ABSTRACT
By then, however, McClellan was no longer the enemy. On November 5 Lincoln, despairing of ever getting him to move, replaced him with one of his corps commanders, Major-General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside was in fact also slow, as his movements at Sharpsburg proved, but he was at least competent. He did not want command of the army and, in fact, tried to turn it down, only to be talked out of it by the president. At the same time, Fitz John Porter was also relieved and replaced by Major-General Joseph Hooker. McClellan was, amazingly enough, stunned to learn of his replacement, lacking the political skills to sense the thin ice he was skating on. Nor was the Army of the Potomac as a whole expecting such news, as the majority of its soldiers felt deep respect for McClellan. On November 10 the “Little Napoleon” held his last review and bade farewell to his men, to the accompaniment of both cheers and tears, and then he was gone, never to hold a command again.
