226
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The bridges on the raiboad were to be set on
fire, the tracks torn
up so that no troops could reach Baltimore from the North.
Little did
the men mistrust that Timothy Webster, from Richmond, was in con-
stant communication with the gentleman from Georgia, in Baltimore
;
that Mr. Howard was
also informing the gentleman from Georgia of
all that was going on, and that he was giving full information
of the
conspiracy to Norman B. Judd, at Buffalo.
Mr. Lincoln had planned to go from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, and
from
that
city to
Baltimore.
There would be
a great crowd at the
Northern Central station, where he would enter a narrow passage to
reach a carriage.
It would be an easy matter to get up a row in such
a crowd.
When the police
left the passage to quell the disturbance,
the fatal
bullet would be
fired, or the knife plunged into his breast.
A steamboat would take the assassin
to South
Carolina—secure from
capture.
Senator Grimes, of Iowa, and Elihu B. Washburne, member
of the
House
of Representatives from Galena,
111., were in
consultation with
General Scott, commanding the army.
He was receiving
letters from
honest and true-hearted men in the South, informing him
of a deep-
laid plot to murder Mr. Lincoln.
Senator Grimes and Mr. Washburne
were made a
" Committee
of
Public Safety "
b}^ the
loyal
Senators
and members of Congress.
They knew that Chief of Police Kennedy,
in New York, was loyal and true, and that he had trust worth}^ men in
his employ, and so put themselves in communication with him.
Men who wore slouched hats and seedy
coats, who smoked cheap
cigars and drank
Avhiskey, were
sent
to Richmond,
Alexandria, and
Baltimore.
They also learned the
details of the plot to murder Lin-
coln. ('')
Mr. Lincoln
is at Trenton, N. J.
Things have arrived
at a serious
pass.
Mr.
Seward and Mr. Washburne, in Washington, have unmis-
takable evidence, apart from what has come to Mr. Judd, that
'^^gg^*^' Mr. Lincoln
is
to
be assassinated
in
Baltimore.
They cannot
with safety telegraph any information.
A messenger must be
sent, and Mr. Frederick W. Seward, son of the
Senator, with
letters
from his father and from General
Scott, makes
his way
to
Philadel-
phia.
The train from Trenton
is just arriving with Mr. Lincoln.
A
young man
slips a
piece
of paper
into
the hand
of Mr. Judd, who
reads only this
:
"Call for J. H. Hutchinson at the St. Louis Hotel."
THE ELECTION.
227
It
is not Mr. Hutchinson whom Mr. Jucid finds, but Mr. Pinkerton,
the "gentleman from Georgia.'"
He hiys before Mr. Judd
all the
de-
tails of the
plan.
Mr. Seward confirms them
; also Mr. Sanford, sent
by
General
Scott.
Mr.
Felton, who
has had
several gangs
of men
whitewashing the bridges across the rivers between
Pliiladelphia and
Baltimore, but who were instructed to keep their eyes on the structures
day and night for fear they might be set on
fire, adds information con-
firming the testimon}^ gathered by the detectives.
What
shall be done?
The time has come when Mr. Lincoln must
know what
is going on.
His secretary, Mr. Nicolay, calls him from the
parlor of the Continental Hotel.
Mr. Judd and Mr. Sanford propose
that he
shall
o^o at once to WashinMon.
That he will not consent to
do.
He has promised to raise a flag over the hall in which the Decla-
ration of Independence was signed, and will keep
his word.
He has
promised to go to Plarrisburg, and will go
;
but
it
is arranged that in-
stead of remaining at Harrisburg over night, and going to Baltimore on
the Northern Central road, he shall return to Philadelphia, and go by
the regular night train throug-h Baltimore to Washing'ton.
It
is the anniversarv of Georo-e Washing-ton's birth.
For the first
time in his life Mr. Lincoln enters the hall where the Declara-
i8(\f
^'
^^^^ ^^ ^^^® Independence of the United States was signed.
The
street and
square, the houses, windows, and roofs are occupied
by
a
vast crowd of
people.
These words
fall from the
lips
of Mr.
Lincoln
:
" I am
iilled
witli deep emotion at finding myself standing
in
tiiis place, where were
collected
togetlier
the wisdom,
the
patriotism,
the
devotion
to
principle
from which
sprang the institutions under which we
live.
You have kindlj^ suggested to me that in
my hands
is the task of restoring peace to our distracted country.
I can say in return
that all the political sentiments
I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to
draw them, from the sentiments which originated
in, and were given to the world from,
this hall. ...
It was not the mere matter of separation of the colonies from the mother-
land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone
to the people of
this country, but hope to all the world for all future time."
The flag rises to the top- mast, and the vast multitude rends the air
with
cheers
as they
behold
the
bright
new
banner
floating
in
the
breeze.
From Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln proceeds to Harrisburg, and meets
the Legislature and Governor Curtin.
The ceremonies of the day are
ended.
Judge Davis, Colonel E. Y. Sumner, Major John Pope, Major
David Hunter, and Mr. Lamon, who are
travelling with Mr. Lincoln,
228
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
A>f
i
t
RAISING THE FLAG OVER INDEPENDENCE HALL.
have received hints that the programme for the jom^ney to Washing-
ton has been changed.
Mr. Lincoln cannot
slip away without taking
them into his confidence.
He has not been quite sure that
it will be
manly to go through Baltimore in the night.
No
hospitalities have
been extended to him by the Governor of Maryland or the authorities
of Baltimore, but will people not
look upon him
as a coward?
He
lays the matter before his friends.
" Well, Mr. Lincoln, what is your judgment ?" Mr. Davis asks.
" I have thought this matter over considerably since I went over the
ground with Mr. Pinkerton.
The appearance of Mr. Frederick Seward
THE ELECTION.
229
with information from another source confirms my behef in Mr. Pinker-
ton's statements.
Therefore, unless there are some other reasons than
the fear of
ridicule, I am disposed to carry out Mr. Judd's plan."
" That settles it," said Mr. Davis.
" So
be
it," says
Colonel Sumner, brave and
true
soldier.
'' It
is
against my judgment, but I have undertaken to go to Washington with
Mr. Lincoln, and I
shall do
it."
He does not comprehend the malig-
nity of the desperadoes who are looking forward to the coming noon as
the hour when they will rid the world of the man whom they hate.
The hands of
the clock in the
hotel
office steal on
to
5.45.
The
gentlemen at dinner
are munching the
nuts and
raisins, and sipping
their
coffee.
Mr. Nicolay
enters, and whispers
to Mr.
Lincoln, w4io
leaves the room, followed by the Governor, Mr. Judd, and others.
He
retires to his chamber, changes his clothing, and descends the stairs.
" He
is going to the Governor's," the whisper that runs through the
crowd as they see Governor Curtin and Mr. Lincoln arm in arm,
A carriage
is waiting at the door.
Mr. Lincoln, Governor Curtin,
and Lamon enter.
Colonel Sumner
is just stepping in when Mr, Judd
touches
his
shoulder.
He turns
to
see what
is wanted
;
the driver
starts
his
horses, and the vehicle
whirls down the
street—not
to the
Governor's house, but to the railroad
station, where an engineer and
fireman are waiting
in the cab of an engine.
It
is a
light
train
:
a
baggage car and one passenger car—a
special to take the superintend-
ent of the railroad and a few friends to Philadelphia.
The track has
been cleared, and the engineer can make quick time.
It
is a midwinter night, and the twilight is fading from the sky, but
the darkness does not prevent a lineman of the telegraph from climbing
a pole just outside of Harrisburg, and attaching a fine copper wire to
the line, and carrying it to the ground.
Possibly the man might wonder
what
sort of an experiment Mr. Westervelt, who had come up from
Philadelphia, was carrying on
; but when it was done, the operatives in
Harrisburg and
Baltimore might
finger
their
telegraph keys by the
hour, but would not be able to send a message between the two cities.
In
Philadelphia, Mrs.
Warne,
employed
by
Mr.
Pinkerton,
has
engaged two berths in the sleeping-car ostensibly for
herself and
in-
valid brother, and the porter has hung a curtain
so they can be sepa-
rated from the other passengers on their trip to Washington.
"You
will hold your
train
till
I give you
a package
Avhich
Mi'.
Felton
washes you
to
take,"
the
instructions
of
Mr.
Kinney,
super-
intendent of the railroad between Philadelphia and Washington, to the
230
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ANDREW
G. CURTIN.
conductor of the midnight train.
A carriage rolls up to the station in
Philadelphia.
A tall man steps out—the invalid brother for whom the
lady has engaged the birth.
She
is delighted to see him.
He enters
the
sleeping-car, followed hy three
other gentlemen—Judd, Lamon,
and
Pinkerton.
The
superintendent
hands
a
package
to
the
con-
ductor, who lifts his hand—the signal for starting.
The engineer pulls
the throttle, and the train speeds away.
THE ELECTION.
2'M
Neither conductor, porter, nor any one
else
has any inkhng
tliat
Abraham Lincohi and the invahd brother of the kdy are one and
tlie
same.
Possibly the engineer wonders why men
are
standing by the
bridges
with
lanterns
as
the
train
thunders
across
them,
but
Mr.
Pinkerton knows that everything is as
it should be.
The train from Philadelphia at an early hour rolls into the Washing-
ton station.
A gentleman standing behind one of the pillars of
^^g^j^^'the building
is looking
eagerly
at the passengers
as they step
from the cars, and is about to turn away, tlisappointed, when he
sees a tall man wearing a
soft felt
hat, with a muffler round his neck,
step from the sleeping car, accompanied by two gentlemen.
" The tall man looks like an
Illinois farmer—as
if he had come
to
Washington to get a patent for his farm," the thought
of the man by
the pillar.
" How are you, Lincoln?" the greeting.
Lamon and Judd are startled.
EDWIN
V, STTMNER.
232
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" Oh, this is only Washburne," says Lincoln, introducing Mr. "Wash-
burne to his two companions.
A carriage whirls them to Willard's Hotel.
Mr. Seward comes, and
the tw^o men who had been rivals for the nomination at Chicago grasp
each other's hands.
"Faith, it
is you, then, who. have brought us the new
Prisident,"
the greeting of the smiling porter to Mr. Washburne. ( '^
)
While Mr. Lincoln
is eating his breakfast
in Washington, the con-
spirators in Baltimore, who had so carefully planned his assassination,
are comprehending that he has escaped them.
Long ago, a poet far away in Oriental lands, wrote these comforting
and assuring words concerning God's guardianship of his children
:
"For He shall give His angels charge over tliee to keep thee in all thy ways."
NOTES TO CHAPTER XIL
(
' )
J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 236.
(^)
" Presbyterian Review," vol. xiii.. No. 4.
( ^) Correspondence in possession of the Author.
(*) William H. Herndou, "Lincoln," p. 481 (edition 1889).
C)
Ibid., p. 482.
C)
Ibid., p. 483.
(' ) Document in possession of the Author.
(*) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," p. 37.
(°)
S. M. Felton to William Schoules in " Massachusetts in the War."
('") Allen Pinkerton, "Story of a Detective."
( ")
E. B. Washburne, "Reminiscences of Lincoln," p. 34.
('')
Ibid., p. 39.
OUTBREAK OF TPIE REBELLION.
233
CHAPTEE
XIII.
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
PEACE!
Peace
at any price!"
said those who did not compre-
hend
the
eternal antagonism
between Freedom
and
Slavery.
People w^ho stood aghast at the prospect of civil war with its attendant
horrors were willing to surrender their convictions of what was
right,
if by so doing they could prevent
hostihties between the North and
the South.
The Virginia Legislature proposed a National Peace Con-
vention, to be held in Washington.
All the States, except those which
had seceded, appointed
delegates.
While Mr. Lincoln was making his
way from Springfield to Washington, the convention, with ex-President
Tyler presiding, was holding daily sessions in the great hall connected
with Willard's Hotel.
It was an effort to concihate the
Secessionists,
who had no desire to be
conciliated.
They were dreaming of future
empire, greatness, glory, and power
for the
South
;
and
no measure
short of complete surrender to their demands would be accepted.
The members from Virginia were surprised w^hen informed that Mr.
Lincoln w^as
in the
hotel.
It seems probable that one delegate knew
of the plot to assassinate him.
" How did he get through Baltimore ?" his exclamation. (')
" Mr. Chairman," said John A. Logan, of IlUnois, " I move that the
president
of
the conference wait on the
President-elect, and
inform
him that the conference would be pleased to wait upon him in a body
at such time as will suit his convenience."
" No !"
" No !"
" Lay it on the table !"
" Vote it down !"
" Rail-
splitter !"
" Ignorance !"
" Clown !" shouted the Southern delegates.
" I trust that no Southern member will decline to treat the incoming
President with the same respect that has already been given to the pres-
ent incumbent of that office," said Mr. Tyler.
The resolution was adopted.
What sort of a man was this rail-splitter ?
What did he look like
?
There must be something unusual about one who could rise from such
a low estate to be elected President.
Curiosity was awakened.
234:
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Evening came.
Mr. Lincoln was in the parlor of the
hotel.
The
members
of the Peace Conference
entered.
They beheld a
tall man
wearing
ill-fitting clothes.
What was
it that mstantly arrested their
attention?
Was
it
the
kindly face?
Was
it the perfect
ease
with
w^hich he greeted each one when introduced by Mr. Chittenden ?
" You are a
smaller man, Mr. Kives, than
I supposed—I mean
in
person; every one
is acquainted with the greatness of your
intellect.
It
is indeed pleasant to meet one who
has so honorably represented
his country
in Congress
and
abroad." (
° )
Mr. flives
comprehended
that a man so familiar with his personal history was not an ignorant
boor. (')
" The
clouds,"
said Mr. Eives, " that hang over
us are very dark.
I can do little, you can do much.
Everything now depends on you."
" I cannot wholly agree to that.
My course
is as plain as a turn-
pike road.
It
is marked out by the
Constitution.
I am in no doubt
which way to go.
Suppose we
all stop discussing and try the experi-
ment of obedience to the laws and the Constitution.
I>on't you think
it will work ?"
"May
I answer that question?"
Mr. Summers, of West Virginia,
made the request.
Mr. Lincoln waited for him to go on.
" Yes, it will
work.
If the Constitution
is your light I will follow
it with you, and
the people of the South will go with us."
" Your name, Mr. Clay (James B. Clay, of Kentucky), is
all the
in-
dorsement you require.
From my boyhood the name
of Henry Clay
has been an inspiration to me."
"Does
liberty
still thrive
in Eastern Tennessee?" the
question to
Mr. Zollicoffer, who had been member
of Congress from
that
State.
Little did Mr. Zollicoffer think that before a twelvemonth passed he
would meet death on the battle-field of Mill Springs.
The deep, sepulchral voice of John A. Seddon, of Yirginia, who was
doing what he could to
bring about the secession of that State, broke
in
: " It
is your failure to enforce the laws of which we complain—to
suppress your John Browns
and
Garrisons, who preach
insurrection
and make war upon our property."
There was humor and
firmness
in
Mr. Lincoln's
reply
:
" If my
memory serves me, John Brown was hung and Mr. Garrison imprisoned.
You cannot
justly charge the North with disobedience to
statutes, or
with
failure to enforce them.
You have made some which are very
offensive, but they have been enforced, notwithstanding."
" You do not enforce the laws.
You refuse to execute the statute
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
235
for the
return
of fugitive
slaves.
Your leading men
openly declare
that they
will not assist the marshal to capture or return them," said
Seddon.
" You
are wrong
in your
facts
again, Mr.
Seddon.
Your
slaves
have been returned from the shadow of Faneuil Hall,
in. the heart
of
Boston.
Our people do not like the work.
They will do what the law
commands, but
they
will
not volunteer to
act
as
tipstaves and bum-
bailiffs.
The
instinct
is
natural
to
the
race.
Is
it
not true
of
the
South ?
Would you join in the pursuit of a fugitive slave
if you could
avoid it
i
Is
it the proper work for gentlemen f
'' Your Press," said Seddon, " is incendiary.
It advocates servile in-
surrections, and advises our slaves to cut the throats of their masters.
You do not suppress your newspapers.
You encourage their violence."
" I beg your pardon, Mr. Seddon
;
I intend no offence, but I wyll not
suffer such a statement
to
pass unchallenged,- because
it
is not
true.
JSTo Northern newspaper, not even the most ultra, has advocated a slave
insurrection, or advised slaves to cut their masters' throats.
A gentle-
man
of your
intelligence
should
not make
such
assertions.
We do
maintain the freedom of the
Press.
We deem
it necessary in a free
government.
Are we peculiar in that
respect
'i
Is not the same doc-
trine held in the South ?"
The haughty Virginian could make no reply. (')
'' Is the nation, Mr. Lincoln, to be plunged into bankruptcy ?
Is the
grass to grow in our
streets ?" asked William
E. Dodge, merchant, of
New York.
"If
it depends upon me, the grass shall not grow anywhere except
in the fields, where it ought to grow," the reply.
" Then you will permit the South to control our institutions ?"
" I do not know that I quite understand you.
