General Orders No. 182--Relieving Major General Mcclellan From Command Of The Army Of The Potomac

EDWARD D.-ASSISTANT ADJUTANT GENERAL TOWNSEND

Publication: War Department, Adjutant General's Office, 1862, Washington

Single Sheet. General Orders No. 182 reads as follows: "By direction of the President of the United States, it is ordered that Major General McClellan be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and that Major General Burnside take the command of that Army. By order of the Secretary of War: E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General." Major General George McClellan (1826-1885) was a United States Army officer who played an important role in raising the Army of the Potomac, the Union Army's primary field army; he led the Union forces in large-scale offensives in the Peninsula Campaign in southern Virginia in 1862. However, he and President Lincoln developed a mutual distrust, and McClellan was relieved of command after the 1862 midterm elections. A major factor in McClellan's removal was his failure to pursue General Robert E. Lee's army after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam. McClellan never received another field command. Very good condition with some minor light soiling.

Inventory Number: 52106