{"id":960,"date":"2013-06-29T12:15:29","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T12:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=960"},"modified":"2016-06-20T17:44:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T17:44:23","slug":"general-war-order-no-1-january-27-1862","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/general-war-order-no-1-january-27-1862\/","title":{"rendered":"General War Order No. 1 (January 27, 1862)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Contributing Editors for this page include Wind Ralston<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#59<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/40443\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Ordered that the 22nd day of February 1862, be the day for a general movement of the Land and Naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>On This Date<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/panel\/this_date\/1862-01-27\" target=\"_blank\">HD Daily Report, January 27, 1862<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelincolnlog.org\/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&amp;day=1862-01-27\" target=\"_blank\">The Lincoln Log, January 27, 1862<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Custom Map<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=38.920955,-77.00592&amp;spn=0.095091,0.181446&amp;iwloc=0004e0730a80b8f5955e0\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3540\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-02-22-at-10.54.37-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-02-22 at 10.54.37 PM\" width=\"484\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-02-22-at-10.54.37-PM.png 691w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-02-22-at-10.54.37-PM-300x273.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=38.920955,-77.00592&amp;spn=0.095091,0.181446&amp;iwloc=0004e0730a80b8f5955e0\" target=\"_blank\">View in Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Close Readings<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7RaYoM-n-wU?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> Posted at YouTube by &#8220;Understanding Lincoln&#8221; course participant Wind Ralson, September 2014<\/p>\n<h3>How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe president had waited patiently \u2013 and in vain \u2013 for McClellan\u2019s plan of operations and, like the electorate, he was growing restless. \u2018It is wonderful how public opinion is changing against McClellan,\u2019 an Ohioan reported in late February. An editor quipped that he had no time to look over the many monthly magazines he received and was tempted to send them to Little Mac, \u2018whose forte seemed to be reviewing.\u2019 To smoke the general out, Lincoln resorted to an unusual expedient: on January 27, he issued \u2018President\u2019s General War Order No. 1,\u2019 commanding all land and naval forces to begin a \u201cgeneral movement\u201d against the enemy on George Washington\u2019s birthday, February 22. (Privately, Stanton explained that \u2018the Government was on the verge of bankruptcy, and at the rate of expenditure, the armies must move or the Government perish.\u2019) As Hay observed, the issuance of this general war order marked a turning point: \u2018He wrote it without any consultation and read it to the Cabinet, not for their sanction but for their information. From that time he influenced actively the operations of the Campaign. He stopped going to McClellan\u2019s and sent for the general to come to him. Every thing grew busy and animated after this order.\u2019 When the order was released to the press in March, the Cincinnati Gazette called it \u2018the stroke that cut the cords which kept our great armies tied up in a state of inactivity.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knox.edu\/documents\/pdfs\/LincolnStudies\/Burlingame,%20Vol%202,%20Chap%2026.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Abraham Lincoln: A Life<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Unedited Manuscript by Chapter, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 2, Chapter 26 (PDF), 2829-2830.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough it appears that Lincoln intended his active involvement in military planning to be no more than a temporary expedient while McClellan was ill, the president never stepped back completely. McClellan subsequently attempted to exercise what he perceived from previous experience to be his responsibilities as general in chief. However, he found the autonomy he had previously enjoyed severely diminished, as Lincoln began directly challenging his conduct of military affairs through such actions as the issuance of President&#8217;s War Order No. 1 on January 27, setting a date for a general advance, and a special order on January 31 establishing the Army of the Potomac&#8217;s line of operations.\u00a0Although both orders were ultimately rescinded, the tension and conflict produced by Lincoln&#8217;s new assertiveness, along with Stanton&#8217;s radical influence on the War Department, poisoned relations between the president and the general in chief. Their relationship deteriorated dramatically over the next few months and, by the time he began his grand campaign to crush the rebellion in March 1862, McClellan no longer possessed the trust and support he needed to achieve success on the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Ethan S. Rafuse, <a href=\"http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2027\/spo.2629860.0018.203\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cTyphoid and Tumult: Lincoln\u2019s Response to General McClellan\u2019s Bout with Typhoid Fever during the Winter of 1861-62,\u201d <\/a><em>Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association <\/em>18, no. 2 (1997): 1-16.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLincoln\u2019s two war orders, dated January 27 and January 31, intended only for the eyes of General McClellan and the secretaries of war and navy, have been widely criticized by historians as intrusive interference in war operations. John Codman Ropes, writing in 1894, described the General War Order No. 1 of January 27 as \u2018a curious specimen of puerile impatience.\u2019 What is often overlooked, however, is the purpose behind these two order (General War Order No. 1 specified \u2018a general movement of the Land and Naval forces\u2019 to take place on February 22; Special War Order No. 1 of January 31 ordered the execution of the Occoquan plan) Since his appointment on November 1, General-in-chief McClellan had only hinted at his strategic plans, and that rarely, or had flatly refused to divulge them even in the most general outline. It was true enough that Virginia was in the grip of its notorious mud season and that no general advance could now begin there before spring, yet to date no one in either the military or the civilian branch of the government (no one except General McClellan) knew if there was a single word on paper for what would prove to be the largest military operation of the war. Mr. Lincoln\u2019s war orders did indeed signal his impatience, but there was nothing puerile about them. They served their purpose very nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLincoln and McClellan,\u201d Stephen W. Sears in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=s5zJJ5wtXpcC&amp;pg=PT28&amp;dq=lincoln+general+war+order+no.+1&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj2h7aJkrfNAhWCmh4KHVhWBz0Q6AEILzAD#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">Lincoln\u2019s Generals<\/a><\/em>, ed. Gabor S. Boritt (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).<\/p>\n<h3>NOTE TO READERS<\/h3>\n<p>This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford&#8217;s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at <a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Executive Mansion,\u00a0Washington,<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">January 27, 1862<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">President&#8217;s General War Order No. 1\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Ordered that the 22nd day of February 1862, be the day for a general movement of the Land and Naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">That especially&#8212;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Army at &amp; about, Fortress Monroe.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Army of the Potomac.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Army of Western Virginia<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Army near Munfordsville [sic], Ky.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Army and Flotilla at Cairo.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">And a Naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready for a movement on that day.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">That all other forces, both Land and Naval, with their respective commanders, obey existing orders, for the time, and be ready to obey additional orders when duly given.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">That the Heads of Departments, and especially the Secretaries of War and of the Navy, with all their subordinates; and the General-in-Chief, with all other commanders and subordinates, of Land and Naval forces, will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities, for the prompt execution of this order.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">ABRAHAM LINCOLN<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Draft of Order sent to Army &amp; Navy Departments respectively this day.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">A. LINCOLN<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Jan. 27. 1862.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Secretary of War will enter this Order in his Department, and execute it to the best of his ability.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">A. LINCOLN<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Jan. 27, 1862.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributing Editors for this page include Wind Ralston Ranking #59 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript &#8220;Ordered that the 22nd day of February 1862, be the day for a general movement of the Land and Naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.&#8221; On This Date HD Daily [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10859],"tags":[10867,11642,11630,10861,10862],"class_list":["post-960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-savior-of-the-union","tag-executive-order","tag-management-style","tag-military-affairs","tag-public","tag-wartime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4494,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions\/4494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}