I do not know what
my acts or opinions may be in the future.
If I ever come to the great
office of President of the United States I shall take an oath to the best
of my ability
to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
This
is a great and solemn
duty.
With the support of the people and the
assistance of the Almighty I shall undertake to perform
it.
I have full
faith that I shall perform
it.
It
is not the Constitution as I would like
to have
it, but
as
it
is, that
is to be defended.
The Constitution will
not be preserved and defended until
it
is enforced and obeyed in every
part of every one of the United States.
It must he so resj>ected and de-
fended, let the grass grow where it mayP
His words were deep and solemn, as
if spoken
at the funeral of a
236
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLK
departed
friend.
Those around him could
all but hear the beating of
their hearts in the hush and stillness.
"Should the l^orth make further
concessions to avoid
civil war?
Shall we consent that the people
of a Territory shall determine the
question of having slaves ?" the questions by a delegate.
"It will be time to consider such a question when
it
arises.
Just
now
w^e
have
other
questions to
decide.
The voice
of
the
civilized
world
is against slavery.
Freedom
is the natural condition of the hu-
man race in w^hich the Almighty intends men to live.
Those "who fight
the purposes
of the Almighty
will
not
succeed.
They always have
been, they always will be, beaten," the reply, (')
" Mr. Lincoln," remarked Mr. Rives, of Virginia, to Mr. Chittenden,
" has been misjudged and misunderstood by the Southern people.
They
have looked upon him as an ignorant, self-willed man, incapable
of in-
dependent judgment,
full of prejudices, willing to be used as a tool by
more able men.
This
is all wrong.
He will be the head of the nation
and do his owm thinking.
He seems to have studied the Constitution,
and to have adopted it as his guide.
I do not see how any fault can be
found with the views he has expressed
this evening.
He
is probably
not so great a statesman as Mr. Madison, he may not have the will-
power of General Jackson
; he may combine the qualities of both.
His
will not be a weak administration." (')
The day for inauguration came.
IS'ever before had there been so
many people in Washington.
Soldiers were stationed in groups along
,,
^
Pennsylvania Avenue and on the roofs
of buildings.
Cavalry-
Mondav,
"^
.
i
i
-r»
•
i
t-.
i
March 4, men
rode
beside
the
carriage
that
bore
President Buchanan
^^^^-
and Mr. Lincoln from Willard's Hotel to the
Capitol.
Xot far
away artillerymen were
sitting on their
caissons
or on their
horses,
ready to move
in an instant should General Scott give a signal.
But
the conspirators who had plotted the death of Mr. Lincoln did not dare
attempt his assassination.
From the Senate -chamber came Mr. Lincoln, President Buchanan,
Mrs. Lincoln and her
sons. Chief- justice Taney, in
his
black robe
of
office, and the clerk of the Supreme Court bearing a Bible.
They passed
to the eastern portico.
Thousands had gathered to witness the inaugura-
tion.
The Capitol w^as unfinished.
Above the throng rose the huge
derricks by which the marble and iron for the construction of the dome
were lifted.
Many of those standing beneath the portico were inseparably con-
nected "with the history of the country.
James Buchanan, old, feeble,
OUTBREAK
OF. THE REBELLION.
239
retiring
from
the
Presidency, was
representative
of
a
political
era
which on that day was
to have an ending.
Abraham Lincoln, by his
side, was the incarnation of the idea which
impelled the men of the
Mayflower to cross the Atlantic and establish a government of the peo-
ple.
Roger B. Taney had
trailed the ermine of the highest
tribunal
of justice in the mire at the behest of the slave power.
Stephen A.
Douglas had been a willing agent of the slave-holders for the extension
of slavery
; he had
lost the Presidency through his want of fidelity to
liberty.
The
life - work of Buchanan and Taney was ended
;
that of
Douglas was
soon
to
close.
Mr. Lincoln had
once
alluded
to them
as house-builders
(see p. 1G7).
The fourth carpenter, " Franklin," was
not
present.
Once
only
after
his
retirement
from
the
Presidential
chair had
the
world
heard
from
Franklin
Pierce.
A
letter which
he had written
to Jefferson Davis indicated
to his
fellow-citizens that
his sympathies were with the
Secessionists.
The
four
"house-build-
ers" were
passing
into
oblivion, and
the
uncultured backwoodsman,
under divine Providence, was
to be architect
of
the new Temple
of
Liberty.
Clear and distinct the words of Mr. Lincoln
:
"In view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union
is unbroken; and to the extent
of my ability
I shall take
care, as the Constitution expressly enjoins upon me, that the
laws shall be faithfully executed in all the States. ... In doing this there needs to be no
bloodshed or violence
; and there shall be none, unless
it be forced upon the national au-
thority.
The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property
and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imports
; but be-
yond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force
against or among the people anywhere.
.
.
.
"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine,
is the momen-
tous issue of civil war.
The Government will not assail you.
You can have no conflict
without being yourselves the aggressors.
You have no oath registered
in heaven to de-
stroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to
' preserve, protect, and
defend
'
it.
"I am loath
to close.
We are not enemies, but friends.
We must not be enemies.
Though passion may have strained,
it must not break our bonds of affection.
"The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to
every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the
Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Mr. Lincoln lays his right hand upon the open Bible.
A hush falls
upon the
vast
multitude
as
he
repeats
after
Chief-justice Taney the
words
:
" I, Abraham Lincoln, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully exe-
cute the office of President of the United
States, and
will, to the best
240
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
of my
ability, preserve, protect, and
defend
the
Constitution
of
the
United States."
It
is
done.
Tlie
cannon thunder a
salute — cheers rend the
air.
James
Buchanan,
citizen, and Abraham
Lincoln,
President,
ride
to
the
executive
mansion,
one
never
again
to
enter
it
;
the
other
to
take
up
the
work
assigned him
in
the
councils
of
divine
Provi-
dence.
In ISTovember, on the evening of the
election, when
sitting
in the
telegraph office in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln had selected the men whom
he would invite to become members of his Cabinet
: Mr. Seward, of New
York, Secretary of State
; Mr. Chase, of Ohio, Treasury
; Mr. Cameron,
of Pennsylvania, War
;
Mr. Welles, of Connecticut, Navy
; Mr. Smith,
of Indiana, Interior
;
Mr. Blair, of Maryland, Postmaster-general
; Mr.
Bates, of Missouri, Attorney-general.
No President of the United States, upon his inauguration, ever had
so difiicult a task to accomplish as that which confronted Abraham Lin-
coln.
Seven States had seceded from the Union, established a govern-
ment, elected a President and Vice-president.
Other slave-holding States
were preparing to secede.
Forts, arsenals, vessels, post-oflices had been
seized.
Oificers of the army and navy were resigning their commis-
sions.
All
but two
of
the
justices
of
the Supreme
Court by their
decisions had shown their sympathy with
the
slave oligarchy.
The
officials in the various departments knew they would be compelled to
seek
other employment.
Those belonging to
the Democratic Party
from the Northern States were angry and morose under the prospect
of losing their comfortable positions.
Treason was everywhere.
Nei-
ther the President nor any of the
Secretaries knew upon whom they
could rely.
The people of Washington were far more in sympathy with
the South than
with the North.
A very
large
proportion
of them
looked with disdain upon a man who had pulled an oar and swung an
axe to earn his daily bread.
They called him "Abe the Eail-splitter."
The newspapers of the Southern States published false and malicious
stories about his parentage and birth.
They said he had negro blood in
his veins.
The " Black " Republican Party had
elected
him.
It was
natural
for
ignorant
people
in the South to believe that the mother
of Abraham Lincoln might have been
a
negress.
He was called an
" ape," a " baboon." A few weeks after the inauguration a " Dramatic
Poem," entitled " The Poyal Ape," was published in Eichmond.
Wom-
en who gloried in their ancestry could
not
bear to think of
one so
low-born occupying the White House.
One lady, who took pride in
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
241
SALMON
P. CHASE.
]ier ancestors, saw Mr. Lincoln
in the parlor of Willard's Hotel before
his inauguration.
" Is that Abe Lincoln f ' she asked, greatly astonished to see he was
a courteous gentleman.
"That
is
Mr.
Lincoln, and
I
will
introduce vou
to him,"
said
Mr. Seward.
"Shall
I have
the
pleasure
of introducing Mrs. How-
ard r
Very stately the bowing of the lady.
" I am from South Carolina,"
she said.
" I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Howard."
Ko gentleman in Charleston could have been more courteous.
She
242
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
looked into his face and beheld nothing but kindness.
She listened in
amazement to his conversation.
" Why, Mr.
Lincoln, you
look, act, and speak
like
a
kind, good-
hearted, generous man !" she exclaims.
" Did you expect to meet a savage ?"
" Certainly I did, or something worse.
But I am glad that I have
met you.
The best way to procure peace is for you to go to Charleston
and show the people what you are, and tell them you have no intention
of injuring them."
She left the parlor and met her friends.
" I have seen him."
"Who?"
" That terrible monster, Lincoln
;
and
instead of being a monster
he is a gentleman, and I mean to attend his first reception." (')
While Mr. Lincoln was taking his oath to support the Constitution,
Mr. Holt, Buchanan's Secretary of War, was reading a
letter received
from Major Anderson, commanding Fort Sumter, informing him that the
bread he had on hand would be gone in twenty-eight days.
His pork
would
last a
little
longer, but
in forty days the
last particle of food
would
be consumed.
He could not buy anything in the Charleston
markets.
Slaves were building batteries on Morris Island and mounting
cannon.
A floating battery protected by railroad-iron would soon be
completed.
Several days passed
before
all
the members
of the new Cabinet
arrived in Washington.
The}^ listened in amazement to the communi-
cation from Major Anderson.
General Scott had informed President
Lincoln that it would require 20,000 men to force their way into Sumter.
'No such number could be had.
Captain Gustavus Y. Fox believed that
vessels of light draft could cross Charleston bar in the night and supply
the fort with provisions.
Each member of the Cabinet was asked to
give his opinion as to what should be done.
ISTearly all said
it would
not be wise to attempt to relieve the garrison.
Three gentlemen, sent by Jefferson Davis, arrived in Washington
:
Martin J. Crawford, John Forsyth, and A. S. Komans.
They requested
President Lincoln to give up Sumter, and also Fort Pickens, at Pensa-
cola.
They
held
consultations with Mason and Hunter, of Virginia,
and Breckinridge, of Kentucky.
They found
J. A. Campbell, one of
the judges of the Supreme Court, an able ally.
He was from Alabama,
but professed loyalty to the Union.
He had
the confidence
of Mr.
Seward, who did not mistrust that Campbell was in constant communi-
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
243
cation with Jefferson Davis's commissioners.
Mr. Seward was pleased
to see the g^entlemen, but coukl not hold anv official relations with them,
lie thought there would not be war.
Fort Sumter probal)ly would be
evacuated.
Nothing would be done
without notice, he thought.
Mr.
Seward gave Judge Campbell no assurance as an officer of the Cabinet,
but only as a private citizen.
He had no authority to speak officially.
I was
in Washington
during
those March days.
The hotels and
MONTGOMEKY BLAIK.
244
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
boarding-houses were filled with men from nearly every l^orthern State,
and many from Maryland and Virginia, seeking office.
They swarmed
into the White House, filled the corridors and stairways leading to the
executive chamber, waiting for the moment when they could
see the
President.
Each had letters of recommendation for some office—consul,
marshal, or postmaster.
Senators and members of the Cabinet, entitled
to
precedence^ who made
their way through the crowd, were looked
upon as intruders.
Some
of the most importunate
office-seekers were
from Yirginia.
They had not voted for Mr. Lincoln, did not belong to
the Republican Party
; they were Whigs, and had voted for Mr. Bell, of
Tennessee.
As there were no Republicans in Yirginia, they would stand
some chance of obtaining an office.
Many of the loud-talking men from
the seceded States were loath to give up the salaries they were receiving
from the Government.
They were
predicting war.
The}''
said
the
Northern men were craven creatures, who never would fight the gentle-
men of the South.
They did not regard ISTorthern men as gentlemen.
It was the expression of a sentiment engendered by slavery.
Men who
worked for a livelihood, who did
not have bond-servants to do
their
bidding, could not be " gentlemen."
Mr. Seward publicly expressed his opinion that all trouble between
the North and South would be speedily settled.
Not so promising was
the outlook to me.
On a calm evening, soon after the inauguration of
Mr.
Lincoln, I
visited
the White
House
in
company
with
Senator
Wilson. (*)
The President was engaged and we
did not
ta.rrj^
We
walked towards Mr. Wilson's apartments in the direction of the Cap-
itol.
The moon was
full, revealing the
beautiful proportions
of the
uncompleted edifice.
" What
is that unfinished Capitol so beautiful in design worth V I
asked.
" Nothing. We are going to have
civil war, and God only knows
what the end will be," the reply.
Others saw the coming storm.
A gentleman who had applied for
the consulate at Callao, South America, withdrew his application.
He
said
:
" We are going to have one of the greatest struggles the world
has
ever
seen.
These fellows are determined to
tight.
I am going
home to get ready to meet them." (")
From the hour of his inauguration President Lincoln was badgered
and hounded by
office-seekers.
We
little know the
severity of the
mental strain during
those days to him.
Seven
States had
left the
Union.
Yirginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee were getting ready to
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
245
HEKRY WILSON.
go.
Forts and arsenals had been
seized, Major Anderson was cooped
up
in Sumter.
Batteries were being
erected on
Morris
Island.
The
vessels of the navy Avere on distant seas, the soldiers of the army thou-
sands of miles away among the Indians of the West.
Traitors were in
the departments.
The members of the Cabinet were strangers to each
other.
Affairs
at home and abroad
were drifting to chaos.
Civil war was
imminent.
The credit of the Govern-
ment was gone.
Many people
in the
Northern
States were doubtful
if an
uneducated man, without
experience
in
affairs
of
State, would be able to
administer the Government at such a
critical period.
Alone at night in his
chamber Mr. Lincoln bore the nation
on his heart.
A train going
south from "Wash-
ington
carried
two
passengers,
Mr.
S. A. Hurlburt and Mr. Lamon.
The
first
was
born
in
Charleston,
and
had a sister residing there.
He had studied law with James L.
^^Ysei^^' Pstigru, who was loyal to the Union.
Mr. Lamon, whom we
have
seen
travelling from
Springfield
to Washington
with
President Lincoln, was agent of the
Post-office Department.
He was
allowed by Governor Pickens to
visit Fort Sumter.
Mr, Hurlburt, in
the home of Mr. Petigru, learned much about public sentiment in South
Carolina.
The merchants believed the world could not get along with-
out cotton.
Charleston was to become a great commercial emporium.
They hated the Union, and spat on the
Stars and
Stripes.
The two
gentlemen
returned to Washington, and informed Mr. Lincoln of the
determination of the seceded States to establish a separate nationality.
During the last week in March the President invited the members
of the Cabinet to
his
first
State
dinner.
When the repast was over
they assembled
in the executive chamber to
listen to a
letter written
by General
Scott, who
advised
the
giving
up
of
forts Sumter and
Pickens.
He thought such a course would keep the other Slave States
in the Union.
The members of the Cabinet were astonished.
Some-
thing must be done at once.
Provisions must be sent to Sumter, or the
fort given up.
Which
?
Throuo^h the uiffht the President walked the floor of
his chamber.
246
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
He did not seek to be President.
Divine Providence has called him
•
the people
elected him,
A
trust of
unparalleled greatness has been
committed
to him— the
trust
bequeathed by Washington,
Franklin,
Adams, Jefferson, the patriots of the Eevolution.
The Constitution
is
assailed, the laws
defied.
The
life of the nation
is threatened.
The
people are divided in opinion.
Traitors are around him
; he knows not
whom to
trust.
A great crowd of men seeking office swarm into the
White House and through the departments, blind to the
peril of the
nation, seeking only individual advancement.
The Cabinet
is
sitting around the table in the executive chamber,
considering
the vital question
of
the
hour.
One member, the
'Attorney - general,
in
order
to
condense
his ideas
into a few
words, writes his conclusion.
The President reads
it.
" Gentlemen, will you
all write your opinions as to what
shall be
done ?" the request of the President.
In brief, these are the responses
:
Mr. Bates—" It
is my decided opinion that Ports Pickens and Key
West ought to be reinforced and
supplied, so
as to look down opposi-
tion at
all hazards.
As to Fort Sumter, the time has come
either to
reinforce or evacuate."
Blair—" It
is acknowledged to be possible to
relieve Fort Sumter.
South Carolina
is the head and front of this rebellion, and when that
State is safely delivered from the authority of the United States
it will
strike a blow against our authority, from which
it
will take years of
bloody strife to recover.
For my part, I am unwilling to share the re-
sponsibility of attempting to relieve Sumter."
Smith—" Believing that Fort Sumter cannot be defended, I regard
its evacuation as a necessity, and I advise that Major Anderson's com-
mand shall be unconditionally withdrawn."
Welles—" I concur
in the proposition
to send an armed
force
off
Charleston, with supplies of provisions and reinforcements for the garri-
son
of Fort Sumter.
