the President made public a change that was no secret to the General commanding the Army of the Potomac, through the following order-in which, also, two separate departments were created in the West, to be commanded by Gens. Halleck and Buell, and a third intermediate department, under the command of Gen. Fremont:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 11, 1862.

President's War Order, No. 3.]

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Maj.-Gen. McClellan having personally taken the field at the head of the Army of the Potomac until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the command of the other military departments, he retaining command of the Department of the Poto

mac.

ORDERED, FURTHER, That the two departments now under the respective commands of Gens. Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that under Gen. Buell as lies west of a north and south line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be consolidated and designated the Department of the Mississippi, and that until otherwise ordered Maj.-Gen. Halleck have command of said department.

ORDERED, ALSO, That the country west of the Department of the Potomac and east of the Department of the Mississippi be a military department, to be called the Mountain Department, and that the same be commanded by Maj.-Gen. Fre

mont.

That all the Commanders of Departments, after the receipt of this order by them respectively, report severally and directly to the Secretary of War, and that prompt, full and frequent reports will be expected of all and each of them.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Gen. McClellan telegraphed to the Secretary of War from Fairfax Court House, on the 13th of March, that a council of the commanders of army corps had "unanimously agreed upon a plan of operations," which Gen. McDowell would lay before him. To this the Secretary, on the same day, replied: "Whatever plan has been agreed upon, proceed at once to execute, without losing an hour for any approval."

The plan which, in answer to a question of Mr. Stanton, Gen. McClellan stated that "the council, together with himself," were unanimous in forming--was given in these words:

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HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE, March 13, 1862. A council of the Generals commanding army corps, at the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, were of the opinionI. That the enemy having retreated from Manassas to Gordonsville, behind the Rappahannock and Rapidan, it is the opinion of the Generals commanding army corps that the operations to be carried on will be best undertaken from Old Point Comfort, between the York and James rivers: Provided,

1st. That the enemy's vessel, Merrimac, can be neutralized. 2d. That the means of transportation, sufficient for an immediate transfer of the force to its new base, can be ready at at Washington and Alexandria to move down the Potomac; and, 3d. That a naval auxiliary force can be had to silence, or aid in silencing, the enemy's batteries on the York river.

4th. That the force to be left to cover Washington shall be such as to give an entire feeling of security for its safety from menace. (Unanimous.)

II. If the foregoing can not be, the army should then be moved against the enemy, behind the Rappahannock, at the earliest possible moment, and the means for reconstructing bridges, repairing railroads, and stocking them with materials sufficient for supplying the army, should at once be collected, for both the Orange and Alexandria and Acquia and Richmond Railroads. (Unanimous.)

NOTE. That with the forts on the right bank of the Potomac fully garrisoned, and those on the left bank occupied, a covering force in front of the Virginia line of twenty-five thousand men would sufficc. (Keyes, Heintzelman and McDowell.) A total of forty thousand men for the defense of the city would suffice. (Sumner.)

The scheme having been promptly submitted to the President, the following dispatch was immediately returned:

WAR DEPARTMENT, March 13, 1862.

The President having considered the plan of operations agreed upon by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no objection to the same, but gives the following directions as to its execution:

1. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position and line of communication.

2. Leave Washington entirely secure.

3. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a new base at Fortress Monroe, or any-where between

here and there, or, at all eveuts, move such remainder of the army at once in pursuit of the enemy by some route. EDWIN M. STANTON,

Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN.

Secretary of War.

McClellan replied that this would "be at once carried into effect."

