
closely to him, fight him, if a favourable opportunity should
present, and at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside
track. I say 'Try'; if we never try, we shall never succeed.... If
we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of coming to us, we
never can when we bear the wastage of going to him.... As we must
beat him somewhere or fail finally, we can do it, if at all, easier
near to us than far away.... It is all easy if our troops march as
well as the enemy, and it is unmanly to say that they cannot do it."

The patience of Lincoln and that of the country behind Lincoln were at
last exhausted. McClellan was ordered to report to his home in New
Jersey and the General who had come to the front with such flourish of
trumpets and had undertaken to dictate a national policy at a time when
he was not able to keep his own army in position, retires from the
history of the War.

The responsibility again comes to the weary Commander-in-chief of
finding a leader who could lead, in whom the troops and the country
would have confidence, and who could be trusted to do his simple duty as
a general in the field without confusing his military responsibilities
with political scheming. The choice first fell upon Burnside. Burnside
was neither ambitious nor self-confident. He was a good division
general, but he doubted his ability for the general command. Burnside
loyally accepts the task, does the best that was within his power and,
pitted against a commander who was very much his superior in general
capacity as well as in military skill, he fails. Once more has the
President on his hands the serious problem of finding the right man.
This time the commission was given to General Joseph Hooker. With the
later records before us, it is easy to point out that this selection
also was a blunder. There were better men in the group of
major-generals. Reynolds, Meade, or Hancock would d