.
.
. Armed resistance to a peaceable attempt to
send provisions to one of our own forts will justify the Government in
using all its powers."
Chase—" I am in favor of maintaining Fort Pickens and provision-
ing
Sumter. ... If war
is to
result, I
see no
reason why
it may not
begin in consequence of military resistance to the efforts of the Admin-
istration to sustain troops of the Union in a fort of the Union."
Seward—" I
advise
against
the
expedition
in
every
view. ... I
would instruct Major Anderson to retire forthAvith." C")
President Lincoln paces the floor.
The Cabinet
is divided in opin-
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
247
ion.
He must decide.
Tie has sworn to maintain the Constitution.
He
cannot abandon a fort.
If war comes, those who bring
it about must
bear the responsibihty.
He directs that an order shall be issued for the
relief of Sumter and Pickens.
Mr. Seward's ideas and opinions on many points are not in accord
with those of the President nor with a majority of the members
^1861^'
*-*^ ^^® Cabinet.
He has been outvoted.
While the order for fit-
ting out a ship is on its way to Brooklyn be is writing a commu-
nication to the President.
This the opening sentence
:
" "We are at the end of a month's
ad-
ministration, and
yet without
a
policy,
either domestic
or
foreign."
These the closing words
:
" But what-
ever
policy we
adopt, there must be
an
energetic
prosecution
of
it.
For
this
purpose
it
must
be
somebody's
business
to
pursue
and
direct
it
m-
cessantly.
Either
the President must
do
it himself and be
all the while act-
ive
in
it, or devolve
it on some mem-
ber
of
his
Cabinet.
Once
adopted,
debates on
it must end, and
all agree
and abide."
It
is as
if Mr. Seward had said
:
I
will take the
reins,
if you
please, Mr.
President.
A little later the Secretary of State
reads a
letter written by Mr. Lincoln
:
"Upon your closing proposition—that 'whatever policy we adopt, there must be an
energetic prosecution of
it
;
for
this purpose
it must be somebody's business
to pursue
and direct
it incessantly
,
either the President must do
it himself and be
all the while
active in
it,' or 'devolve
it on some member of his Cabinet; once adopted, debates on
it must end and all agree and abide
'—I remark that
if this must be done, I must do
it.
When a general
line of policy
is adopted,
I apprehend
there
is no danger of
its being
changed without good reason or continuing to be a subject of unnecessary debate;
still,
upon points arising in
its progress I wish, and suppose I am entitled to have, the advice
of all the Cabinet.
Your ob't serv't,
A. Lincoln."("
)
Mr. Seward awakens from his dream of being the one to direct the
affairs
of
the
nation.
Abraham
Lincoln
is
still
President—himself
Secretary of State — nothing more.
The President
is calm and unruf-
fled, and
his greeting
is
as
kind and hearty as ever when next they
meet.
The man whose school-days were comprised in a twelvemonth,
GIDEON WELLES.
248
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
who has had little acquaintance with public affairs, has become master
and teacher, and the cultured and honored Secretary
is
sitting at his
feet and learning a lesson.
Two steamers with provisions sailed from 'New York to Sumter.
A
messenger was sent by President Lincoln to inform Governor Pickens
that no arms or ammunition, but only provisions, would be landed.
Jefferson
Davis and
his
Cabinet
were
in
consultation
at
Mont-
gomery.
What should be done ?
Virginia had not seceded.
The con-
vention
in
session
at Richmond
w^as composed
largely
of men who
hesitated about leaving the Union.
" I will
tell you what will put Virginia in the Southern Confeder-
acy in less than an hour
:
sprinkle blood in their faces !"
said Eoger A.
Pryor, in a speech to the people of Charleston.
Jefferson Davis and Eobert Toombs, and the men composing the
Confederate Cabinet, knew the seven States then forming the Confed-
eracy must be joined by Virginia, ISTorth Carolina, Tennessee, and the
other Slave States to succeed
in what they had undertaken
: the
for-
mation of a nation wdth slavery for
its corner-stone.
The time had
come when they must
strike a blow.
All the world would laugh
at
them
if, after they had planted cannon on Morris Island, built a
^ggj
^' floating battery, they allowed provisions to be landed.
To open
fire on the fort would be war, but war
it must
be.
The
tele-
graph flashed an order from Montgomery to General Beauregard
:
" Demand the immediate surrender of Fort Sumter."
The reply of Major Anderson to the summons
:
"I cannot surrender the fort.
I
sliall await the
first shot, and
if you do not batter
me to pieces, I shall be starved out in three days."
The
vessels with
provisions had not
arrived.
Why did
not
Jef-
ferson Davis wait
till they came, and open fire upon them rather than
upon the fort
?
Because he and his fellow-conspirators did not wish to
wait.
So long as the Stars and Stripes floated above Sumter the Con-
federacy amounted to nothing.
Starving out the garrison would not be
victory.
The booming cannon must announce to the world that
the
Confederacy was a power by itself, entitled to a place among the na-
tions.
The United States must be the
first to
feel and acknowledge
its power.
With the
first glimmer of day (April
12, 1861) the bombardment
began.
(See " Drumbeat of the Nation.")
The fleet made
its appear-
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
249
ROBEBT
E. LEE.
ance, but did not attempt to
relieve the
fort.
Major Anderson's pro-
visions were
o'one.
He could no lono;er continue
tlie
contest, and
sur-
rendered, the garrison being allowed to depart for New York, Sunday
April 14, 1861.
Let us recall the words uttered by Abraham Lincoln, March 4, when
he took the oath to support the Constitution
:
" In your hands, m}'' dis-
satisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, are the momentous issues
of civil war.
The Government will not assail you.
You can have no
conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."
250
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
He has kept his word.
War has begun, but not by him.
He has
done what he could, consistent with his oath
to support the Constitu-
tion, to avert
it.
JSTever before such a Sunday in the United
States.
The telegraph
has
flashed
the news
to every
city.
Bulletins
read
:
Fort Sumter surrendered
!
The flag humiliated
!
Two governments
:
one
in Washington— the other in Montgomery.
The great
re23ublio
crumbling to pieces!
Government by the people a failure!
In Mont-
gomery, predictions that before April
is ended the flag of the Confed-
eracy
will be waving in triumph over the Capitol at Washington, and
Jefferson Davis installed in the White House !('")
In
Charleston
the people were wild with
excitement.
Governor
Pickens, from the balcony of the Charleston Hotel, addressed a surging
crowd
:
"Tliank God, the day has come
!
The war
is open, and we will conquer or perish.
We have defeated
their twenty millions, and we have humbled
their proud
flag of the
Stars and Stripes that never before was lowered
to any nation.
We have lowered
it in
humility before the Palmetto and Confederate flags, and have compelled them to ask sur-
render.
I pronounce before the civilized world that your independence has been bap-
tized in blood, and you are now free in defiance of the world in arms."
Throughout the ISTorth the people are gazing into each others' faces
in wonder and
amazement.
Kever
before
such
sinking
of
hearts.
Tears glisten in the eyes of men unaccustomed to weep.
The Constitu-
tion defied
!
The Government a wreck
!
What will Abraham Lincoln,
untried in statesmanship, do in this woful extremity ?
In Washington the church -bells are tolling the hour for worship.
Mournful their pealing in the ears of loyal men.
The President needs
no one to
tell him what he ought to do.
That question is settled.
It
is
a government
of
the
people, and
the
people
alone must
decide
whether or not their authority shall be defied.
He will call for 75,000
men from the several
States to suppress
this combination against the
laws.
The laws shall be enforced.
The members
of
the
Cabinet
discuss
the
question.
Seventy-five
thousand
!
Will that number of men respond to the call ?
It is a great
army.
Do we need so many ?
How can they be armed ?
How fed ?
What can be done with them ?
Will the " gentlemen " of the South, as
they call themselves, fight ?
Will they not soon weary of military re-
straint ?
President Lincoln hears the opinions.
" We must not forget," he remarks, " that the people of the seceded
States, like those of the loyal ones, are American
citizens, with
essen-
tially the same characteristics and powers.
Exceptional advantages on
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
251
one side are counterbalanced by exceptional advantages on the
other.
We must make up our minds that man for man the soldier from the
South will be a match for the soldier from the North and vice versa." ('^)
They are the words of one calmly looking into the future.
Through the day men have been coming and going.
As the shad-
ows of evening fall, Stephen A. Douglas enters the White House.
He
ascends
the
stairs and
meets
the
President.
Their
hands
clasp
in
cordial greeting.
The door
closes upon them.
They
are
alone.
Ko
ears other than their own hear the words spoken during the two hours'
interview,
A quarter of a century has passed
since they
first met in
the corridor of the State-house
in Yandalia (see
p. 82).
During
this'
period they have been opposed politically, but on this night Douglas is
ready to stand by Mr. Lincoln to secure the enforcement of the laws.
Millions of people are reading the proc-
lamation of the President—in the Southern
States with shouts of laughter, in the North-
ern with
an outburst
of
latitude.
Mondav,
°
April
16, Never has
the world beheld such a
^^^^'
spectacle.
Political parties disappear
in a twinkling.
For
the moment
there
is
no Kepublican, no Democratic
Part}^; only
one
: that for the preservation of the Union,
and the avenging of the insult to the
flag.
One
State
is ready to respond instantly to
the call for troops—Massachusetts.
In 1860
Nathaniel P. Banks, Governor, saw the com-
ing
of the
crisis.
In
September
he
mar-
shalled the troops of the
State, 13,000 men, upon the
field where the
first battle of the Revolution began.
His successor, Gov^ernor John A.
Andrew, has
in like manner looked into the future, and seen the neces-
sity of being ready to respond to any call which the President might
make upon the State.
One
of the
delegates from Massachusetts to the Democratic Con-
vention which assembled
at Charleston was Benjamin F. Butler, who
voted for Breckinridge during
all the
ballotings.
In December, after
the election of President Lincoln, Butler visited Washington and talked
with the Secessionists.
" Your men
of the North
will not
fight," said a gentleman from
Mississippi.
"Yes, they will."
JOHN
A. ANDREW.
252
LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" Who in the North will fight if we secede from the Union ?"
" I will."
" Oh, there will be plenty of men in the South to take care of you."
" When we march to the defence of the Union we will hang on the
trees every man who undertakes to destroy it," said Butler.
He informed Governor Andrew in regard to the plans of the
Seces-
sionists.
Measures were
at once taken for the complete equipment of
the militia.
" If you have troops ready, send them."
So
read
the
telegram from
Senator Wilson
to
the Governor
of
Massachusetts.
Though
not
an
order
from
the War Department,
Governor Andrew, comprehending its significance, issued orders for the
immediate departure of the Sixth and Eighth Eegiments.
(See " Drum-
beat of the Nation.")
On the anniversary of the battle of Lexington the Sixth Eegiment
was in Baltimore, fighting
its way through the
streets of that
April 19
o
o
JO
city, manifesting its forbearance, discipline, steadiness, and pow-
er.
This
regiment reached Washington to aid in holding the Capitol.
Never in the history of any nation has there been such a succession
of great events as
during
these
April days.
Never has there been
another such uprising of the people.
The Union is dissolved, but there
shall be one country, one destiny, for all the people.
Cost what
it may
of blood, treasure, sacrifice, suffering, the Government of the people shall
not perish.
In every city and town the drum -beat breaks
the
still-
ness.
Bankers hear
it, and hasten to tender their money to the Gov-
ernors
of
the
several
States.
Ministers
of
the
gospel hear
it, and
from
this hour through the coming four years they will preach the
gospel of
patriotism.
Benjamin F. Butler,
of Lowell, Mass., hears
it.
He
is a general, commanding a brigade of Massachusetts
militia.
For
four
years the
spiders
will
spin
their webs
undisturbed on
his
law-
books.
Ulysses
S. Grant, educated at West
Point, citizen
of Galena,
HI.—so obscure that few of his fellow -citizens are aware that such a
person walks their streets—hears it, and consents to preside at a public
meeting, little comprehending the work which Providence has planned
for him.
Stephen A. Douglas hears
it, and makes his way from Wash-
ington westward to arouse
his fellow-citizens.
" It is not a question of
union or disunion.
It
is one of order
; of the stability of Government
;
of the peace
of communities.
The whole
social system
is threatened
with destruction and with disruption," the Avords of Mr. Douglas.
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
253
Robert E. Lee, held in high esteem by General Scott, was in 'Wash-
ington.
Two members
of the Cabinet conferred with him, un-
^'^'
officially
tendering
hira
from
President
Lincoln command
of
the army.
" I look," said he, " upon
secession
as
anarchy.
If
I owned
four
million
slaves
I would
sacrifice them all for the Union, but how can I
draw my sword upon Virginia, my native State ?"
His beautiful home at Arlington overlooked a lovely landscape
: the
gleaming Potomac, green
fields, the City
of Washington, the
stately
Capitol.
He was patrician by
birth
and
education, and cast his lot
with the slave power.
The Secessionists burned the bridges on the railroads leading north
from Baltimore, that no more troops might reach Washington.
They
were
doino-
their utmost
to
bring about the
secession of Marviand.
Clerks in the departments at Washington appointed from the Southern
States were hastening from the city.
Citizens, under the command of
Major David Hunter, were guarding the White House and Treasury.
In the executive mansion, through the weary hours, President Lincoln
calmly performed his arduous duties.
ADMINISTERING THE OATH TO CITIZEN SOLDIERS.
254
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
It was a joyful hour in "Washing'ton when the Massachusetts Eighth
Regiment and the ISTew York Seventh reached that city.
Their presence
guaranteed the safety of the CapitoL
In
Illinois, troops from
Chicago took possession of Cairo.
The occupation of that point
greatly offended John M. Johnson,
of
Paducah, Ky.
He had
been
elected to the Senate
of that
State, and deemed
it his duty to send a
solemn protest to the President.
"If
I had
suspected," wrote Mr. Lincoln
in reply, "that Cairo, in
Illinois, was in Dr. Johnson's Kentucky Senatorial district, I would have
thought twice before sending troops to Cairo." ('^)
B}'' the prompt arrival of troops in Washington, and the occupation
of Cairo, the plans of the Secessionists were overthrown.
NOTES TO CHAPTEE
XIII.
(') L. E. Chittenden, " Eecollectious of President Lincoln," p. 66.
(2) Ibid., p. 72.
(^) William Cabell Kives was born in Nelson County, Va., 1793.
He was educated
at Hampden,
Sidney, and William and Mary
Colleges.
Studied law under Jefterson.
He was member
of Congress,
1823-29.
Minister to
France,
1829-32.
United
States
Senator, 1832-45.
Again be was Minister to France from
1849-53.
After the secession
of Virginia be became a member of the Confederate Congress.—Author.
(*) James
A. Seddou was born
at Falmouth, Va.,
1815.
He
studied law
at the
University of Virginia.
He began practice in Eichmond.
He was member of Congress
from 1845
to 1849
; Mr. Lincoln was a member during his second term.
The Governor
of Virginia appointed him member of the Peace Conference.
Upon the secession of the
State he was appointed by Jefferson Davis Secretary of War for the Confederate States,
succeeding Mr. Walker.—Author.
(^) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," p. 76.
C) Ibid.
(") Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Lincoln," p. 199.
(^) Henry Wilson was born
at Farmiugton, N. H., February 16, 1812.
His parents
were
poor.
His
first years were
sjient on a farm, and
in making shoes.
He earned
enough money to attend an academy at Concord, N. H., in 1837.
He was studious, and
became interested in politics.
He began public speaking
in
1840, advocating, the elec-
tion of Harrison.
He was elected to the House of Eepresentatives and Senate of Massa-
chusetts.
He was an uncompromising opponent
of
slavery.
He was elected
to
the
Senate, 1855.
Was Vice-president of the United States during the Presidency of General
Grant.
He
wrote
a
" History of
the Else and Fall of the
Slave Power."
He
died
November 10, 1875.—-Author.
(^) Joseph C. Abbott.
He was proprietor of the Manchester, N. H., "Mirror," and
had been an earnest opponent of slavery.
He had held the ofiflce of Adjutant-general
of New Hampshire.
He was appointed Lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh New Hamp-
shire Eegimeut
; took cons]5icuous part in the assault upon Fort Wagner, Morris Island.
OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.
255
After tho war he settled
in North Carol in.a, and was elected Senator from that State-
Author.
(10) "Century Magazine," Fel)ruary, 1888.
(11)
Ibid.
(12) "Century Magazine," March, 1888.
(») J. G. N. (J. G. Nieolay.)
"Century Magazine," March, 1888.
(14) "Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 455.
256
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XIY.
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
"pRESIDE:N'T LINCOLN, looking from
the southern windows
of
J-
the White House, could see the
flag of the Confederacy floating
above the houses
of
Alexandria.
Confederate
troops were pouring
iuto Richmond, with
the avowed
intention of marching upon Wash-
ington.
Very confident were the predictions of Southern newspapers
that the Confederate flag would erelong be flying above the unfinished
dome of the Capitol, and Jefferson Davis occujDving the White House.
