the free soil of Pennsylvania. Every honest Dutchman in the State
was convinced in his own mind that General Hooker, if he had been
the general he ought to be, should have driven the enemy into some
remote corner of Virginia, and kept him there.

The military atmosphere was still full of confusion and uncertainty.
And things seemed getting worse every day. Strange as it may seem,
the government continued making extensive efforts to further the
object of the rebel general. Fortunately for the nation, our wise
rulers waked up one morning fully convinced that General Lee was in
earnest, that he was already on the free soil of a northern State,
with a favorable prospect for making a settlement there. The
government also suddenly discovered that General Hooker, although a
brave soldier and all that, was not the man to command a great army.
So the government relieved him and sent him into elegant retirement,
a custom very common at that time.

Then the government appointed General Meade to the command of the
grand old army of the Potomac. Of this general little had been
known. Still, the nation felt relieved at the change. Now, General
Meade was a polished gentleman, a brave and good soldier, who had
fought on the Peninsula under McClellan and commanded the
Pennsylvania Reserves. To place a new general in command of an army
at a time when that army is in face of the enemy and expects every
minute to engage him in battle, is one of the most dangerous
experiments a government can indulge in. It is also one well
calculated to test to their utmost the qualities of the general
placed so suddenly in command.

It was the 1st of July, 1863, General Meade took command of the Army