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the remainder of
Lee's Army, under
Longstreet and
Hill, crossed the
Potomac on the 24th and 25th,
concentrated at
Hagerstown, and pressed on in the path of
Ewell toward the
Susquehanna.
Informed of this passage,
Hooker put his own Army in motion, and on the 26th and 27th crossed the
River at and near Edwards's Ferry, one hundred thousand strong, having been re-enforced from the defenses around
Washington, under
General Heintzelman, and from
Schenck's Middle Department.
1 Wishing still further to increase his Army, and regarding the post at
Harper's Ferry (then garrisoned, on
Maryland Heights, by eleven thousand men, under
General French) as of little account in the then state of affairs, asked the
General-in-chief (
Halleck), “is there any reason why
Maryland Heights should not be abandoned after the public stores and property are removed?”
Halleck did not approve of the abandonment of the post, and said so, when
Hooker, who had the following day personally inspected French's position, again urged the abandonment of it, saying, the garrison was “of no earthly account” then, and that the stores were only “a bait for the rebels, should they return.”
2 expecting a compliance with his wishes, he advanced his Army to
Frederick, in a position to dart through the
South Mountain passes, upon
Lee's line of communications, or upon his columns in retreat, or to follow him on a parallel line toward the
Susquehanna.
For this purpose he had ordered
General Slocum to march his corps to
Harper's Ferry to join
General French, that their united forces might push up the
Cumberland Valley and threaten
Lee's rear.
but
Halleck would not consent to the abandonment of
Harper's Ferry, and the disappointed and irritated
Commander of the Army of ,the Potomac telegraphed
to the
General-in-chief, saying, “My original instructions were to cover
Harper's Ferry and
Washington, I have now imposed upon me, in addition, an enemy in My front of more than My numbers.
I beg to be understood, respectfully, but firmly, that I am unable to comply with these conditions with the means at My disposal; and I earnestly request that I may be at once relieved from the position I occupy.”
his request was immediately granted, and, by an order issued on the same day,
General George G. Meade was directed to assume the command of the Army.
General Hooker was ordered to
Baltimore, there to await commands from the
Adjutant-General. Three days passed by, and he heard nothing from
Washington, when he proceeded to that city, and was at once arrested by order of
Halleck, for visiting the capital without leave, in violation of a rule forbidding officers to do so. This was the end of
General Hooker's services in the Army of the Potomac.
that change of chief commanders, in front of an enemy on the eve of an inevitable great battle, was a perilous thing, calculated to demoralize the best disciplined, troops.
But the
Government trusted the men. The veterans of the Army of the Potomac knew, appreciated, and loved
Hooker, and were