This the telegram (April 22, 1861) from Davis to Governor Letcher
:
"In addition to the forces heretofore ordered, requisitions have been made for thirteen
regiments, eisrht to rendezvous at Lynchburg, four at Richmond, one at HarjDer's Ferry.
Sustain Baltimore,
if possible.
We reinforce you."
James M. Mason, of Virginia, a week before, had been in the Senate
of the United States.
He had gone to Baltimore, and was suj)plying
the Secessionists with fire-arms. (')
Reverdy Johnson, (') the great lawyer in the patent law case, whom
the President had met. in Cincinnati (see page 162), hastened to Wash-
ington to obtain assurance that the South was not to be subjugated.
A committee from the churches, with a clergjanan as
chairman, also
came.
''We ask that you recognize the independence of the Southern
States," the request.
This the reply of the President
:
" You, gentle-
men, come here to me and ask for peace on any terms, and yet have
no word
of condemnation
for those who
are making war upon
us.
You
express
great
horror
of
bloodshed, and
yet
would
not
lay a
straw
in the way of
those who
are
organizing in Virginia and
else-
where to capture
this cit}^
The rebels attack Fort Sumter, and your
citizens attack troops sent
to the defence
of the Government and the
lives and property in Washington, and yet would have me break my
oath and
surrender the Government without
a
blow.
There
is no
Washington
in that— no Jackson
in
that— there
is no manhood or
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
257
REVERDY JOHNSON.
honor in that.
I have no desire to invade the South, but I must have
troops to defend this Capitol.
Geographically it lies surrounded by the
soil
of Maryland, and
mathematically
the
necessity
exists that
they
should come over her territory.
Our men are not moles, and can't dig
under the
earth
;
thev are
not
birds, and
can't
fly throufrh
the
air.
258
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".
There
is no way but to march across, and that they must do.
But in
doing this there
is no need of collision.
Take care of your rowdies in
Baltimore, and there will be no
bloodshed.
Go home and
tell your
people that if they will not attack us we will not attack them
; but if
they do attack us, we will return it, and that severely."
Governor Hicks, (') of Maryland, was loyal to the Union, but was
surrounded by Secessionists.
He was timid about taking responsibility.
Those whom he highly esteemed were using their influence to bring
about the secession of the State.
The Leo^islature assembled at
April 27
.
' Frederick.
The Governor, in his message, said the only safety
for the
State was to remain neutral.
He admitted the right of the
United States to take troops through Baltimore.
Once more regiments were passing through that
citj?- and moving on
to Washington—troops of the United States Army from the Far
M<iv 9
"
' West
: Sherman's battery, which had won fame on the field of
Buena Yista; three months' men, responding to the call of the President.
The sky was lurid with lightning and rain falling on the evening
of May 13th
;
but the driving
storm, the
flashing lightning, did not
bring to a halt the 1000 men commanded by General Butler.
They
entered Baltimore and took permanent possession
of the
cit}^
The
crisis had passed
; the Confederate flag never would wave above the
dome of the Capitol
;
Jefferson Davis never enter the White House
;
Maryland never secede.
It was seen that cannon planted near the home of Robert E. Lee,
on Arlington
Heights, might
send
their
missiles
crashing
into
the
White House.
ISTearly 20,000 troops had arrived in Washington.
'^^
' The time had come to take possession of the
liills commanding*
the Potomac and the
Capitol.
The night was calm and
still, the full
moon shining, when the Union soldiers rolled up their blankets, fell into
line, and marched across the Long Bridge.
Three regiments
crossed
at
Georgetown.
The
" Fire Zouaves," commanded by Colonel
Ells-
worth, went down the Potomac on a steamer and landed at Alexandria.
Colonel Ellsworth had studied law in Mr. Lincoln's office, and was one
of the party that accompanied him to Washington.
He saw a Con-
federate flag waving above the Marshall House, kept by Mr. Jackson.
He went to the roof and tore it from the staff
; but while descending*
was shot by Mr. Jackson, who in turn was killed by a Zouave.
Great
the grief of the President.
It was the beginning of his many sorrows.
The first hostile shot had struck into his own household, as it were, and
taken one whom he tenderly loved.
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
259
We must remember that Mr. Lincoln was
not, like AVilliam Lloyd
Garrison, an Abolitionist.
Mv. Garrison advocated a dissolution of the
Union because slavery was wrong
; Mr. Lincoln believed the Union was
the greatest boon in civil government which had ever come to the hu-
man race.
He was confronted by a vital question
: how to keep Ken-
tucky from leaving the Union.
It was his native State.
Some of his
dearest friends resided
there.
Governor Magofhn was doing what he
could to bring about the secession of the State.
The people were divided
in sentiment.
The Legislature adopted a resolution affirming " armed
neutrality " as the position which the State would maintain.
Citizens of
Louisville passed resolutions denouncing the President for attempting to
bring the seceding States back into the Union.
At the same time they
THOMAS
H. HICKS.
260
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
declared the Union ought to be preserved, but maintained it was the duty
of Kentucky to oppose the attempt to make war upon a seceding State
!
" Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subdu-
ing her sister Southern States," said Governor Magoffin, in his reply to
the call of the President for troops.
The
Secessionists were organizing.
" The Knights
of the
Golden
Circle," as they called themselves, were drilling in the streets of Louis-
ville.
The members of the " Working-men's Association " in that city
knew that slavery was antagonistic to free labor.
They succeeded in
electing
J. M. Dolph
as mayor, who was
loyal
to
the
Union.
The-
Secessionists became very bold and arrogant.
The Union men were:
threatened with assassination.
JSTot intimidated but emboldened, they
formed a " Union Club."
The members swore unconditional loj^alty to
the Union.
Their ritual was compiled from the sayings of Washington,
Daniel AVebster, and Henry Clay.
The great statesman of Kentucky,
Mr. Clay, loved and reverenced by President Lincoln, once
said
: "If
Kentucky
to - morrow unfurls
the banner of
resistance, I never will
fight under that banner.
I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole
Union
; a subordinate one to my own State."
The Legislature had declared for
strict neutrality.
President Lin-
coln comprehended that in a conflict between two diverse civilizations
there could be no neutrality on the part of a State.
He had said that
" a house divided against
itself cannot
stand, that the
entire country
must be
one
thing
or
another."
What measures
could he
take to
prevent
it from becoming the other thing ?
How foster the Union sen-
timent in the State ?
How develop an abiding and aggressive loyalty
which would finally marshal
it on the side of the Union ?
Major An-
derson, native
of Kentucky, had shown his unswerving loyalty to the
Union at Sumter.
William Kelson, (*) lieutenant in the navy, had de-
clared
in
forcible language
his
fealty.
The
President sent them
to
their
native
State to
ascertain the
exact condition of
affairs.
They
found that the volunteer
militia, known
as
the
" State Guard," was
under the control of the Secessionists.
General Simon B. Buckner was
in command.
The law under which
it was organized was drafted by
him.
He
intended
to
use
the
troops
in behalf
of the Confederacy.
Governor Magoffin sent Dr. Luke Blackburn to Montgomery for arms.
He purchased a few worthless muskets.
Kentucky had not seceded,
and the Confederate Government had no arms
for that
State.
He
made a speech in l^ew Orleans, in which he stated that the people of
Kentucky would soon be marshalled on the side of the Confederacy.
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
261
MARSHALL HOUSE.
May 25.
Another military body came into existence— the "Home Guard."
It was organized in Louisville mider an ordinance passed by the City
Council.
It was founded upon a vague clause in the city char-
ter.
Mayor Dolph approved the
act, and two regiments were
organized
for
the defence of the
city.
The mayor was commander-
in-chief, with
authority to appoint a brigadier general.
He
selected
Lowell H. Rosecrans, who soon became an officer in the United States
Army.
James Speed was appointed as
his successor.
It was the be-
ginning of organized loyalty in Kentucky.
The Union sentiment was
developing.
George D. Prentice, Avhose
writings
had
pleased Abra-
ham Lincoln for many years, was still wielding his pen in behalf of the
Union.
Lieutenant Nelson hastened to Washington.
" If you will furnish
17*
262
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
arms to the Union men of the
State," he
said to Mr. Lincoln, "they
will fight for the restoration of the State to the Union."
" It shall be done," the President
replied, and directed that
10,000
muskets be placed at his disposal.
Mr. I^elson hastened to Kentucky, and
arranged with James Speed for a secret meeting of the leading Union-
ists.
There were
only
twelve
at
the
meeting—John
J.
Crittenden,
Garret Davis, James Harlan, Joshua F. Speed, (') James Speed, Charles
A. Wickliffe, Thornton F. Marshall, Lieutenant
Kelson, and
four oth-
ers.
They
selected
suitable persons
to distribute
the
arms.
Joshua
F. Speed was appointed general agent by the President.
Companies
of Home Guards were forming throughout
the northern and central
sections of the State.
The magazine containing the ammunition of the
State was under the control of Buckner
; but Mayor Dolph demanded
the keys.
Buckner knew that
if he did not give them up the mayor
would take forcible possession of the property, and he therefore
sur-
rendered them.
The mayor demanded the arms of the members of the
" State Guard " in Louisville, and they were given up.
By the wisdom
and prudence of the President, acting in concert with Joshua F. Speed
and his few Union friends, Kentucky was saved to the Union.
The President ardently labored to foster the Union sentiment in Mis-
souri.
With that end in view he had selected Mr. Bates to be Attorney-
generaLC)
During the years immediately preceding the outbreak of
the war the Germans in St. Louis had manifested their opposition to the
extension of slavery.
They voted for Abraham Lincoln.
The Governor
of the State, Claiborne F. Jackson, favored secession.
He called a State
convention, but the delegates elected were opposed to seceding.
It was
a great disappointment to Governor Jackson and Jefferson Davis.
Fran-
cis P. Blair, (') one of the energetic Eepublicans of St. Louis, brother of
Montgomery
Blair, whom Mr. Lincoln had appointed Postmaster-gen-
eral, discovered that Jackson was intending to seize the arsenal, which
contained 60,000 arms.
"We must prevent
it," said Mr. Blair, privately, to a few of
his
friends, who agreed with him, and formed themselves into a military
company.
It was organized before the inauguration of President Lin-
coln.
The commander of the arsenal was from North Carolina.
He
had a secret understanding with Governor Jackson to hand
it over to
the
State.
Before their plans were ripe Captain
ISTathaniel Lyon, of
the army, appeared, appointed by General Scott.
He was
energetic,
bold, fearless, and soon had
barricades erected
for the
protection
of
the arsenal.
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
2f>3
A steamer from Memphis came up the Mississippi.
At night boxes
labelled "Marble" were
unloaded
at
the
levee, which were
quickly
carted away.
A man who was
louno^inoj about the landin":
fol-
' lowed the teams to a military camp which (lovernor Jackson had
established, and where
General Frost was
in command.
It was no
secret that
his
soldiers were
in sympathy with Jefferson Davis.
The
next morning a gentleman and
lady drove
to the camp.
The lady
smiled graciously upon the soldiers, and was pleased to see them
'
"
performing their evolutions.
She noticed that the boxes marked
" Marble " were being opened.
They contained cannon, shot, and shell.
The carriage returned to the
city, the lady to her lodgings.
She
re-
moved bonnet, gown, and veil, and put on her uniform.
She was no
longer a woman, but Captain Lyon, who thus in disguise had seen for
himself the cannon sent by the Confederate Secretary of War to Gov-
ernor Jackson.
Suddenly, as
if moved by a common impulse, six regi-
ments
of Union
troops with
six cannon
approached Camp Jackson.
The cannon
unlimbered, and wheeled
into
position.
General Frost
was amazed.
" Your command," said Captain Lyon, " is regarded as hostile to the
United States.
I demand your surrender with no other conditions than
that all persons shall be humanely and kindly treated,"
There was no
alternative for the Secessionists.
Thus the arsenal was saved and trea-
son stamped out in the chief commercial city of the Mississippi valley.
Unfortunately, the
troops came
in
collision with a mob, and
several
soldiers and citizens were killed in the melee, which greatly intensitied
the antagonism between the Unionists and the Secessionists.
The
complications growing out
of
the movements
in
the border
States required the exercise of great wisdom and judicious action on the
part of the President.
From morning till late at night he must receive
delegations, listen
to long documents, charge
his memory with
facts,
make many decisions affecting the welfare of the nation.
While bear-
ing present burdens he Avas looking into the future.
Major Anderson, on his return from Sumter, called upon the Presi-
dent and rehearsed the story of the bombardment.,
" The Confederates
had a
floating
battery protected by railroad
iron;
cannon-shot had
no effect upon
it," he
said.
Mr. Lincoln was much
interested by the
remark.
Among the vessels partly burned and then scuttled at the Norfolk
Navy -yard
was the frigate Merrimac.
Mr. Welles, Secretary
of the
Navy, learned that the Confederates were intending to
raise the hull.
264
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
They would cover it with iron, and transform the frigate into a vessel
more powerful than any craft afloat.
Mr. Gustavus Y. Fox, who had accepted the position of Assistant
Secretary
of
the Navy, called upon the
President.
"We must not
let the rebels get ahead of us in such an important matter as plating
vessels with iron," said Mr. Lincoln. (')
" Naval
officers doubt the stabihty of armored
ships.
They think
that the amount
of iron needed
to make them
effective would send
them to the bottom," said Mr. Fox.
" Is not that a sum in arithmetic ?
On our Western rivers we can
figure how many tons will sink a fiat-boat.
Can't your clerks do the
same for an armored vessel ?"
" I suppose they can
; but there are other difficulties.
With such a
weight a single shot piercing the armor would sink the vessel so quickly
that no one could escape," said Mr. Fox.
"Now, as the very object of the armor is to get something that the
best
projectile cannot
pierce,
that
objection does
not appear
to be
sound," Mr. Lincoln replied.
Mr. Fox was greatly impressed, and an investigation
for
building
iron-clad vessels was begun at once.
A few weeks later Captain Erics-
son exhibited some plans of a craft, the like of which had never been
seen—a hull wholly below water, carrying a revolving iron-clad turret.
President Lincoln, after hearing the explanation of Ericsson and look-
ing over the plans, remarked, "As the darke}^ said in putting on
his
boot and finding a thistle in
it,
' I reckon dars someting in dar.' " (')
The plans were accepted.
The result was seen at Hampton Poads
eight months
later.
The memorable
battle between
the Merriinao
and the Monitor revolutionized naval architecture.
The great crowd
of place-hunters
increased.
Every morning they
flocked to the White House to gain an audience with the President
each applicant with his package of recommendations—to be postmaster
in some country town, or a consul to a foreign port, or some position
as agent
for
the purchase
of
supplies.
The President, with
all
the
great questions of the hour pressing upon him, did not lose his patience
with this swarm of gadflies.
With unfailing humor he brushed them
away.
" I am like a man who is busy letting rooms at one end of his house,
which is on fire at the other end," he said. ('")
Not feeling well, he sent for a physician.
" You are having a mild
attack of the small-pox," said the doctor.
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
265
" Tell all the
office-seekers to come
at once, for now I have some-
thing that I can give them," the President gleefully replied. (")
Two applicants
for a post-otRce came with their packages of
rec-
ommendations
signed
b}'
ministers,
doctors,
selectmen, and
citizens
generally.
" Put them on the
scales and
see which is the
heaviest.
The one
which weighs the most gets it," said the President.
He did not doubt
that both were qualified for the position.
Many of the officers in the army, especially those educated at West
Point, were very conservative
in their views of slavery.
They were
ready to fight to maintain the Union, but
tlid not desire there should
be any interference
Avith
slavery.
General George B. McCleUan, ap-
pointed by the Governor of Ohio to command the troops from
that
State sent to West Virginia, issued a proclamation to the people of that
section.
"Understand one thing clearly," he
said.
"Not only will we ab-
stain from
all
interference with your
slaves, but we will, on the con-
trary, crash with an
iron hand any attempt at
insurrection on their
part."
]^o occasion had arisen for his giving expression to such a sentiment.
There was no sign of an uprising of the slaves against their masters.
It
indicated his desire to protect slavery.
The Vice-president of the Con-
federac}^ Alexander
II. Stephens, had said
that African
slavery was
" the corner-stone
of the Confederacy."
The great majority of those
who supported Mr. Lincoln knew the slave-holders brought about the
war
; they did not relish the uncalled-for expression by McClellau.
General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fortress Monroe, took
a far different view of the question.
A
slave named Luke, who had
been working upon
Confederate
fortifications, escaped
to
the Union
lines.
His master, Colonel Mallory, came to reclaim him.
" There
is no authority for sending Luke back to
his master," said
Captain Tyler, a subordinate officer.
"How so?" Butler asked.
" The case
is this," Tyler replied.
" Luke's master sent him to be
employed
in
constructing the Confederate
fortifications.
That made
Luke contraband
of war, and
liable
to
be
confiscated ta the United
States in case he should ever be found in our lines.
His master cannot
claim him, because he is only property.
The United States cannot hold
him, because, as a government, we do not recognize slavery as a na-
tional institution.
Luke is free, and never can again be legally a slave."
266
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
General Butler was a lawyer.
