general-in-chief of all the armies. I have not intended differently; but
as it seems to be differently understood, I shall direct him to give
you orders, and you to obey them." At the same time he wrote him a
"private" letter, endeavoring to allay the ill-feeling. He closed it
with words of kindness, of modesty, and with one of his noble appeals
for subjection of personal irritation and for union of effort on behalf
of the country:--

"I believe you are aware that, since you took command of the army, I
have not believed you had any chance to effect anything till now. As it
looks to me, Lee's now returning towards Harper's Ferry gives you back
the chance that I thought McClellan lost last fall. Quite possibly I was
wrong both then and now; but, in the great responsibility resting upon
me, I cannot be entirely silent. Now, all I ask is that you will be in
such mood that we can get into our action the best cordial judgment of
yourself and General Halleck, with my poor mite added, if, indeed, he
and you shall think it entitled to any consideration at all."

The breach, however, could not be closed. Hooker, finding his army
seriously weakened by the withdrawal of the two years' and the nine
months' troops, asked for the garrison of Harper's Ferry, which seemed
useless where it was. Halleck refused it, and, June 27, Hooker requested
to be relieved of the command. His request was instantly granted, and
Major-General George G. Meade was appointed in his place. Swinton says
that command was given to Meade "without any lets or hindrances, the
President expressly waiving all the powers of the executive and the
Constitution, so as to enable General Meade to make, untrammeled, the
best dispositions for the emergency." One would like to know the
authority upon which so extraordinary a statement is based; probably it
is a great exaggeration, and the simple fact would prove to be that,