On January 24, 1863, President Lincoln posed for a photograph by Alexander Gardner who worked for the Matthew Brady Studio. It was not the first photograph Mr. Gardener had taken. Mr. Gardner had captured the president in several photographs in October 1862 while the commander in chief was visiting with General George McClellan in Sharpsburg, Maryland.
The following day, President Abraham Lincoln relieved Major General Ambrose Burnside from command, following his crushing defeat at Fredericksburg and his ill famed "mud march". In his place, Lincoln appointed General Joe Hooker at the commander of the Army of the Potomac. "Fighting Joe" as he was called, had recently mentioned that the government needed a dictator. Knowing this, the president told General Hooker "it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship."
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