such a force as in the opinion of the General-in-Chief and the commanders of all the army corps shall leave said city entirely secure.

That no more than two army corps (about 50,000 troops) of said Army of the Potomac shall be moved en route for a new base of operations until the navigation of the Potomac from Washington to the Chesapeake Bay shall be freed from enemy's batteries and other obstructions, or until the President shall hereafter give express permission.

That any movement as aforesaid en route for a new base of operations which may be ordered by the General-in-Chief, and which may be intended to move upon the Chesapeake Bay, shall begin to move upon the bay as early as the 18th day of March instant, and the General-in-Chief shall be responsible that it so move as early as that day.

Ordered, That the Army and Navy co-operate in an immediate effort to capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay.

A. LINCOLN.

LORENZO THOMAS,

Adjutant-General.

B.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
Fairfax Court-House, March 13, 1862.

A council of the generals commanding army corps at the Headquarters Army of the Potomac were of the opinion-

I. That, the enemy having retreated from Manassas to Gordonsville, behind the Rappahannock and Rapidan, it is the opinion of the generals commanding army corps that the operations to be carried on will be best undertaken from Old Point Comfort, between the York and James River, upon Richmond, provided-

1. That the enemy's vessel the Merrimac can be neutralized.

2. That the means of transportation sufficient for an immediate transfer of the force to its new base can be ready at Washington and Alexandria to move down the Potomac; and.

3. That a naval auxiliary force can be had to silence or said in silencing the enemy's batteries in York River.

4. That the force to be left to cover Washington shall be such as to give an entire feeling of security for its safety from menace.

Unanimous:

II. If the foregoing cannot be, the army should then be moved against the enemy behind the Rappahannock at the earliest possible moment, and the means for reconstructing bridges, repairing railroads, and stocking them with material sufficient for the supplying the army should at once be collected for both the Orange and Alexandria and the Aquia and Richmond Railroads.

Unanimous:

NOTE.-That, with the first on the right bank of the Potomac fully garrisoned and those on the left bank occupied, a covering force in front of the Virginia line of 25,000 men would suffice.-KEYES, HEINTZELMAN, McDOWELL.

A total of 40,000 men for the defense of the city would suffice.-SUMNER.

C.

WAR DEPARTMENT, March 13, 1862.

Major General GEORGE B. McCLELLAN:

The President having considered the plan of operations agreed upon