Annotation
[1] ALS, DNA WR RG 107, Presidential Telegrams, I, 99. General Hunter telegraphed from Harper's Ferry on July 17:
``I again most earnestly request to be relieved from the command of this department.
``Your order, conveyed through Genl Halleck, has entirely destroyed my usefulness. When an officer is selected as the scapegoat to cover up the blunders of others, the best interests of the country require that he should at once be relieved from command.'' (DLC-RTL).
The order concerning forces under Major General Horatio G. Wright and Brigadier General George Crook concerning which Hunter complained is as follows: ``By command of the President, Maj. Gen. H. G. Wright is assigned to the chief command of all the forces moving against the enemy now retreating from Washington. This assignment embraces the Nineteenth Corps . . . and any forces that may join General Wright from the commands of Major-General Hunter, Major-General Ord, or elsewhere. . . .'' (AGO General Orders No. 299, July 13, 1864).