Transportation was rapidly provided, under the direction of the War Department, this work having really commenced as early as the middle of February, and the other preparations for departure, on the part of the force intended for the Peninsula, were soon in readiness. The following statement of the numerical strength of this portion of the Army, on the 1st of April, is taken from the official report of the Adjutant General :

Artillery Reserve,

3,116

Provost Guards, U. S. Engineer forces, and Head

From the same authority, it appears that the total force left (according to the intention of Gen. McClellan) under command of Brig.-Gen. James S. Wadsworth, now appointed Military Governor of the District of Washington, was 22,410, of whom less than 20,000 were present for duty. How far this number fell short of all McClellan's previous estimates of the necessary force for the defense of the city, need not be suggested to the reader of the preceding pages. Gen. Wadsworth promptly called the attention of the War Department to this striking deficiency. The plan of the Peninsular movement as submitted for Executive approval, the special order of the President consenting to this plan, on condition that the capital should be

rendered secure, and the letter of Gen. Wadsworth on this subject, were referred to Adj.-Gen. Thomas and Maj.-Gen. E. A. Hitchcock, who were required to report whether the President's order, in this matter, had been carried out. Those officers, after full consideration, reported that the force proposed to be left, in execution of that order, was "entirely inadequate." They further said:

In view of the opinion expressed by the council of the commanders of army corps of the force necessary for the capital, though not numerically stated, and of the force represented by Gen. McClellan as left for that purpose, we are of opinion that the requirement of the President that this city shall be left entirely secure, not only in the opinion of the General-inchief, but that of the commanders of all the army corps, also, has not been fully complied with.

Meanwhile, the movement of troops from Alexandria to Fortress Monroe had commenced. Gen. Hamilton's division, of the Third Corps, embarked on the 17th of March, and was followed by Fitz John Porter's division, of the same corps, on the 22d. Other troops followed at intervals, as transports were ready. Gen. McClellan himself left Alexandria on the 1st of April, and reached Fortress Monroe the next day.

There still remained two army corps which had not yet been transferred to the Peninsula, when the report of Gens. Thomas and Hitchcock was made. The only remedy for McClellan's intended disregard alike of the conditions of his own plan and of the President's requirement, respecting the force to be left at Washington and in its vicinity, was such as the President applied in the first part of the following order, the wisdom of which was soon fully demonstrated:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April 3, 1862.

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The Secretary of War will order that one or the other of the corps of Gen. McDowell and Gen. Sumner remain in front of Washington until further orders from the Department, to operate at, or in the direction of, Manassas Junction, or otherwise as the occasion may require; that the other corps, not so ordered to remain, go forward to Gen. McClellan as speedily as possible; that Gen. McClellan commence his forward move

ments from his new base at once, and that such incidental modifications as the foregoing may render proper, be also made. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

On the same day, Gen. McClellan had telegraphed from Fort ress Monroe: "I expect to move from here to-morrow morning on Yorktown, where a force of some 15,000 of the Rebels are in intrenched position, and I think it quite possible they will attempt to resist us." On the 4th, he said: "Our advance is at Cockestown, within five miles of Yorktown. . . . I expect to fight to-morrow, as I shall endeavor to cut the communication between Yorktown and Richmond." At the same time Gen. Wool, telegraphing the departure of these forces for Yorktown, expressed a decided opinion that no serious resistance. would be encountered there. It is probable, from the information since obtained, that when the movement commenced, the Rebel force under Magruder was less than 10,000. It is certain that the intrenchments were by no means so formidable as to justify the loss of time requisite for a siege, not only wasting precious days, but wearing out as many lives in the trenches as would have been sacrificed in carrying the works by assault. Such, at least, appears to have been the opinion of the President, who did not imagine for a moment, when his order above quoted was given, that a purpose to sit down before Yorktown, until the enemy had time to concentrate a strong force there, was entertained by the Commanding General.

The

Carrying out the policy of his order of April 3d, the President, as indicated by an order issued from the War Department on the following day, created two new military departments, including the spheres of operation and the troops left behind by McClellan on his withdrawal to the Peninsula. Department of the Shenandoah embraced that portion of Virginia and Maryland lying between the Mountain Department and the Blue Ridge, and was put under the command of Maj.Gen. Banks. The Department of the Rappahannock com. prised that portion of Virginia east of the Blue Ridge to the Potomac and the Fredericksburg and Richmond Railroad. together with the District of Columbia and the country between the Potomac and the Patuxent. Gen. McDowell was desig