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discontent in the army.”
1 He was competent to issue the order on his own responsibility; but, in compliance with judicious advice, he submitted it to the President.
Mr. Lincoln was perplexed.
He appreciated the patriotism and soldierly qualities of Burnside, yet he could not consent to the suspension or dismissal of the officers named, even had there been greater personal provocation.
He talked with Burnside as a friend and brother, and it was finally arranged that the General should be relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac, and await orders for further service.
This was done, and Major-General Hooker succeeded him in the command.2 The arrangement made at that time, whereby the country might be best served, was highly creditable to the President and to General Burnside.
Here we will leave the Army of the Potomac in winter quarters on the Rappahannock, and consider the stirring events in the great Valley of the Mississippi since the siege of Corinth, and the capture of New Orleans and Memphis.
1 In that order Generals Hooker, Brooks, and Newton were named for ignominious dismissal from the service, and Generals Franklin, W. F. Smith, Cochran, and Ferrero, and Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Taylor, were to be relieved from duty in the Army of the Potomac. Generals Franklin and Smith, without the knowledge of Burnside, wrote a joint letter to the President on the 21st of December, expressing their belief that Burnside's plan of campaign could not succeed, and substantially recommending that of McClellan, by the James River and the country on its borders. The President replied that they were simply suggesting a plan fraught with “the old difficulty,” and he appeared to be astonished, as Franklin had distinctly advised bringing the army away from the Peninsula.
2 January 26, 1868. By the order relieving Burnside from the command, Franklin was also relieved. See also was General Sumner, at his own request. He soon afterward died, at Syracuse, New York.
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