Pope, John (1822-1892)

US soldier. A West Point graduate (1842) and Mexican War veteran, he did valuable survey work with the Army topographical engineers in the Southwest and West. Staying with the Union, he led the Army of the Mississippi in a campaign that opened the great river nearly to Memphis (1862). This success, plus the siege of Corinth, brought him to the attention of President Lincoln, who promoted Pope to command the Army of Virginia. He alienated some of his subordinates by his famous address (July 1862) - in which he implied that the Union forces in the East had not been aggressive enough - and he inspired some mockery when, asked where his headquarters would be, he replied, ‘In the saddle.’ His failures after the peninsular campaign and at Second Bull Run (August 1862), precipitated his replacement by General George McClellan. Pope never again held a field command, even though he remained in the army until 1886. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky.