Unknown to Ambrose E. Burnside, December 11, 1862

Major-General BURNSIDE, Commanding, Sc. :

GENERAL: Your dispatch of the 7th was received last evening at 9 o’clock. I telegraphed to you this morning to arrange a meeting for to-morrow. I hope to hear from you to-night. ;

I inclose you herewith a copy of a letter from the President to General McClellan, dated the 13th of last month. I wish you to carefully consider the President’s views, as contained in that letter, so that we may talk it over understandingly to-morrow. General Meigs and General Haupt will accompany me.

Yours, truly, H. W. HALLECK ee General-in-Chief.

On the 9th day of November General McClellan issued an order relinquishing the command of the army, after which an order was issued from my headquarters assuming command.

The positions of the different corps of the army were as follows: The First, Second, and Fifth Corps near Warrenton; Sixth Corps at New Baltimore; Ninth Corps, with Stoneman’s and Whipple’s divisions, on both sides of the river, in the neighborhood of Waterloo; Eleventh Corps at Gainesville, New Baltimore, and the gaps; Pleasonton at Jefferson and Amissville, with advance on Hazel River; Bayard at Rappahannock Station and neighborhood ; Slocuin was still at Harper’s Ferry and Fayetteville. There were no pontoons with the moving army at this time, and our supplies had run very low. It will be observed that directions were given in the order from General Halleck to me, dated November 5, to report at once a plan for the future operations of the army, which was done, and is marked B in the appendix. This plan had been fully matured, and was at the time understood to be in accordance with the views of most of the prominent general officers in the command. It had been written out and was sent to Washington by Maj. E. M. Neill on November 10, and delivered to General G. W. Cullum, chief of staff, the following day; after which General Halleck telegraphed me that he would meet me at Warrenton on the next day (the 12th), which he did, accompanied by Generals Meigs and Haupt. During that night and the next morning we had long consultations. General Halleck was strongly in favor of continuing the movement of the army in the direction of Culpeper and Gordonsville, and my own pla was as strongly adhered tobyme. He declined to take the responsibility of issuing an order, but said that the whole matter would be left to the decision of the President, and, if the President approved my plan, I was to move the main army to Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, and there cross the Rappahannock on pontoon bridges, which were to be sent from Washington.

In my interview with General Halleck I represented to him that soon after commencing the movement in the direction of Fredericksburg my telegraphic communication with Washington would be broken, and that I relied upon him to see that such parts of my plan as required action in Washington would be carried out. He told me that everything required by me would receive his attention, and that he would at once order, by telegraph, the pontoon trains spoken of in my plan, and would, upon his return to Washington, see that they were promptly forwarded. After his return he sent me the following telegram :