headquarters army of the Potomac, camp near
Rectortown, November 7, 1862.
Officers and Soldiers of the Army of the Potomac:
An order of the
President devolves upon
Major-General Burnside the command of this army.
In parting from you I cannot express the love and gratitude I bear you. As an army you have grown up under my care.
In you I have never found doubt or coldness.
The battles you have fought under my command will proudly live in our nation's history.
The glory you have achieved, our mutual perils and fatigues, the graves of our comrades fallen in battle and by disease, the broken forms of those whom wounds and sickness have disabled — the strongest associations which can exist among men — unite us still by an indissoluble tie. We shall ever be comrades in supporting the constitution of our country and the nationality of its people.
