President's General War Order No. 3 directed, in substance:
_First_. An immediate effort to capture the Potomac batteries. _Second_.
That until that was accomplished not more than two army corps should be
started on the Chesapeake campaign toward Richmond _Third_. That any
Chesapeake movement should begin in ten days; and--_Fourth_. That no
such movement should be ordered without leaving Washington entirely
secure.
Even while the President was completing the drafting and copying of
these important orders, events were transpiring which once more put a
new face upon the proposed campaign against Richmond. During the
forenoon of the next day, March 9, a despatch was received from Fortress
Monroe, reporting the appearance of the rebel ironclad _Merrimac_, and
the havoc she had wrought the previous afternoon--the _Cumberland_ sunk,
the _Congress_ surrendered and burned, the _Minnesota_ aground and about
to be attacked. There was a quick gathering of officials at the
Executive Mansion--Secretaries Stanton, Seward, Welles, Generals
McClellan, Meigs, Totten, Commodore Smith, and Captain Dahlgren--and a
scene of excitement ensued, unequaled by any other in the President's
office during the war. Stanton walked up and down like a caged lion, and
eager discussion animated cabinet and military officers.
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