He was quick to comprehend the
statement.
The time had come when he could
strike a blow at the
corner-stone of the Confederacy.
" I am greatly embarrassed," he wrote to the Secretary of War, " by
the number of slaves that are coming in from the surrounding country
and seeking protection within the lines of my camp.
I have determined
to regard them as contraband of war, and to emplo}^ their labor at a fair
compensation, against which should be charged their support."
" The Government approves of your course," replied the Secretary.
"You are not to interfere between master and slave on the one
^^
' hand, nor surrender slaves who may come within your lines."
Under the decision of General Butler the " corner-stone " began to
crumble.
We have seen that the President did not believe in the sud-
den
and
immediate
abolition
of
slavery.
He thought
it would not
be well for the country. We shall
see
further on how time and the
sequence of events enabled him at
the right time to abolish slavery."
Sad
news came
to
the
Presi-
dent from Chicago:
the death
of
Senator Douglas,
his
old
political
opponent, yet his hearty supporter
in the
crucial hour
at
the
beginning
of the war.
By
his
patriotic
action
Douglas
had
turned the great multitude
of
his
followers to the support of Mr. Lin-
coln.
Once more Congress was in ses-
sion, called by the President.
Dur-
ing all the turmoil, commotion, and
the consideration of great questions,
he
found
time
to
write a
message detailing the events
from the time of his inauguration.
He asked for an army of 400,000
men and for
$400,000,000.
They
were
granted.
The
pulse
of the
DOUGLAS MONUMENT.
couutry was beating high.
More
June 3.
July 4.
FIRST MONTHS OF TtlE WAR.
267
than 30,000 troops had gathered
at Washington— men who were
to
serve three months.
Another
large army had gathered
at
Harper's
Ferry.
" On to Richmond !" the cry.
A hke activity in the South had organized two large Confederate
armies
: one at the Manassas Junction, under Beauregard
; one in the
Shenandoah Valley, undei' General Johnston.
The Confederates had
been swept out of West Virginia and Missouri.
Eastern Tennessee had
declared for the Union.
President Lincoln earnestly desired to send a
body of troops to aid in holding that section of the State.
Judge Rob-
ertson and another gentleman hastened to Washington to protest against
the marching of Union troops across Kentucky.
The President heard
what they had
to say
:
That Kentucky must be neutral.
If Union
troops were to enter the State, Confederates would do the same.
Both
parties must be kept out.
" Gentlemen,"
said
Mr.
Lincoln,
" my
position
in
regard
to your
State
is like that of the man who one night found that a rattlesnake
had crawled into bed where his children were sleeping.
What should
he do ?
Leave the snake to bite the children the moment they stirred ?
If he struck a blow
it might
kill them.
He cDuld not leave them to
certain death.
He must strike, even if in so doing he were to kill them.
So
it
is with me.
I know Kentucky and Tennessee are infested with
the enemies
of the Union, but
I know
that
there
are
thousands
of
patriots
in both, who will be
persecuted even
unto death unless the
strong hand of the Government
is interposed for their protection and
rescue.
We must go
in.
The old flag must be carried into Tennessee
at whatever hazard."
At heart the gentlemen were Secessionists, and went home greatly
chagrined over the result of their mission. (")
The term
of
service of many regiments would expire before
the
end of July.
The time had come for a movement of the troops.
The
Northern people
expected
to
see the army under Beauregard swept
aside, the Union soldiers marching into Richmond, and Jefferson Davis
fleeing southward.
President Lincoln did not share in the general en-
thusiasm.
Through
life he had accustomed himself
to look
at both
sides of a case.
In
his law practice he had endeavored to see what
his opponent could do, and to shape his own course accordingly.
He
knew there was little difference between the men of the North and the
South
; that both were brave, both would fight, both endure.
The
advance, the
battle, the
stealing away of Johnston from the
Shenandoah, the failure of Patterson to prevent the junction of Johnston
268
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
with Beauregard, the arrival of Johnston's last brigade when the battle
was going
against Beauregard, the panic of the Union
troops,
their
driftino; back to Washino^ton, is ffiven in the history of the war.
(See " Drum-beat of the Nation.")
Xo one in Washington—ofR-
cial or private citizen—could feel more keenly than the President the
mortification of the disaster.
Mr. Lincoln saw that General Scott was too old and feeble to organ-
ize a great army.
Whom should he appoint ?
General McDowell had
been defeated.
General Patterson had failed to accomplish what was
expected of him.
The only officer who had won distinction was General
McClellan, in command of the Ohio troops in West Virginia.
General
Rosecrans, in command of
a
brigade, planned and executed a move-
ment at Laurel Mountain, resulting in victory which had been much
glorified by McClellan' s despatch
:
"Garnett and forces routed.
His army demolished.
Garnett killed.
We have an-
nihilated the enemy in Western Virginia.
Have
lost thirteen
killed and not more than
forty wounded.
We have killed in all at least two hundred of the enemy, and the pris-
oners will amount to at least one thousand.
Have taken seven guns in
all.
The troops
defeated
are the crack
troops
of Eastern Virginia, aided by Georgians, Tennesseeans,
and Carolinians.
Our success is complete, and secession is killed in this country." {}^)
It was such
a
bulletin
as ITapoleon was accustomed
to
issue
to
awaken
enthusiasm.
The
despatch
brought
McClellan
prominently
into
notice.
He was looked upon
as a
great commander.
By the
advice
of General Scott,
the President
called him to Washington to
organize the troops arriving in that city and make preparations for a
vigorous campaign.
He established his headquarters in an elegant mansion and appoint-
ed a large staff.
His coming, however, did not diminish the troubles
experienced by the President, but increased them.
McClellan informed General Scott there were 100,000 Confederate
troops at Manassas, and urged that all available regiments be hurried to
Washington regardless of other localities.
He wanted a very large sec-
tion of the Northern
States merged into one department and placed
under his own control. ('*)
He intimated to the President that General
Scott was remiss in his
duties and incompetent to command. ('")
The
venerable lieutenant-general could not condescend to reply to a letter
which he regarded as very offensive and insulting.
He asked the Presi-
dent to retire him from further service.
Mr. Lincoln endeavored to restore amicable
relations between the
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
26&
GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.
two commanders—one old and honored, the other young and inexperi-
enced.
The President called in person upon the venerable commander.
He addressed a kind and conciliatory letter to ]\lcClellan, who replied,
desiring to withdraw the letter he had written
reflecting upon
Scott.
General
Scott received a second
letter from McClelian, which he
re-
garded as offensive.
General McClellan was subordinate to General Scott, but he made
no report of his proceedings.
He consulted with members of the Cab-
inet, and not with
his superior commander.
" He
is," wrote
Scott to
the Secretary of War, "in frequent conversation with portions
of the
Cabinet on matters pertaining to me.
That freedom of access and con-
sultation have, very naturally, deluded the junior into a feeling of indif-
ference towards his
senior.
With such supports on his
part,
it would
270
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
be as idle for me as
it Avould be against the dignity of my years to be
filing daily complaints against an ambitious junior."
The request of General Scott to be placed upon the retired list was
granted.
The President and Cabinet waited upon him in a body at his
residence to pay their respects to one who had rendered great service
to his country.
With his retirement General McClellan became com-
mander of the great army assembling at Washington,
A fleet under Commodore Stringham sailed from Fortress Monroe
southward to Hatteras
Inlet and rained
shells upon the Confederate
fortifications at that point, compelling their surrender.
General
°'
"
Butler, with a body of troops, took possession, thus closing the
passage to vessels from England, which had been furnishing the Con-
federates with supplies, and it enabled the Union fleets to gain access to
Pamlico and Albermarle sounds.
General Butler received a letter from the President, who desired to
see him.
" You are out of a
job, general,"
said Mr. Lincoln.
" ISTow,
if we
only had the troops, I would like to send an expedition either against
Mobile, 'New Orleans, or Galveston.
But the regiments are filling up
slowly."
" Mr. President, you have given me leave to tell you wherein I dif-
fer from the Administration," said Butler.
" In one thing you are mak-
ing this too much a party war.
That, perhaps,
is not the fault of the
Administration, but
the result of political
conditions.
All
I^orthern
Governors are Pepublicans, and they, of course, appoint only their Re-
publican friends as
officers of regiments, who, of course, only
recruit
liepublicans.
Kow
this war cannot go on as a party war
; you must
get Democrats into
it, and there are thousands of patriotic Democrats
who would go into
it
if they could see any opportunity to do so on
equal terms with the Republicans.
Besides, it is not good politics.
An
election is coming on for Congressmen next year, and if you get all the
Republicans sent out as soldiers, and the Democrats not interested, I do
not see but you will be beaten."
" There is meat in that, general.
What
is your suggestion ?"
"Empower me to raise volunteers and select the officers, and I w^ill
go to New England and raise a division of six thousand men in sixty
days.
If you
will give me the power
to
select the
oflB.cers, I
shall
choose all Democrats."
" Draw such an order as you want, but don't get me into a scrape with
the Governors about the appointment of the officers if you can help it.(")
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
271
^ mi
^%
LAST MEETING BETWEEN GENERAL SCOTT, THE CABINET, AND PRESIDENT.
The order Avas drawn and signed.
One month later an expedition
under General Butler was on its way
to New Orleans to take posses-
sion of that city.
The Union men of Maryland
intormed
the Goyernment that
the
secession members of the
Leg-islature intended to vote the
State out
of the Union at an adjourned
session.
Attorney - general
Bates had
giyen an elaborate opinion as to the power of the President
to make
arbitrary arrests of persons contemplating treason, and also to suspend
the writ of habeas corpus.
It Avas the duty of the President to prevent
2Y2
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the contemplated action.
General McClellan was directed, to arrest the
members.
" When they meet," read McClellan's order to General Banks, " you
will please have everything prepared to arrest the whole party, and be
sure that none escape."
The
order was
enforced, the members
arrested, their plans over-
turned.
" I believe," said Governor
Hicks, " tliat
it saved
the State
from destruction."
NOTES TO CHAPTER XIV.
(1) Jaoies Murray Masou was born
in Fairfax County, Va., 1798.
He was educated
at the
University
of Pennsylvania.
Studied law
; was member of Congress, 1837-39
;
elected United States Senator, 1847.
He remained
in the Senate
till 1861.
When Vir-
ginia seceded be did not resign, but used his position to aid tbe Coufederates, for which
he was expelled the following July.
He was appointed diplomatic agent of the Con-
federacy to England.
Sailed with Mr. Slidell from Charleston to Nassau
; took passage
on the steamer
Trent, from which he was taken
by Commodore Wilkes, commanding
the San Jacinto, and confined in Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor.
He was released by
President
Lincoln, and delivered
to an English vessel.
He presented his credentials
to Lord John Russell, Secretary
of Englisli Foreign
Affairs, but could
only be
recog-
nized as a private gentleujan.
After the war he returned to the United
States, and
died at Alexandria-, Va., 1874.—Author.
(-) Reverdy Johnson was born at Annapolis, Md., 1796.
He
studied law, and was
admitted to the bar of Maryland at tbe age of 19.
He served in the Senate of the United
States 1845-49.
He was a Whig in politics, and upon the accession of Zaciiary Taylor to
the Presidency was appointed Attorney-general.
Mr. Johnson was regarded as one of
the foremost lawyers of the country.
He was Senator during President Lincoln's term
in Congress.
They were opposing counsel in the celebrated McCormick reaper case, iu
which Mr. Lincoln expected to take conspicuous part, but from which he was excluded
by Edwin M. Stanton.
Mr. Johnson was delegate
to the Peace Conference.
He was
.again iu the Senate from 1863 to 1868.—Author.
(2) Thomas
Holliday
Hides, born
1798,
in Dorchester
County, Md., was a
farmer.
He served many terms in the Legislature, and was Governor of the State from 1858 to
1862, and served
iu the United States Senate from 1862 to
1867.
He was loyal to tbe
Union, but had a
difficult
part to
perform.
By
his prudence
the
Secessionists were
thwarted, and the State saved to the Union.—Author.
(*) Lieutenant William
T. Nelson was born
iu Maysville, Ky.,
1825.
Entered the
navy
1840, was
at the siege of Vera Cruz during the w'ar with Mexico.
His outspoken
loyalty led the President
to appoint him
a
brigadier-general in the army.
He com-
manded
a division under General Bnell.
He reached
the
battle-field of Shiloh at a
critical hour and rendered efficient service.
In an unfortunate quarrel witli General Jef-
ferson C. Davis he received a wound from whicli he died, September 29, 1862.—Author.
(^) Joshua F. Speed was born
near Louisville.
He emigrated
to
Springfield,
111.,
a,ud opened a store.
He early became a friend to Abraham Lincoln.
He Avas successful
in
business, and returned
to
Louisville and became a prominent
citizen.
His
great
friendship for Mr. Lincoln and ins intense patriotism made him a central figure among
the Union men of Kentucky.
Several years after the death
of tbe President he gave a
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR.
273
lecture wbicb
is replete witb information relative to the early manhood of Mr. Lincoln.
—Author.
(') Edward Bates, Attorney -general, was boru in Virginia, 1793.
Ho was of Quaker
descent.
He was educated at Charlotte Hall, Md.
In 1814 he emigrated to Missouri, and
began the practice of law in
St. Louis.
He was elected Attorney-geucral of tlie State,
1820.
Ho became member of Cougress, 1826— serving one term.
President Fillmore
appointed liim Attorney -general of the United States, 1850, but
the appointment
Avas
respectfully declined.
He was outspoken
in
his denunciation
of tlie attempt to force
slavery upon Kansas.
Tiie Republicans
of Missouri presented
his name as a candidate
for the Presidenej" at the Chicago Convention.—Author.
() Francis P. Blair, second son
of Francis
Blair, was one
of the
founders
of the
Republican Party in Missouri.
He comprehended the plaus of the Secessionists, and took
radical and energetic measures to thwart them.
He was appointed major-general by
the President, and was selected by General Sherman
to command an array corps in the
March to the Sea.
He was elected to Cougress
; although serving iu that body, he retained
his commission in the military service, which subjected him to much criticism.
He was
patriotic and brave, and efflcieutly aided the cause of the Uniou.—Author.
(8) L. E. Cliiftendeu, " Recollectious of Abraham Lincoln," p. 213.
(9)
Ibid., p. 210.
('») Titian J. Coffey,
'' Reraiuiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 337.
(")
Ibid., p. 338.
(>-') John W. Forney, "Anecdotes of Public Men," vol.
i., p. 265.
('3) "War Records," vol. xi., p. 3.
('*) Ibid.
( '') General Scott's Letters to Secretary of War, "Records," vol. xi., p.
3.
("^) B. F. Butler, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,"
p. 140.
274
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTEK XY.
AUTUMN OF
1861.
D
URIKG the summer of 1861
Congress was in session, called by
President Lincoln.
In liis message he said
:
"It might seem, at first. thought, to be of little difference whether the present move-
ment at the South be called
' secession
' or
' rebellion.'
The movers, however, will under-
stand the
difference.
They knew that
thej' never could make their treason respectable
by any name which implies a violation
of law.
They knew
their people possessed as
much of moral sense, as much of devotion
to law and order, and as much pride in and
reverence for the history and government of their common countrj^ as any other civilized
and patriotic people."
President Lincoln used plain words, which everybody could under-
stand, as is seen in the following sentences
:
"Thej' knew they could make no advancement directly in
the teeth of these strong
and noble sentiments.
Accordingly, they commenced by an insidious debauching of the
public
mind.
They inmnted an
ingenious
sophism, which,
if
conceded, was followed
by perfectlj'
logical
steps through
all the incidents to the complete destruction of the
Union.
The sophism is that any State may, consistently with the national Constitution,
therefore lawfully and peacefully withdraw from the Union, without the consent of the
Union or any other
State.
The
little disguise that the supposed right is to be exercised
only for just cause, themselves to be the sole judges of its justice, is too thin to merit any
notice.
With rebellion thus sugar-coated, they have been drugging the public mind of their
section for more than thirty years."
In these brief sentences we have the history of Secession.
" Would it not be better, Mr. President," said Mr. Defrees, the pub-
lic printer, " to use some other word a little more dignified than
' sugar-
coated' in an important State paper which is to go down to all time?"
" Well, Defrees, if you think the time will ever come when the peo-
ple will not understand what 'sugar-coated' means,
I'll alter it;
other-
wise I think
I'll let it go," said Mr. Lincoln, with good-humor in every
wrinkle of his face. (
'
)
Ulysses
S. Grant presided at a public meeting in Galena, lU.
A
AUTUMN OF
1861.
277
few (lays later he accompanied the troops from that town to the capi-
tal of the
State.
He had
seen
service
in
iMexico
as
lieutenant, and
was
acquainted
with military
affairs.
At Springfield he met Major
John Pope.
" You ought to go into the United States service again," said Pope
;
and added, " I am acquainted with the public men of the State, and will
get them to recommend you."
" I do not think I will get any indorsement for permission to fight
for my country," replied Grant.
lie addressed a letter to the adjutant-
general
of
the
army,
offering
his
services, but
received
no
answer.
