The life and public services of Abraham Lincoln ... together with his state papers, including his speeches, addresses, messages, letters, and proclamations, and the closing scenes connected with his life and death. By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and personal reminiscences of President Lincoln, by Frank B. Carpenter.

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TIIE LIFE, PUBLIC SERVICES, AND

4th. That the force to be left to cover Washington shall be such as to
givo an entire feeling of security for its safety from menace.
NoTE.-That with tl:e forts on the right bank of the Potomac fully
garrisoned, and those on the left bank occupied, a covering force in front
of the Virginia line of twenty-five thousand men would suffice. (Keyes,
Heintzelman, and McDowell.)
A total of forty thousand men for the defence of the city would
suffice. (Sumner.)
Upon receiving a report of this decision, the following
communication was at once addressed to the commanding
general:
WAR DEPARTMENT, March 18, 1862.
The President having considered the plan of operations agreed upon
by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no objection to
the same, but gives the following directions as to its execution:1st. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely
certain that tle enemy shall not repossess himself of that position and
line of communication.
2d. Leave Washington entirely secure.
3d. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a
new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there; or,
at all events, move such remainder of the army at once in pursuit of the
enemy by some route. EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of WTar.
Major-General GEORGE B. MOCLELLAN.
It will readily be seen, from these successive orders,
that the President, in common with the whole country,
had been greatly pained by the long delay of the Army
of the Potomac to move against the enemy while encamped at Manassas, and that this feeling was converted
into chagrin and mortification when the rebels were
allowed to withdraw from that position without the
slightest molestation, and without their design being even
suspected until it had been carried into complete and successful execution. He was impatiently anxious, therefore, that no more time should be lost in delays. In
reply to the Secretary of WVar, General McClellan, before
embarking for the Peninsula, communicated his intention
of reaching, without loss of time, the field of what he
believ{ed would be a decisive battle, which he expected