Hey everyone, welcome to the 170th episode of our

Civil War Podcast. My name is Rich. And I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Thanks for tuning into the podcast.

With the last show, we looked at how the seven days battles and McClellan's failed

peninsula campaign in the summer of 1862 represented a turning point in the Civil War.

We also talked about Abraham Lincoln's decision to bring Henry Hallock and John Pope East in

the summer of 1862. Pope to lead the newly created Army of Virginia and Hallock to take over

the vacant post of General and Chief. We want to start off this episode by talking a bit more

about John Pope. An English correspondent interviewed Pope in August 1862 several weeks before the

battle of Second Manassas and left this vivid description. Quote, with keen dark eyes and beard and

hair black as midnight, General Pope has all the air of a commander. Vane, imprudent, and not

proverbially truthful, but shrewd, active, and skilled in the roles of warfare, Pope could be great

and little too. He was clothed with scrupulous neatness, his hair and beard carefully dressed,

his cigars, exquisite, and flavor. He spoke much and rapidly, chiefly of himself, swore roundly at

intervals, was petulant at trifles, and certain of success. John Pope was 40 years old when he took

command of the Army of Virginia in the summer of 1862. He was born in Kentucky but grew up in Illinois.

He graduated from West Point in 1842 and during the war with Mexico, he distinguished himself

at the battles of Monterey and Buenavista, earning brevets for each. After the war, Pope carried out

surveys in Minnesota and the southwest, winning promotion to First Lieutenant in 1855. In 1856,

he was promoted to Captain. By the late 1850s, Pope was known as an expert horseman and a capable

soldier. He was also known for his impetuosity and his abrasive personality. When the Civil War began,

Pope was commissioned a Brigadier General of Volunteers in June of 1861. He held various

district and field commands until February 1862 when he was assigned to command the Union Army of

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