It was the intention of the commander of the Army of the Potomac, if, upon reaching either of the passes, he found that the enemy, were in force between it and the Potomac in the valley of the Shenandoah, to move into the valley and endeavor to gain their rear.

He says he hardly hoped to accomplish this, but did expect that by striking in between Culpeper Court-House and Little Washington, he could either separate their army and beat them in detail, or else force them to concentrate as far back as Gordonsville, and thus place the Army of the Potomac in position either to adopt the Fredericksburg line of advance upon Richmond, or to be removed to the Peninsula.

Having safely crossed the Potomac, the various corps moved gradually along the route prescribed, occupying village after village, and repulsing the enemy wherever they were daring enough to attempt to impede the march of the army.

On the seventh of November, the following was the position of the troops:

The First, Second and Fifth corps, reserve artillery, and general head-quarters, at Warrenton; the Ninth corps on the line of the Rappahannock, in the vicinity of Waterloo; the Sixth corps at New Baltimore; the Eleventh corps at New Baltimore, Gainesville, and Thoroughfare Gap; Sickles's division of the Third corps, on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, from Manassas Junction to Warrenton Junction; Pleasanton across the Rappahannock at Amissville, Jefferson, etc., with his pickets at Hazel river, facing Longstreet, six miles from Culpeper Court-House; Bayard near Rappahannock Station.

The army was thus massed near Warrenton, ready to act in any required direction, and in admirable condition and spirits. Indeed, General McClellan says he doubts whether during the entire period he had the honor to com

mand the Army of the Potomac, it was in such excellent condition to fight a great battle. The best information indicated that Longstreet was immediately in front near Culpeper; Jackson, with one, perhaps both, of the Hills, near Chester and Thornton's gaps, with the mass of their force west of the Blue Ridge; and the reports from General Pleasanton on the advance indicated the possibility of separating the two wings of the enemy's forces, and either beating Longstreet separately, or forcing him to fall back at least upon Gordonsville, to effect his junction with the rest of the army.

"LITTLE MAC" RELIEVED FROM COMMAND.

The well-concerted plans of the able strategist were, however, to meet with an unexpected impediment, and the expectations of his officers and men that the hour of victory was again at hand, were to be suddenly disappointed. Orders had been issued for the movements on the two subsequent days, which were believed would lead to a brilliant success, or series of successes, when an officer arrived from Washington with an order dated on the fifth, relieving the idol of the Army of the Potomac. from his command, and directing him to report at Trenton, New Jersey, and designating General Burnside as his successor. It was late on the night of the seventh, when he received the unexpected order, but he immediately obeyed its provisions. Before leaving his head-quarters, he penned the following modest and patriotic address to his Army:

HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

"HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,

"CAMP NEAR RECTORTOWN, Nov. 7th, 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 expre 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. "GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN,

"Major-General, U. S. A.”

HE BIDS ADIEU TO HIS OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS, AND LEAVES FOR TRENTON.

On the Sunday evening previous to his departure, the officers assembled at his tent for the purpose of bidding adieu to their gallant leader, and from the eyes of many of their number dropped scalding tears of sorrow and regret. The following day he reviewed the army of heroes who had followed him through many months and many scenes, and as he rode along their lines, pronouncing the last farewell, wild and unrestrained huzzas rent the air; and they rushed from the ranks and in every conceivable manner gave evidence of their devotion and confidence, and of their annoyance and regret at the separation. On the tenth he took the railroad cars at Warrenton, and upon reaching Warrenton Junction was again received with the most gratifying manifestations. In answer to the unanimous request for a parting speech, General McClellan said: "I wish you to stand by General Burnside as you have stood by me, and all will be well. Good-bye."

At other stations on the road he was also greeted with enthusiastic cheering. Reaching Washington, he quietly went to the Philadelphia depot, and then passing through the city of his nativity without tarrying, much to the disappointment of hosts of admirers, he proceeded to Trenton.

OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

We cannot conclude the sketch of General McClellan's

active service with the Army of the Potomac better than by publishing the following from his Report to the War Department.

"This Report is, in fact. the history of the Army of the Potomac.

