2 September 1862: Tuesday

Union - Government/Military
President Lincoln restores McClellan to full command in Virginia and around Washington, a move opposed by Secretaries Stanton and Chase. Lincoln had doubts about McClellan, but suppressed them. Pope was left without a command.

About this time President Lincoln writes "Meditation on the Divine Will," in which he states: In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, but one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time."

Union Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough is relieved of command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Union - Civilian
Ohio and Kentucky
Business is suspended and citizens begin drilling in Cincinatti, Ohio and in Covington and Newport, Kentucky, after learning that Confederate forces are nearby. Martial law is declared. (Confederates under E. Kirby Smith had occupied Lexington.)

Union - Military
Virginia
General Pope orders his beaten but not routed Army of Virginia to pull back into the Washington area entrenchments.

Skirmishes take place near Fairfax Courthouse, Falls Church, Vienna, Flint Hill, and Leesburg.

Union forces evacuate Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley.

Minnesota
Sioux Indians besiege a Union detachment at Birch Coulee. (H.H. Sibley's men will relieve the siege on Sept 3.)

Tennessee
There is a skirmish near Nashville, and near Memphis. Confederate General Braxton Braff and his troops are marching toward Chattanooga.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971