From Springfield he journeyed to Covington, Ky., and
visited his par-
ents.
The headquarters of Major-general McClellan being
in Cincin-
nati, he crossed the
river to that
city, thinking he would apply for a
position as staff-officer.
Twice he entered the apartments of McClellan
for that purpose, but did not meet him.
Upon returning to Springfield,
he found Governor Yates had appointed him colonel of the Twenty-first
(Illinois) Regiment.
He was sent to Missouri, and then to Cairo.
With-
out solicitation on his part he was appointed brigadier-general.
A Confederate
force under
General Leonidas Polk ascended
the
Mississippi from Memphis and took possession of the high bluffs at Co-
lumbus, Ky.
The neutrality of the State ended with that act.
It had
been violated by the Confederates just as President Lincoln expected
it
would be.
" The
Confederates
are
getting
ready
to
seize Paducah,"
said
a
Union man from Cokimbus.
If the Confederates were in Kentucky, why should not Union troops
be there
i
Paducah was an important
position.
Confederate cannon
planted
there
would
prevent
steamboats
passing
that
point.
" It was at the mouth of the Tennessee.
The party which
first
gained possession of that town would have great advantage.
General
Grant informed Fremont what he intended
to do, and then proceeded
to do it without waiting for orders. (
"
)
The people of Paducah the next morning were greatly astonished
to see a fleet of steamboats crowded with Union soldiers moored at the
landing.
Most of the
citizens were
Secessionists, and were ex-
' pecting to welcome a Confederate force under General Thomp-
son.
The prompt action of
General Grant was of incalculable benefit
to the Union cause
in Kentucky, and gave great satisfaction to Pres-
ident Lincoln.
Grant issued a brief address to the people of Paducah.
He said
:
278
LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"I have come among you not as an enemy, but as your friend and fellow-citizen
; not
to injure or annoy you, but to respect the rights and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens.
An enemy in rebellion against one common Government has taken possession of and plant-
ed its guns on the soil of Kentucky and fired upon our flag.
Hickman and Columbus are
in his hands.
He is moving upon your city.
I am here to defend you against this enemy,
and to assist and maintain the authority and sovereignty of your Government and mine.
1 have nothing to do with opinion.
I shall deal only with armed rebellion and
its aiders
and abettors."
" I like that address," said President Lincoln, when he read
it.
" Its
modesty and brevity show that the
officer issuing
it understands the
situation, and is a proper man to command there at this time."(')
With
the coming
of autumn
a
series of antislavery
lectures was
given in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington.
They were attended
by the
President, who was much pleased with one given by Horace
Greeley, editor of the New York " Tribune."
" That
lecture," he
said
to Mr. Greeley, " is full of good thoughts,
and I would like to take
it home with me and read
it over next Sun-
day."(^)
_
Mr. Lincoln, as he walked out in the afternoons for exercise, often
met a gentleman whose courteous bearing and kindly face arrested his
attention.
" May
I be
so rude as to ask your name ?" said the President, ex-
tending his hand.
" Joseph Henry," the reply.
" I am delighted
to make your acquaintance, Mr. Henry.
I long
have heard of you.
Come to the White House.
I want to know about
the Smithsonian Institute, Avith which you are connected, and what i&
going on in the world of science." (')
The acquaintance ripened into one of affectionate intimacy.
Pro-
fessor Henry spent many evenings
in
the
family apartments
at the
White House.
It was a great
relief to the
President, after the
per-
plexities
of the day, to converse with one of the foremost
scientists
of the age.
Whispers were in the air of a military movement at Edwards Ferry
near Leesburg.
I hastened to General McClellan's headquarters, but
aids and clerks had no information for a correspondent.
There
Oct
' was an
air
of mystery and
reticence which
usually acts
as a
stimulant to a journalist.
While waiting to obtain an interview with
General McClellau, President Lincoln entered the room.
He gave me
a
cordial
greeting,
but
there were
signs
of
intense
anxiety on
his.
countenance.
AUTUMN OF
1861.
279
"Is General McClellan in?." he asked.
" He
is, Mr. President," the reply of a lieutenant.
Several minutes
passed, during which the only sound breaking the painful
silence was
the clicking of the telegraph.
" Will you please walk this way, Mr. President ?" said the lieutenant,
returning from McClellan's apartment.
A few minutes
later, Mr. Lincoln, with
his head bowed upon
his
breast, his hands clasped
to his heart, shuffling, tottering, reeling as
if
beneath a staggering blow, moved once more through the room.
Never
before had I seen such anguish on a human countenance as upon his
face.
He stumbled, but did not
fall.
He walked towards the White
House, carrying not only the burden
of
the nation, but unspeakable
private grief—^the intelligence of the
disaster at
Ball's Bluff, and the
death
of
his old-time friend, Colonel Edward Dickinson Baker.
(See
" Drum-beat of the I^ation," p. 117.)
Yery dear had been their friend-
ship.
They had practised law" together in Springfield, " ridden the
cir-
cuit" side by side
till the outbreak of the war with Mexico, in which
Baker served
as colonel.
He had been elected Senator from Oregon.
When the Rebellion began he raised a regiment at
his own expense
in New York and Pennsylvania.
President Lincoln
offered
to make
him a brigadier-general, but the offer w^as declined.
I recalled a scene
in the
Senate a few weeks
before
his
death.
Senator Breckinridge,
A^ice-president under Buchanan, w^as bitterly opposing the prosecution
of the war.
'' War
is separation
;
it
is disunion—eternal disunion," he
said.
At
this moment Colonel Baker, wearing his uniform, entered the chamber.
He had not resigned his senatorship.
He did not intend to remain, or
notice what was going on, but stood for a moment as
if riveted to the
spot, then deliberately seated himself and looked into the face of the
former Yice-president.
"We
have," Breckinridge went
on, "separation
now;
it
Avill
be
worse as the war goes on.
In addition to the moans and cries of wid-
ows and orphans, you will hear the cry of distress for the wants and
comforts of life.
.
.
. The Pacific slope is now devoted, doubtless, to the
Union
; but
if you increase the burdens of taxation, will the}" remain ?
You already see New England and the great North-west in a measure
divided.
Fight twelve months and you will have three confederacies,
and a little longer and you will have four."
Colonel Baker
arose.
" Mr. President," he
said, " what words are
these ?
What their meaning ?
Are they not words
of
brilliant, pol-
280
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ished treason ?
What would have been thought
if, in anotlier
capital,
another republic, in a yet more martial age, a Senator as grave— not
more eloquent or dignified than the Senator from Kentuck}^, yet with
the Eoman purple flowing over his shoulders—had
risen
in his place,
surrounded by all the
illustrations of Roman glory, and declared that
advancing Hannibal was just, and that Carthage ought to be dealt with
in terms of peace ?
What would have been thought
if, after the battle
of Cannai, a Senator had then risen in his place and denounced every
levy of the Eoman people, every expenditure of its treasure, and every
appeal to the old recollections and the old glories ?"
A voice was heard—that of William Pitt Fessenden, of Maine
:
" He would have been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock."
"Does
not
the
Senator from Kentucky know," continued Baker,
" that every word he has uttered will be an inspiration to every Con-
federate ear?
For myself, I have no such words
to
utter.
For me,
amid temporary defeat, disaster, disgrace, it seems that my duty calls
me to utter another word— a word for bokl, sudden, forward, determined
war, according to the laws
of war, advancing with all the past glories
of the republic urging us on."
" I warn Southern gentlemen," said Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsyl-
vania, " that
if this war continues there will be a time when
it will be
declared a free nation, that every bondman of the South belonging to
rebels—I confine
it to them—shall be
called upon to aid us in a war
against their masters and to restore the Union."
Colonel Baker had obeyed the orders of his superior
officer in an
ill-planned movement resulting in disaster.
A few hours after witness-
ing the agony of President Lincoln, I stood beside the body of the fallen
commander, and beheld his face peaceful in death, and recalled the lines
he had composed " To a Wave :"
"Dost thou seek a
star with thy swelling
crest
Wave, that leavest thy mother's breast ?
Dost thou leap from the prisoned depths below
In scorn of their calm and constant flow ?
Or
art thou seeking some distant land,
To die in murmurs upon the strand ?
"I too am a wave on the stormy sea
;
1 too am a wanderer, driven
like thee
;
I too am seeking a distant land,
To be lost and gone
ere I reach
tlie strand
;
For the land
I seek
is a waveless shore,
And those who once
reach
it shall wander no more."
AUTUMN OF
1861.
281
In Missouri and Virginia slaves were flocking to the T^nion Army.
No argument was needed
to convince them the war was being waged
on
their account—that the
Stars and
Stripes was the banner
of
free-
dom.
They were
ready
to act
as
guides, use the spade and
shovel,
A CONTRABAND COMING INTO CAMP.
282
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
drive teams, cook for officers and soldiers.
"We shall see as this biog-
raphy goes on the gradual growth of the idea that slavery had caused
the war, that
it was
in a great degree the strength of the Eebellion,
and must be annihilated.
Senator Trumbull, of
Illinois, introduced a
bill
in Congress w^hich
gave freedom to
all slaves used by the rebels in carrying on the war.
Senator Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and other members from the bor-
der
Slave
States
opposed
it.
Those who advocated
its passage
said
slaves were
constructing
fortifications, driving
teams, and
doing the
drudgery in the Confederate armies without pay.
It w^as the expecta-
tion of their freedom that led them to steal away from their cabins at
night and enter the Union lines.
The bill became a law.
General Fremont, (
' ) wiio had been Eepublican candidate for Presi-
dent in 1856, was military commander in Missouri, and proclaimed mar-
tial law, declaring slaves of rebels to be free men.
The proclamation
w^as hailed with joy by those who wanted to see slavery at once swept
from the land, but
it gave great offence to those who were prosecuting
the war solely for the preservation of the Union.
General Fremont had
assumed an authority not conferred upon him by Congress, and the Pres-
ident was obliged to inform him and the public that the proclamation
must be set aside.
This act of President Lincoln was severely denounced
by those w^ho demanded the immediate abolition of slavery, and who
saw only one phase of
the
struggle.
There was another side which
the President saw, and he made
it very plain in a letter to one of
his-
friends
:
" The proclamation is simply dictatorship.
It assumes that a general may do anything-
he pleases—confiscate the lands and free the slaves of loyal people, as well as disloyal ones.
... I cannot assume this reckless position, nor allow others to assume
it on my responsi-
bility.
.
.
. What I object to
is that as President I shall expressly or impliedly seize and
exercise the legislative function of government.
.
.
. No doubt the thing was popular in
some quarters.
The Kentucky Legislature would not budge
till the proclamation was
modified, and General Anderson telegraphed me that on the news of General Fremont
having actually issued deeds of manumission, a whole company of our volunteers threw
down their arms and disbanded.
I was so amazed to think that the very arms we had
furnished Kentucky would be turned against us.
I think that to lose Kentucky is nearly
to lose the whole game.
Kentucky gone, we cannot hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Mary-
land.
These
all against
us, and the job on our hands
is too large for us.
On the con-
trary,
if you will give up your restlessness for new positions and back me up manfully
on the grounds upon which you and other kind friends gave me the election, we shall ga
through triumphantly."
The man whom
divine Providence had
called
to
be
ruler of the
AUTUMN OF
1861.
283
nation knew that great ideas are of slow growth, and so, undisturbed by
clamor of friend or foe, he chose the course wliicii seemed to him best
adapted for the ultimate welfare of the nation.
The setting aside
of Fremont's proclamation marshalled Kentucky
on the side of the Union, for which her sons were ready to lay down
their lives.
They had not advanced far enough to comprehend that sla-
very must be eradicated, root and branch, before there could be a restored
Union.
Only by the logic of events would they be able to understand
it, and acquiesce in the edict which would give freedom to the slave.
A
fleet of war-ships
sailed from
Fortress Monroe under the com-
mand of Admiral Dupont,
also a large number
of steamers carrying
12,000
soldiers under General W. T. Sherman.
The captain
of each
vessel received a letter which he
Avas
not
to open
till
after passing
Capes Charles and Henry.
None on board the Heet except Admiral
Dupont and General Sherman knew their destination, but the morning
after the fleet sailed, Mr. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of War, Ava&
able to send a telegram
to Governor
Pickens, of South
Carolina, in-
forming him that
it was bound for Port Koyal.
Confederate spies in
Washington had furnished the information.
It was seen that
the
navy must have a harbor where the vessels
blockading Charleston and Savannah could obtain coal and make
re-
pairs.
The Confederates had erected two forts to defend
it
•^P'- "
• Fort Walker, on Hilton Head, and Fort Beauregard, on the oppo-
site shore.
Fifty-two heavy cannon had been mounted.
Admiral Dupont had thirteen
vessels.
The frigate Wabash led
in
the
attack,
followed
by
the
Susquehanna
and
the
gunboats.
The
forts opened
fire, but with little effect, the guns not being well aimed.
Eound and round in an ellipse sailed the ships, sending such a storm of
shells into the forts that the troops soon fled in consternation.
The fleet
steamed on to Beaufort, from which the white inhabitants precipitately
fled.
When the gunboats reached the town the slaves were having a
saturnalia:
drinking costly wines and helping themselves to whatever
suited
their fancy.
They did not run from
the Union
soldiers, but
welcomed them as friends.
So once more the old flag was waving in
South Carolina,
to the great joy of
President Lincoln and the loyal
people of the countrj^.
The sympathy of England was seen at the beginning of the war by
the
haste
with which the
British
Government
recognized
the Con-
federacy as a belligerent power.
Jefferson Davis appointed James M,
Mason, of Virginia, Minister to England, and John Slidell, of Louisiana,.
284
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Minister to France.
They sailed from Charleston to Cuba, and from
thence took passage on the English steamer Trent for England.
Commo-
dore Wilkes
in the war -ship San Jacinto
overhauled
the Trent, took
Mason and Slidell on board his own vessel to Boston, where they wxre
confined in Fort Warren.
" I considered them," said Commodore Wilkes, " as the embodiment
of despatches.
.
.
. The cargo was also
liable, as
all the shippers were
knowing to the embarkation of these
live despatches and their traitor-
ous motives and actions to the Union."
He did not
seize
the vessel
under international law, because by so doing he would greatly incon-
venience the passengers on board.
Great
the
rejoicing through
the
country.
Mason and Slidell had been among the chief conspirators to
bring about the war.
Their course while in the Senate had been that
of traitors.
The Secretary of the Navy w^rote Wilkes a letter approv-
ing his " brave, adroit, and patriotic conduct."
In Boston the citizens
assembled in Faneuil
Hall, applauded the
action, and gave Wilkes a
banquet.
Congress passed without a dissenting voice a resolution of
thanks.
But there was one man in Washington who w^as lookino- at the
other side of the case—how the transaction would seem to him
if he
were a member of the British Ministry.
Before calling the Cabinet to-
gether, President Lincoln had a talk wdth the Secretary of the ISTavy
and the Attorney-general.
" AVhat shall we do with Mason and Slidell?" he asked.
" Will they
not
be white
elephants
on our hands?
The people
are so incensed
against them I fear it will be difficult to prevent an outbreak. (')
I am
not getting much sleep out
of that exploit of Wilkes's, and
I suppose
we must look up the laws of the case.
I am not much of a prize lawyer,
but
it
seems to me pretty
clear that
if Wilkes saw
lit to make the
capture on the high seas he had no right to turn his quarter-deck into
a prize court." (')
Upon the arrival of the Trent at Southampton, all England flushed
with anger at the audacity of the outrage, forgetting that the frigates
of England before the War of 1812 had stopped hundreds of American
vessels, and
seized American seamen, compelling them to serve in the
English ISTavy.
That war was waged chiefly by the United States for
the protection of the rights of sailors.
In all the English dockyards there was the utmost activit}".
Eight
thousand soldiers were sent to Canada.
An imperious demand was made
for the liberation of Mason and Slidell and their secretaries.
It seems probable that Mr. Seward at the outset may have
felt, in
AUTUMN OF
1861.
"
285
common with the people of the North and with Congress, a momentary
exultation
; but he sa'sv, as the President had seen, that the United States
ouoht not to hold Mason and Slidell.
Before havino^ anv communica-
tion with Lord Lyons, the President and the Secretary of State outlined
the proper course to be pursued.
Ko State paper written by INlr. Seward
surpasses in ability that in relation to the Trent affair.
These
tlie clos-
ing words
:
" If I decide this case in favor of my Government, I must disavow
its most cherished
principles, and reverse and forever abandon its essential policy.
The country cannot afford
the sacrifice.
If I maintain those principles and adhere to that
policy, I must surrender
the law itself.
.
.
. The four persons are now held in military custody at Fort Warren, in
the State of Massachusetts.
They will be cheerfully liberated."
In the annals of diplomacy there are few triumphs more illustrious.
England could have no pretext for a quarrel with the United States.
The beautiful autumnal days were passing a^vay.
McClellan was
holding frequent reviews, as
if preparing for a movement, but other
than this there were no indications of a campaign.
The j^eople were
becoming impatient.