"During the period occupied in the organization of that army, it served as a barrier against the advance of a lately victorious enemy, while the fortifications of the capital were in progress; and under the discipline which it then received it acquired strength, education, and some of that experience which is necessary to success in active operations, and which enabled it afterwards to sustain itself under circumstances trying to the most heroic men. Frequent skirmishes occurred along the lines, conducted with great gallantry, which inured our troops to the realities of war.

"The army grew into shape but slowly; and the delays which attended on the obtaining of arms, continuing late into the winter of 1861-'62, were no less trying to the soldiers than to the people of the country. Even at the time of the organization of the Peninsula campaign, some of the finest regiments were without rifles; nor were the utmost exertions on the part of the military authorities adequate to overcome the obstacles to active service.

"When, at length, the army was in condition to take the field, the Peninsula campaign was planned, and entered upon with enthusiasm by officers and men. Had this campaign been followed up as it was designed, I cannot doubt that it would have resulted in a glorious triumph to our arms, and the permanent restoration of the power of the government in Virginia and North Carolina, if not throughout the revolting States. It was, however, otherwise ordered, and instead of reporting a victorious campaign, it has been my duty to relate the heroism of a reduced army, sent upon an expedition into an enemy's country, there to abandon one and originate another and new plan of campaign, which might and would have been successful if supported with appreciation of its necessities, but which failed because of the repeated failure of promised support, at the most critical, and, as it proved, the most fatal moments. That heroism surpasses ordinary description. Its illustration must be left for the pen of the historian in times of calm reflection, when the nation shall be looking back to the past from the midst of peaceful days.

"For me, now, it is sufficient to say that my comrades were victors on every field save one, and there the endurance of but little more than a single corps accomplished the object of the fighting, and by securing to the army its transit to the James, left to the enemy a ruinous and barren victory.

"The Army of the Potomac was first reduced by the withdrawal from my command of the division of General Blenker, which was ordered to the Mountain department, under General Fremont. We had scarcely landed on the Peninsula when it was further reduced by a despatch revoking a previous order giving me command at Fortress Monroe, and under which I had expected to take ten thousand men from that point to aid in our operations. Then, when under fire before the defences of Yorktown, we received the news of the withdrawal of General McDowell's corps of about 35,000 men. This completed the overthrow of the original plan of the campaign. About one-third of my entire army (five divisions out of fourteen, one of the nine remaining being but little larger than a brigade) was thus taken from me. Instead of a rapid advance which I had planned, aided by a flank movement up the York river, it was only left to besiege Yorktown. That siege was successfully conducted by the army, and when these strong works at length yielded to our approaches, the troops rushed forward to the sanguinary but successful battle of Williamsburg, and thus opened an almost unresisted advance to the banks of the Chickahominy. Richmond lay before them surrounded with fortifications, and guarded by an army larger than our own; but the prospect did not shake the courage of the brave men who composed my command. Relying still on the support which the vastness of our undertaking and the grand results depending on our success seemed to insure us, we pressed forward. The weather was stormy beyond precedent; the deep soil of the Peninsula was at times one vast morass; the Chickahominy rose to a higher stage than had been known for years before. Pursuing the advance, the crossings were seized, and the right wing extended to effect a junction with reinforcements now promised and earnestly desired, and upon the arrival of which the complete success of the campaign seemed clear. The brilliant battle of Hanover Court-House was fought, which opened the way for the first corps, with the aid of which, had it come, we should then have gone into the enemy's capital. It never came. The bravest army could not do more, under such overwhelming disappointment, than the Army of the Potomac then did. Fair Oaks attests their courage and endurance when they hurled back, again and again, the vastly superior masses of the enemy. But mortal men could not accomplish the miracle that seemed to have been expected of them. But one course was left-a flank march in the face of a powerful enemy to another and better base--one of the most hazardous movements

in war. The Army of the Potomac, holding its own safety and almost the safety of our cause, in its hands, was equal to the occasion. The seven days are classical in American history; those days in which the noble soldiers of the Union and Constitution fought an outnumbering enemy by day, and retreated