Page "Abraham Lincoln" Paragraph 58

Lincoln removed McClellan as general-in-chief and appointed Henry Wager Halleck in March 1862, after McClellan's " Harrison's Landing Letter ", in which he offered unsolicited political advice to Lincoln urging caution in the war effort.

McClellan's letter incensed Radical Republicans, who successfully pressured Lincoln to appoint John Pope, a Republican, as head of the new Army of Virginia.

Pope complied with Lincoln's strategic desire to move toward Richmond from the north, thus protecting the capital from attack.

However, lacking requested reinforcements from McClellan, now commanding the Army of the Potomac, Pope was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac to defend Washington for a second time.

The war also expanded with naval operations in 1862 when the CSS Virginia, formerly the USS Merrimack, damaged or destroyed three Union vessels in Norfolk, Virginia, before being engaged and damaged by the USS Monitor.

Lincoln closely reviewed the dispatches and interrogated naval officers during their clash in the Battle of Hampton Roads.