Why did not the army move
\ they asked.
AVhy
was there not some attempt made to drive the Confederates fi'om the
batteries they had erected along the Potomac below Mount Yernon?
Why not do something to enable the frigate Minnesota, lying" at AVash-
ington Navy-yard, to reach Chesapeake Bay
{
Why allow a handful of
Confederates, not more than 4000 in number, to throw up fortifications
on Munson's Hill within cannon-shot of the Potomac?
Members of
Congress could see from the windows of the Capitol the Confederate
flag waving defiantly above the intrenchments.
Instead of any move-
ment, the nightly telegram was sent to the newspapers of the countiy
:
"All quiet along the Potomac!"
It was not what
loyal
people wanted.
Before September
closed
many expressions of discontent reached the President.
By their secret
agents and lines of communication the Confederates were cognizant of
everything going on in Washington.
The newspapers
of New York
were regularly received in Richmond the day after their publication.
The extravagance and
inefficiency of General Fremont in Missouri
w^as so manifest that the President felt
it
his duty to appoint another
commander in that dej^artment.
He selected General Halleck,
' who had received a military education.
The removal of Fremont
greatly offended those who wanted to
see
slavery immediately
abol-
ished, and they attributed his removal to the President's dissatisfaction
286
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
with Fremont's proclamation.
Halleck directed that fugitive slaves at-
tempting to enter the lines of the army should be excluded.
He
as-
sumed the}^ would go back and give valuable information to the enemy.
The soldiers knew the slaves would not return to their masters.
The
course pursued by the new commander increased the
difficulties and
perplexities of the President.
The expedition fitted out by General Butler was nearly ready to sail
for the Gulf of Mexico.
" Get into New Orleans, if you
can," said Mr. Lincoln,
" and the
backbone of the Rebellion will be broken.
It
is
of more importance
than anything
else that can now
be done
;
but don't interfere with
the slavery question, as Fremont did in St. Louis."
" May I not arm the negroes ?" Butler asked.
" Not yet
; not yet."
"But Jackson armed them, Mr. President, in 1815."
" Not to fight against their masters, general, but with them."
" I win wait, Mr. President, for the word or the necessity."
" That is right.
God be with you." (')
With this benediction General Butler
sailed with his army for the
mouth of the Mississippi.
It is one of the anomalies of history that those members of Congress
whose sympathies were with tlie Confederates should have been on most
friendly terms with General McClellan. A loyal member, familiar with
affairs, William D. Kelley, of
Pennsylvania, has given this statement
relative to McClellan's associates
:
" The headquarters of the general-in-chief soon became a rendezvous
for the master-spirits of the reactionary force.
Here frequent confer-
ences were held, in which Messrs. YaUandigham and George H. Pendle-
ton, of the House, and Senators Milton
S. Latham and Henry M. Eice
were conspicuous.
These meetings were characterized by a prominent
Democrat, who revolted from their objects (Mr. Odell, of New York),
as a "continuing caucus" for the consideration of plans of resistance to
all measures which proposed to strengthen the army and navy, to pro-
vide means for their pay, sustenance, the munitions of war, and means
of transportation
; and to devise means of embarrassing the Government
by constitutional quibbles and legal subtleties."
Let us remember that these consultations were had, acccording to this
statement, in the headquarters of General McClellan.
Mr. Kelley goes
on
:
" It was here, so
it was then said, that YaUandigham was inspired
to take such a course with reference to the surrender of Mason and
Sli-
AUTUMN OF
1861.
287
ilell as might result in war with Great Britain.
Here, too, a preliminary-
draft of the resolutions of Mr, Pendleton, which declared that Congress
alone has the power, under the Constitution, to suspend tlie privilege of
the writ of habeas corpus^ was said to have been discussed.
.
.
. Here, too,
at the headquarters of the general-in-chief, indignities as
gross,
if not
more gross, than those which drove General Scott into retirement, were
flagrantly inflicted upon the President of the United
States.
Among
General
Scott's complaints was that
his subordinate refused
to confer
with him
; and when the President, impelled by anxiety for the country,
waived questions of ofiicial etiquette and proceeded to headquarters, the
announcement of his presence was more than once greeted with boister-
ous and derisive laughter, evidently intended for his ears
; and there was
one occasion when
it was more than whispered by those immediately
about the President, that he was made to wait nearly an hour, while
men who denied the right of the Government to maintain the Union by
force of arms engaged McClellan's attention
; and when, at his own good
time, the general concluded to see his commander-in-chief, his departing
guests visibly sneered as they passed the cold chamber in which he had
been so long imprisoned." ('")
To understand
tliis indignity towards the President we must take
into account the ideas underlying the war.
It was a conflict betw^een
two forms of society—on the one side Aristocracy, in which a cultured
few ruled the uneducated many and lived upon their unrequited toil
; on
the other side Democrac}', the rule of all the people.
It was far more
than the preservation of the Union.
Jefferson Davis, representing aris-
tocracy, had been educated by the nation at West Point.
The
aristo-
cratic government of which he was the head had made slavery its foun-
dation.
The members of Congress who gathered in the spacious mansion
selected by General McClellan for his military residence had
received
their education in college and university.
McClellan, elevated by Presi-
dent Lincoln
to command the army, had
also been educated at West
Point.
He had been an honored delegate to observe military operations
in the Crimean War.
He was cultured and refined.
He had suddenly
been called when a young man from the management of a railroad to
command half a million men in arms.
He desired the preservation of
the Union, but it must be restored just as it was before the conspirators
began the conflict.
Slavery was not to be harmed.
Abraham Lincoln was the representative of democracy.
His poverty
had been so pinching that he had received only a few^ weeks' instruction
in the
loo- school -house of the frontier.
Life had been a
battle with
288
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
hardship and privation.
His heart went out to every needy and strug-
gling being, irrespective of race or social condition.
He lived not for
himself, but for his fellow-men.
The question once uttered by phari-
saical lips in the marble corridors
of Herod's temple-—" How knoweth
this man letters, having never learned V—after eighteen centuries was
re23eated
in
the drawing-room of the general-in-chief of the army of
the republic.
But in that mansion
it was accompanied by contumely
and contempt.
Great benefactors
have
ever been maligned by their fellow-men.
Moses, Elijah, Socrates, William the
Silent, were reviled—and Him of
Nazareth, the greatest of
all.
Mr. Lincoln was not an exception.
He
was scoffed by his enemies, and depreciated by hypocritical friends.
NOTES TO CHAPTEE
XV.
(
1 )
J. G. Hollaud, " Life of Abraham LIdcoId," p. 322.
C) U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol.
i., p. 239.
• (^) A. H. Markland, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 322.
(*) Horace Greeley was born
at Amherst, N. H., February
3,
1811.
At the age of
thirteen he was
apjjrenticed to learn the
art of printing, at Ponltney, Vt.
His parents
moved to Erie, Pa., and he twice visited them, Avalkiug most of the distance.
In 1831
lie began work
in New York City as a journeyman
printer.
He
thonglit the public
would patronize a cheap paper, and with Mr. H. D. Sliepard established the "Morning
Post," the first penny paper ever j)ublished.
He became editor of the " New Yorker" in
1834;
it was devoted to literature, and attained a circulation of 9000
in a short time.
During the political campaign of 1840 Mr. Greeley edited the "Log Cabin;"
it had a
circulation of more than
80,000.
On April
10, 1841, in company with Mr. McElrath, he
began the publication of the " Daily Tribune."
He continued as its editor till his death.
He gave many lectures and public addresses.
He was an able journalist, impulsive and
erratic.
He thought
it would be better for the country to allow the seceded States to
establish a confederacy.
He supported and opposed by turns the Administration of
President Lincoln, but ever earnestly labored to promote what seemed to him the best
welfare of the country.
In 1872 he accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party as
President—the party which through
life he had strenuously opposed.
He published
a,
history of the war, entitled "The American Conflict."
The unremitting labor of a third
of a century during a most exciting period, the turmoil of a political campaign, the death
of a beloved wife, exhausted the powers of nature.
He died November 29, 1872, a few
weeks after the close of the political campaign.—Author.
( 5 ) Joseph Henry was born December 17, 1797, at Albany, N. Y.
He began
life as a
watch-maker.
He early gave his attention to
science, and was appointed Professor of
Mathematics in Albany Academy, 1826.
He began experiments in electricity by using
an electro-magnet.
He rang a
bell by
electricity
in
1831, demonstrating
its
use by
conveying
signals.
He was appointed Professor
of Natural
Philosojihy
in
Princeton
College.
He was appointed Regent of Smithsonian
Institute, 184H.
He was one of
the founders of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
President
Lincoln found great pleasure in his society.
He died May 13, 1878.
AUTUMN OF
1861.
289
(^) General John
Charles Fremont was born
in Savannah,
Ga., Jannary
21,
1813.
He was educated at Charleston College.
He was apjiointed instructor of mathematics
in
the
navy,
1833-35.
He
received
the appointment
of second
lieutenant
of Topo-
graphical Engineers, 1837.
He became son-in-law to Senator Benton, of Missouri, and
through Mr. Benton's influence Avas appointed to command an expedition to explore an
overland route to the Pacific Ocean.
He assisted in the conquest of California, and was
appointed Military Governor.
He was elected Senator from that State upon its admission
to the Union.
He explored a new route to the Pacific at his own expense, 1853.
Upon
the formation
of the National Republican
Party, 1856, he was nominated as candidate
for
the
Presidency, and received 114
electoral
votes
against
174
given
to Buchanan.
He was appointed major-general in the United States Army, 1861, and assigned to com-
mand
the Western Department.
His
military administration
was conducted
without
regard to economical considerations.
His proclamation
in
relation
to the freedom
of
slaves greatly embarrassed the President.
In 1862 he was assigned to West Virginia, but
resigned
his commission, not being willing to
serve under an
officer of inferior rank.
—Author.
(
) Gideou Welles, " Galaxy Magazine," 1883, p. 647.
(*) Titian J. Cotfey, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 142.
(^) B. F. Butler,
" Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p.
143.
( '") William D. Kelley, "Lincoln and Stanton," p.
6.
290
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER
XYI.
WINTER OF
1862.
^T^HE year opened with half a million men in arras.
Yery little had
J-
been accomplished by the Union generals.
McClellan had organ-
ized a
great army, but with the coming
of winter
it was dwindling
rather than increasing.
The hospitals were
filled with patients.
He
had no plan for a movement.
General Halleck was in command
in
Missouri, General Buell in Kentucky.
There was no co-operation
be-
tween them.
The President endeavored to bring about unity of action.
" I state," he wrote to Buell and Halleck, " my general idea of the war
to be that we have the greater numbers, and the enemy has the greater
facility of concentrating forces upon points of collision
; that we must
fail unless we can find some way
of making our advantage an over-
match
for
his
;
and
this can
be done
only by menacing him with
superior
forces
at
different
points
at
the same time."
He went on
to say he wanted Halleck to menace Columbus on the Mississippi, and
Buell
at the same time
to move upon
the
force
under
Johnston, at
Bowling Green, in Central Kentucky.
Buell took no notice of the let-
ter, possibly thinking, though Mr. Lincoln
was
commander-in-chief,
he knew nothing about military affairs.
Halleck sent no reply to the
President, but wrote McClellan the
idea of moving down the Mississippi was impracticable, or at least pre-
mature.
He thought it better to move up the Tennessee and carry out
a plan which had been suggested.
He must have
60,000 men before
undertaking
it.
The President awoke to the fact that the three commanders were
three do-nothings.
ISTeither McClellan nor Buell had any plan, and
Halleck wanted a great army before undertaking any movement.
The people
of eastern Tennessee, who had declared for the Union,
were being arrested and imprisoned by Confederates from Georgia and
Texas.
Refugees had pitiable stories to tell of sufferings.
The Presi-
dent was anxious that Buell should move
to
their
relief, but nothing
was done.
WINTER OF
1862.
291
The
Confederate Government determined
to
secure
central Ken-
tucky.
Two expeditions were planned to invade the eastern section of
that State.
General Humphrey Marshall, with 3000 men, prepared to
descend the valley of the Big Sandy
River, and General Felix
Zolli-
coffer, with 10,000, began a movement from Tennessee towards the cen-
tral section of the State.
Colonel James A. Garfield, commanding the Forty-second Ohio regi-
ment at Columbus, w^as directed by Buell to proceed with his own and
two
other regiments against
Marshall.
He went up the
Bio:
Jan.
9.
r
o
Sandy and attacked him
;
the
Confederates
fled
in
confusion.
The battle w^as quickly over, but the victory secured eastern Kentucky
to the Union.
Two Union
brigades— one
under
General George B. Thomas, at
Columbia, the other under General Schoepf, at Somerset, twenty miles
farther east— were moving towards
Mill Springs to confront Zollicoffer.
The
Confederate
commander
re-
solved to make a rapid march
by
night, and fall upon Thomas before
the brigades united.
In the dim
light
of the winter
morning the Union pickets discov-
ered
the
advancing
Confederates.
The drums
beat the long
roll, and
Thomas's
lines were quickly
' formed.
The
battle
raged
furiously, but after an hour's strug-
gle the
Confederates
fled
in
disor-
der.
Zollicoffer, whom we
have
seen member of the Peace Conven-
tion before the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln as President, had been killed.
The successes of Garfield and Thomas aroused the enthusiasm of the
country.
The President issued a letter, congratulating the troops upon
the
victories.
More than
half of the Union
soldiers
engfag-ed
were
Kentuckians.
People began to see how wise and prudent the
Presi-
dent had been in
his
course.
The
State had abandoned
its
neutral
position, and \vas standing by the Union.
Mr. Lincoln
suggested
a
general
movement
towards
Richmond,
which would threaten communication between that city and Johnston's
army at Centreville.
This the reply of McClellan
:
HENRY W. HALLECK.
292
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" Information leads me to believe that the enemy could meet us in
front with nearly equal
forces, and
I have my mind actively turned
towards another campaign that I do not think at all anticipated by the
enemy, nor by many of our own people." (')
The army
in and around
Washington numbered
nearly
200,000
men.
McClellan had employed Mr. Pinkerton to ascertain the number
of Confederate troops at Centreville and Manassas.
His spies reported
there were 80,000 immediately in front of Washington, 18,000 of them
supporting the batteries along the Potomac
;
that the
total Confeder-
ate force in Northern Yirginia was 115,000.
The reports were greatly
exaggerated.
We now know the force was only 47,000.
The discontent of the people at the inaction of the army manifested
itself in Congress by the appointment of a " Committee on the Conduct
of the War."
McClellan paid
little heed
to
the murmurings of
the
people or to the committee of Congress.
He w^as taken
ill and confined
several weeks to his chamber.
The President was in distress over the prospect, and held a confer-
ence with General McDowell and General Franklin.
" I am in great trouble," he said, " for if something is not soon done
the bottom will be out of the w^hole affair.
If General McClellan does
not want
to use the army, I would like to borrow
it, provided I can
see how
it can be made
to do something.
What movement, General
McDowell, can be made ?"
McDowell replied that an advance against both flanks of the Con-
federate army w^ould compel it to leave the intrenchments at Centreville
and accept
battle on terms favorable
to
the Union
troops.
General
Franklin thought
it w^ould be better to move on Richmond by way of
York River.
" But that will require a great number of vessels and involve a large
expense," the President replied.
"Think the matter over, and
let me
know your conclusions to-morrow evening."
" In view of the time and means
it w^ould require to take the army
to a distant base, operations can best be carried on from the pres-
" ent position," read the paper prepared by McDowell and Frank-
lin.
Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, Mr. Blair, and Quartermaster-general Meigs
were present when the paper w^as submitted, but nothing was decided.
A second conference was held with McClellan present.
McDowell,
w4th proper deference to
his superior
officer, and to the
Pres-
ident
as commander-in-chief, said he had
submitted
his sug-
gestions at the request of Mr. Lincoln.
WINTER OF
1863.
293
" You are entitled to have any opinion you
please," the curt reply
of McClellan.(=)
The Secretary of the
Treasury, Mr. Chase, asked
McClellan what
his plans were, and what he intended to do w^ith the army.
It was a
plain question, put by a member of the Cabinet upon Avhom rested the
great burden
of ])roviding money
for carrying on the war.
The ex-
penses w^ere more than $1,000,000 a day, and the army was doing noth-
ing.
Mr. Chase doubtless thought he had some right to know what
the commander of the army intended to do.
" I must deny," McClellan
replied, " the right
of the Secretary of
the Treasury to question me upon the military affairs committed to my
charge.
The President and Secretary of War alone have the right to
question me."
McClellan was much disturbed because the President had conferred
with two subordinate
officers.
He regarded
it as an attempt to bring
about his removal—"to dispose of the military goods and chattels," he
said, "of the sick man, so inopportunely restored to life."(')
The conclusion w^as unwarranted.
The President knew something
must be done.
The people were holding him responsible.
As things
were drifting, the war would soon end in failure.
" Well, General McClellan, I think you had better tell us what your
plans are," said Mr. Lincoln.
McClellan replied that the President knew in general what
his
de-
signs were, but
he
should decline
to give any information
unless
so
ordered.
