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ORDERED TO REINFORCE GENERAL MCCLELLAN OFFERED THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC VISITS NEW YORK -ORGANIZATION OF THE NINTH ARMY CORPS-GENERAL POPE'S DISASTERS - EVACUATION OF FREDERICKSBURG BY BURNSIDEA NIGHT MARCH RETREAT OF THE UNION FORCES ON WASH

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INGTON - INSUBORDINATION.

O

RDERED, with two divisions of his North Caro

lina army, to reinforce General McClellan, who had been obliged to retreat from before Richmond, General Burnside embarked with his forces for Virginia. When off Roanoke Island a messenger from Colonel Hawkins boarded his flag-ship with the intelligence that General McClellan had driven the Confederates from Richmond. Upon this information the troops were ordered back to Newbern, as it was expected by General Burnside that he would be ordered to advance on Raleigh. After waiting several days, the true story of

McClellan's reverse was learned, and General Burnside again started to reinforce him.

Meeting President Lincoln on his arrival at Fortress Monroe, General Burnside had a conference with him, and then went to Baltimore, where he again met Mrs. Burnside. They went together to Washington, where, at the conclusion of another long interview with President Lincoln, General Halleck, and Secretary Stanton, the President offered General Burnside the command of the Army of the Potomac, which he promptly and peremptorily declined. The next day he escorted Mrs. Burnside to New York, and while there, visited the Illinois Central Railroadoffice, where he had some business matters to look after.

General Burnside continued wearing his Rhode Island uniform blouse and slouch hat, so that he was easily recognized. No sooner did he enter the building in which his old office was situated, than an enthusiastic crowd began to gather in front of it, and to call on him for a speech. Finding there was no escape, the general went out on a balcony over the door-way, where he was welcomed by a shout which rang far and wide. Removing his hat, and with his face lighted up by that hopeful smile so peculiar to him, he said:

"My friends: The enthusiastic welcome you have extended to me has quite taken me aback. I expected to come here quietly and to go away without making any excitement; but the kind interest you take in me proves that you will also take some interest in what I have to tell you. It is this: That all is going well, if you will only fill up the old regiments. (Voices They shall be filled up.') This is the best advice I have to give you- fill up the old regiments. So many men have so many times predicted the time of the end of the Rebellion, and been

mistaken, that I will not do so now; but I can say it will be very soon, if the old regiments are filled up. I thank you for the kind reception you have given me, and hope to meet you here again.

when peace and quiet reign among

us."

Returning to his command, which had meanwhile been reorganized as the Ninth Army Corps, General Burnside endeavored to cooperate with General McClellan, who was in a short time virtually deposed, and General Halleck placed in command. The Ninth Corps was ordered to Fredericksburg, having been reinforced by a division under General Stevens to replace that of General Foster, and made a part of the "Army of Virginia." This army of occupation had been placed under the command of Maj.-Gen. John Pope, who boasted that he was fresh from a campaign in the West, where he had seen only the backs of rebels." General Burnside was his superior in rank, but, with his customary devotion to his country, he reported to General Pope, and obeyed his orders with cheerfulness and promptitude.

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General Halleck soon became involved in an acrimonious correspondence with General McClellan, who was dil

atory in abandoning the peninsula and hastening to the relief of General Pope, who was hard pressed by the enemy under General Stonewall Jackson. Indeed, nothing but the timely arrival of the Ninth Corps at Fredericksburg saved General Pope's left flank from being turned, and the Army of Virginia" from being cut off from its communications with Washington.

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While General Pope complained- and with some reason. - of the want of zeal, and even of subordination, on the part of the generals of the "Army of the Potomac " who had been placed under his orders, he warmly eulogized that portion of the Ninth Corps which had come to his assistance under the command of General Reno. "I cannot express myself too highly," said General Pope in his report, "of the zealous, gallant, and cheerful manner in which General Reno deported himself from the beginning to the end of the operations; ever prompt, earnest, and soldierly, he was the model of a soldier and a gallant gentleman."

The Ninth Corps mourned the loss of Brig.-Gen. Isaac I. Stevens, who fell at Chantilly while leading a charge and waving aloft the colors of one of his regiments. General Burnside's headquarters had meanwhile been at Fredericksburg, where he had sent forward nearly forty regiments of infantry to the aid of General Pope, in addition. to a large force of artillery and cavalry. Some of the new regiments having displayed a marauding spirit, General Burnside issued the following order:

General Orders, No. 8.

HEADQUARTERS NINTH ARMY CORPS,
NEAR FREDERICKSBURG, VA., Aug. 12, 1862.

A misapprehension seems to exist as to the spirit of an order from the President of the United States, concerning the subsisting of troops in

the enemy's territory, which will lead to serious license unless promptly checked, and with this object the commanding general calls for a strict observance of the following:

The seizure of private property, under any circumstances, by unauthorized parties is strictly prohibited.

The wastefulness of indiscriminate plunder impoverishes a country, while it adds nothing to the support of the army; policy, as well as humanity to the inhabitants, dictates that all levies should be made according to established rules, and under the charge of discreet and competent officers.

Whenever, in the judgment of the commanding general, it shall become necessary to levy on private property, the proper officers will be appointed, who will carry out the measure according to the usages of civilized warfare, and with the determination on the part of the commanding general, that this command shall not lapse into barbarism. All unauthorized and irregular seizures will be followed by severe and speedy punish

ment.

By command of Maj.-Gen. A. E. BURNSIDE.

LEWIS RICHMOND, Assistant Adjutant-General.

It finally became necessary for the Union forces to evacuate Fredericksburg and retreat to Acquia Creek. Three bridges across the Rappahannock, a machine-shop, the warehouses of the quartermaster and commissary, and a bakery were burned. Just before the troops started, while columns of flame and smoke rose to the sky, General Burnside was observed walking leisurely to and fro, dispatching orders to the different regiments, and watching in calm silence the movements of the various commands. It was, indeed, an hour of deep interest and concern to him; for days he had watched with sleepless vigilance every movement of his own and the enemy's forces, as they affected his own position, and something of weariness could be detected in his usual elastic step.

At this juncture a poor woman with three lovely children clinging to her side passed by, each carrying some little articles of household furniture. The quick eye of the