HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF
VIRGINIA,
Washington, D.C.,
July 14, 1862.
To the Officers and Soldiers of the Army of Virginia:
By special assignment of the President of the United States
I have assumed the command of this army. I have spent two weeks in learning
your whereabouts, your condition, and your wants, in preparing you for active
operations, and in placing you in positions from which you can act promptly and
to the purpose. These labors are nearly completed, and I am about to join you
in the field.
Let us understand each other. I have come to you from the
West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies; from an army whose
business it has been to seek the adversary and to beat him when he was found;
whose policy has been attack and not defense. In but one instance has the enemy
been able to place our Western armies in defensive attitude. I presume that I
have been called here to pursue the same system and to lead you against the
enemy. It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily. I am sure you long for an
opportunity to win the distinction you are capable of achieving. That
opportunity I shall endeavor to give you. Meantime I desire you to dismiss from
your minds certain phrases, which I am sorry to find so much in vogue amongst
you. I hear constantly of “taking strong positions and holding them,” of “lines
of retreat,” and of “bases of supplies.” Let us discard such ideas. The
strongest position a soldier should desire to occupy is one from which he can
most easily advance against the enemy. Let us study the probable lines of
retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves. Let us
look before us, and not behind. Success and glory are in the advance, disaster
and shame lurk in the rear. Let us act on this understanding, and it is safe to
predict that your banners shall be inscribed with many a glorious deed and that
your names will be dear to your countrymen forever.
JNO. POPE,
Major-General,
Commanding.
SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 12, Part 3 (Serial No. 18), p. 473-4; John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 187-8
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