Mud March
On January 25, 1863, President Lincoln issued General Order No. 20. It relieved General Burnside of command of the Army of the Potomac. It relieved General Edwin Vose Sumner of his command; at his own request. It next relieved General Franklin of his command. Lastly, it assigned General Joseph Hooker to command the Army of the Potomac. In a White House gathering that evening, a friend of Burnside's, Henry J. Raymond, a New York politician, got Lincoln's attention and told the President that Joseph Hooker was unfit to command the Army. He told Lincoln there were many things going on in the Army of the Potomac that the President was not aware of. He then talked about General Hooker's near-treasonable comments. Lincoln leaned over and placing his hand on Raymond's shoulder said quietly: “This is all true, Hooker does talk badly; but the trouble is stronger with the country to-day than any other man.” Raymond then asked what the country would think of this if they knew. Lincoln said “The country would not believe it; they would say it is all a lie.” The Army of the Potomac, now under Hooker, would meet the Army of Northern Virginia again in the spring at the Battle of Chancellorsville.