Which it should be
was conclusively settled by the length of the list of condemned. The
President declined to ratify this, and Burnside's resignation inevitably
followed. His successor was the general whose name led the list of those
malcontent critics whom he had desired to displace, and was also the
same who had once stigmatized McClellan as "a baby." Major-General
Joseph Hooker, a graduate of West Point, was now given the opportunity
to prove his own superiority.
The new commander was popularly known as "Fighting Joe." There was
inspiration in the nickname, and yet it was not quite thus that a great
commander, charged with weighty responsibility, should be appropriately
described. Upon making the appointment, January 26, 1863, the President
wrote a letter remarkable in many points of view:--
"GENERAL,--I have placed you at the head of the army of the Potomac. Of
course, I have done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient
reasons; and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some
things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe
you to be a brave and skillful soldier,--which, of course, I like. I
also believe you do not mix politics with your profession,--in which you
are right. You have confidence in yourself,--which is a valuable, if not
an indispensable quality. You are ambitious,--which, within reasonable
bounds, does good rather than harm; but I think that, during General
Burnside's command of the army, you have taken counsel of your ambition
and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to
the country, and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer.
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