He said
:
" 1
trust you
will not
allow
yourself to be acted
upon by improper
influence, but
still to
trust me.
If you
will
leave
military matters to me, I will be responsible that
I will bring matters
to a successful issue, and free you from all troubles."(^)
Gloom was settling upon the army,
Tha soldiers were weary of the
routine of camp drill.
The hospitals were filled with sick.
People from
the North w^ere sending them delicacies, books, and newspapers.
The
Hutchinsons — a family of
vocalists who had been singing songs and
ballads over the
country — came
to
cheer them.
President
Lincoln
had heard them in Springfield, and invited them to sing in the White
House.
The piano w^as opened, but found to be out of tune.
" If you will w^ait a moment we
Avill use our own instrument," said
John W. Hutchinson.
He
ran to
their
carriage, standing under the
portico at the door, and brought in a melodeon.
" I remember one song that you sung when you were in Springfield."
said the President.
" It was a good while ago—ten years, perhaps
294
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
but I never have forgotten
it.
It was about a ship on fire, and I want
to hear it again. "(')
The song was sung.
The look of care and anxiety which had settled
upon
his face gave
place to the old-time smile.
He thanked them
heartil}" for the pleasure they had given him.
" You must come over into Virginia and sing to the soldiers," said a
chaplain of a ISTew Jersey regiment.
" Certainly.
Go by all means, only don't sing any secession songs,"
said the Secretary of War.
With a pass from McClellan the vocalists made their way to Alex-
andria.
The soldiers were dehghted.
John G. Whittier for thirty years had been writing songs of Free-
dom.
He was waiting for the deliverance of the land from the curse
of slavery — biding God's time.
His soul was stirred with indignation
as He read the proclamation of McClellan
:
that
there should
be no
interference with slavery (see p. 265).
Fremont's proclamation freeing
slaves in Missouri aroused his
enthusiasm.
It had been
set aside by
the President.
The poet recalled a hymn written by Martin Luther
" A Strong Fortress is our God."
His soul burst forth
:
"We wait beneath the furnace blast,
The pangs of transformation;
Not painlessly doth God recast
And mould anew the nation.
Hot burns the
tire
Where wrongs expire;
Nor spares the hand
That from the land
Uproots the ancient
evil."
This w^as sung by the Hutchinsons.
Some of the soldiers had enlisted solely to fight for the restoration
of the Union;
others wanted to annihilate the institution which had
caused the war.
Again the music
:
"In vain the
bells of war shall ring
Of triumph and revenges,
While
still
is spared the
evil thing
That severs and estranges.
But blest
tlie ear
That yet shall hear
The jubilant
bell
That rings
the
knell
Of slavery forever."
WINTER OF
1862.
295
A hiss—a long, loud, venomous hiss—from the surgeon of the regi-
ment,
" You do that again and Til put you out !" shouted the officer of
the day.
Cheers, hisses, and uproar followed.
A few hours later a de-
spatch came over the wires
:
"By direction of Major-general McClellan, the permit given to the Hutcliinson Fam-
ily to sing in the camps and their pass to cross the Potomac are revoked, and they will
not be allowed to sing to the troops."
The
vocalists
returned
to Washington, and
called upon their
old-
time friend, Secretary Chase.
" I would
like
to
take Whittier's hymn
into
the
Cabinet
meet-
ing.
I never have seen
it before, and I doubt
if the members of the
Cabinet are familiar with
it," he
said.
He thereupon read
it to the
President.
" I don't
see anything very bad about
that.
If any of the com-
manders want
the Hutchinsons
to
sing
to
their
soldiers, and
invite
them, they can go," said Mr. Lincoln. (')
Little did McClellan comprehend what would be the outcome of feis
revocation
of the
pass
given
to
the
Hutchinsons.
Throughout
the
North
it was
interpreted
as an
indication that
his
sympathies were
with the slave-holders.
People sent
letters to members of Congress,
urging them
to
use
their influence with the President to secure
his
removal.
Mr. Lincoln listened patiently to their complaints, but made
no promises.
There
was much
dissatisfaction
with
Mr. Cameron, Secretary
of
War.
He had made
extravagant
contracts.
The
inactivity
of
the
army was attributed
partly
to a lack of energy
in the War Depart-
ment.
The time had come
for a
chano^e.
His
resig^nation was
ac-
cepted, and
he was
sent
as
Minister
to Kussia.
Whom
should
the
President appoint in his stead?
Those who knew what service Edwin
M. Stanton had rendered the country when
in Buchanan's Cabinet—
how true he had been
to the Union
; how he had confronted John
B. Floyd, Jacob Thompson, Howell Cobb, and the other conspirators
presented
his name
to the
President.
Edwin M. Stanton
!
Was
it
not
he who
treated
Mr. Lincoln
rudely
in
Cincinnati?
(see
p.
162).
Would the President be willing to appoint a man to a responsible posi-
tion with whom he must have daily conferences, who had
all but in-
sulted him on a former occasion ?
Yes.
He would appoint him.
True,
Mr. Stanton was rude, and had a quick temper— could be hard, cold,
296
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
%fW
EDWIN M. STANTON.
insulting;
but the
life of the nation was
at
stake, and he would use
him in his effort to save the country.
"Are you going to be
Secretary
of War?"
It was an old-time
friend who put the question to Mr. Stanton.
" Yes."
" What will you do T
The friend had in mind the scene between
Lincoln and Stanton at Cincinnati.
" Do ?
I intend to accomplish three things
:
I will make Lincoln
President
of
the
United
States
;
I
will
force
that man
McClellan
to
fight
or throw up
;
and
last, but not
least,
I
will
pick
Lorenzo
Thomas up with
a
pair
of tongs and drop him out
of the
nearest
window." (')
Mr. Stanton had come to the conclusion that McClellan was ignoring
WINTER OF
1862.
297
the authority of his superior—that his appointments were his favorites
and pets, who were ready to subserve his personal interests and further
his aspirations.
Lorenzo Thomas was adjutant -general of the army.
Stanton, how-
ever, did not pick him up with a pair of tongs, for he remained in office
through the war.
General George H. Thomas had marched through mud and storm,
and won a victor}^
If the Union and Confederate troops in Kentuclvy
could make marches in midwinter, why could not those around Wash-
ington ?
Mr. Lincoln could wait, but the time had come when waiting
was no longer a virtue.
There was no sign of a movement.
As com-
mander in-chief, as head of the nation, he would take matters
in his
own hands.
"Without consulting any member of his Cabinet, he wrote
a military order.
The 22d of February would
be the anniversary of
the
birth of George Washington— a day
to awaken patriotic fervor.
He directed a general movement of all the land and naval forces to be
made on that day.
All
officers would be severally held to their strict
and full responsibility for its prompt execution.
That McCleUan might have some definite line for action, a second
order was issued directing him to provide for the safety of Washing-
ton, and then move to gain
the
railroads
leading south from
' Manassas.
But McClellan wanted instead to take the army to
Annapolis, down
Chesapeake
Bay,
then
up
the
Kappahanuock
to
Urbana, and from thence march to York River.
These the questions written out by the President
:
" If you will give me satisfactory answers to the following questions
I shall gladly yield my plan to yours
:
''First.—Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure
of time and money than mine ?
"'Second.—Wherein is victory more certain by your plan than mine?
" Third.—Wherein
is
victory more
valuable by
your
plan
than
mine?
" Fourth.—In
fact, would
it not
be
less valuable
in
this
:
that
it
would break no great line of the enemy's communication, while mine
would ?
'''Fifth.—In case of
disaster, would not a retreat be more
difficult
by your plan than mine ?"
General McClellan
did
not answer
the
President's
questiens, nor
acknowledge the receipt
of
the
letter.
He sent a long communica-
tion to Mr. Stanton, in which he
set forth the advantages of a move-
298
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ment by water to Urbana, from whence he could march into Eichmond,
but made no
allusion
to
any
letter from
the
President,
or
to
the
questions asked.
Eailroad trains at that moment were speeding from
Manassas loaded with supplies
for the Confederate army.
Jefferson
Davis had read the
order
of
President Lincoln.
General Johnston
had read
it.
They comprehended
its meaning.
They knew that with
only a little more than 40,000 troops, the Union army of 150,000 could
easily
seize
the
railroad
south
of
Manassas.
More
than
5,000,000
pounds of food had been accumulated, all of which was sent south of
the Kapidan.
There was a general at Cairo, also a commodore, who had no desire
to wait until February 22d before moving.
" General Grant and my-
self," wrote Commodore Foote to General Halleck, " are of the opinion
that Fort Henry can be carried by four gunboats and troops."
" From Fort Henr}^," wrote General Grant, " it will be easy to oper-
ate
either on the Cumberland, twelve miles
distant, on
Mem^Dhis, or
Columbus."
Fort Henry was on
the
Tennessee
Piver, near the
line between
Kentucky and
Tennessee.
Fort Donelson was on
the
Cumberland.
Admiral
Foote, with four gunboats, attacked
Fort Henry and
compelled
its surrender.
A week passed and 14,000 prisoners
were captured at Fort Donelson by General Grant.
This movement
forced the Confederates to evacuate Kentucky.
The victories electrified
the country.
President Lincoln had been called from the retirement of his home
in the capital of Illinois to the executive mansion of the nation.
He
could find no time for study or contemplation.
His oldest son, Eobert,
was
in Harvard University, but Willie and
" Tad " made the White
House ring with their joyous shouts. C)
They connected the many bell-
wires, so when one Avas pulled every bell in the house began to tinkle.
They slid down the balusters, and made themselves at home in every
apartment.
When
the
President
entered
the
breakfast - room they
climbed into his lap, pulled his ears, ran their fingers through his hair.
Both boys were seized with sickness.
In addition to the weight of
public cares came anxious days and sleepless nights to the President.
How could he sleep when he saw that Willie was to be taken from
him?
"Why
is
it?
Why
is
it?
This
is
the
hardest
trial
of my
life," he said to the nurse.
"Have you ever had any such
trial?" he
asked.
" Yes, Mr. Lincoln.
I am a widow.
My husband and my two chil-
WINTER OF
1862.
299
dren are in heaven, and I can say that I can see the hand of my Heav-
enly Father in
it.
I did not love Him so much before my affliction as
I do no\v."
" How has that come about V
" God
is my Father, and
I know that He does everything well.
I
trust Him."
" Did you submit fully under the first loss ?"
" Oh no, not whollj"
; but as one after the other went, I did submit,
and am very happy."
^" I am glad to hear that.
Your experience will be a help to me."
The young life faded away, and the heart-broken father stood beside
the coffin, looking for the last time upon Willie's face.
" Mr. Lincoln," said the nurse, " a great many people are praying for
you to-day."
" I am glad to hear that.
I want them to pray for me.
I need their
prayers
; and I will try to go to God with my sorrow.
I wish
I had
that childlike faith you speak of.
I trust God will give
it to me.
My
mother had
it.
She died many years ago.
I remember her prayers
;
they have always
followed
me.
They have
clung
to me
through
life."(^)
When all that was mortal of his child was laid to rest, the President
went on with his duties for one week.
On the succeeding Thursday he
shut out all
visitors, and gave way to his grief.
Again, when the day
came,
his
doors were
closed.
The old-time melancholy was taking
possession of him, increasing as the weeks went by.
Little did Eev. Francis Vinton, rector of Trinity Church, New York,
know, when he entered the cars for a visit to friends in Washington, how
divine
Providence was going
to use him.
He was acquainted with
Mrs. Edwards, sister of Mrs. Lincoln, who was in Washington.
He also
had met Mrs. Lincoln, who, learning he was in the city, informed him
in regard to the melancholy
of the
President.
He
visited the White
House.
" Mr. President," said Mr. Vinton, " it
is
natural
that you
should
mourn for your son— one whom you so tenderly loved;
but
is
it not
your duty to
rise above the affliction?
Your duties are to the
living.
They are far greater than those of a father to his son.
You are at the
head of the nation—a father of the people
; and are you not unfitting
yourself
for
a right exercise of the responsibility that God
has
laid
upon you ?
You ought not to mourn for your son as lost—that
is not
Christianity, but heathenism.
Your son is above.
Do you not remera-
300
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ber that passage in the Gospels, " God
is not the God of the dead.^ but
of the living f
The President is sitting on the sofa, listening as if dazed.
" Alive!
alive!
Do you say that "Willie is alive ?
Pray do not mock
me."
He rises and looks with intense earnestness at Mr. Yinton.
" Yes, Mr. Lincoln, alive.
Jesus Christ has said it."
He clasps the clergj^man in his arms.
"Alive!
alive!''"' he exclaims.
Tears are rolling down his cheeks.
" Yes, Mr. Lincoln, it
is one of God's most precious truths.
You re-
member that the Sadducees, when questioning Jesus, had no other con-
ception than that Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob were dead and buried
;
but Jesus said,
' ITow that the dead
are
raised, even Moses
showed
at
the bush, when he
called the Lord
the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
For
He is not a God of the dead, but of
the living
:
for
all
live unto Him.'
God has taken your son from you
for some good end— possibly
for
your good.
Doubt
it not.
I have
a sermon upon
this
subject which
possibly may interest you."
" Please send
it to me, Dr. Yin-
ton," said the President, as the
in-
terview closed.
'
The sermon came.
Mr. Lincoln
was so impressed by
its treatment
of the Pesurrection and Immortal-
\\r^ that he read it again and again,
and
caused
it
to
be
copied.
ISTo
longer was Thursday a day for seclusion.
With unwonted cheerfulness
he took up the burden of the nation.
The thought that in the radiant
future he would once more clasp his boy in
his arms made his sorrow
easier
to
bear
than
ever
before, ('")
and
he
cheerfully
turned
his
thoucrhts to the affairs of the nation.
The Baltimore and Ohio Pailroad had been closed by the burning of
the bridge at Harper's Ferry, and the destruction of the company's shops
FRANCIS VINTON.
WINTER OF
1862.
301
and engines at Martinsburg.
The President was very anxious tliat the
raih'oad should once more be opened.
McClellan informed him that he
contemplated a grand strategic movement, which would
result, he was
confident, in the capture of the Confederate troops at Winchester and
the reopening of the road.
He would put down a pontoon-bridge at
Harper's Ferry, which would deceive the enemy, they thinking
it w^as
only for a temporary purpose
; but the real, substantial bridge would be
the mooring of a line of boats which he was having built, and a bridge
laid upon them.
The President was delighted.
" A glad surprise awaits the country, which will restore the
confi-
dence of the people in McClellan," he said to a member of the Cabinet.
" Do you really think so ?"
" Yes.
He has left no loop-hole for escape.
He has said to Stanton
and myself that
if
this move
fails he
Avill have nobody to blame but
himself." (")
General Hooker, with a body
of troops, at the same time was
to
cross the Potomac below "Washington and capture the batteries on the
Virginia side.
On the day fixed
for the
surprise, a
little before midnight, a
tele-
gram was received by the President, dated at Sandy Hook, February 26,
10.30 P.M.
:
"The bridge was splendidly thrown by Captain Duane, assisted by Lieutenants Bab-
cock, Reese, and Cross.
It was one of the most difficult operations of the kind ever per-
formed.
I recommend Captain Duane to be made a major by brevet, for his energy and
skill in this matter
;
also Lieulenants Babcock, Reese, and Cross, of the corps of engineers,
to be captains by brevet."
The bridge was not composed of canal-boats, but ordinary pontoons.
The officers thus recommended had stood upon the shore and told the
soldiers belonging to the engineer's corps to take the boats from the
wagons, launch them in the river, paddle and anchor them, and lay the
stringers and planking.
No Confederates were near, no picket looking
on from the Virginia side.
The despatch went on
:
"We have 8500 infantry, eighteen guns, and two squadrons of cavalry on the Virginia
side.
I have examined the ground, and seen that the troops are in proper position and
are ready to resist an attack.
Burns's brigade will be here in a couple of hours and will
cross
at daybreak.
Four more squadrons of cavalry and several more guns pass here.
Reports that G. W. Smith, with 15,000 men, is expected at Winchester."
The town of Winchester
is between twenty and thirty miles from
302
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Sandy Hook.
There were no Confederate troops between
the
two
points and only a small force at Winchester.
The despatch continued
:
" We will attempt the canal-boat bridge to-morrow.
The spirit of the troops is most
excellent.
They are in a mood to fight anything." ( ^^
)
It Avas an inspiriting message.
At last McClellan was doing some-
thing.
Just what he intended to accomplish after getting the troops
across the river the President did not know, except, possibly, to make
Hooker's work easier down-stream.
He read the telegram and retired
for the night, happy in the thought that a portion of the army was in
motion.
There was no telegram upon his table when the President sat down
to work the next morning.
The forenoon passed without
fur-
' ther information.
The afternoon waned, but neither the Presi-
dent nor Secretary Stanton had received any news from Sandy Hook.
General Marcy, chief
of
staff
to McClellan, who had been
left
in
"Washington to carry out his orders, at one o'clock received this despatch
:
" Do not send the regular infantry until further orders.
Give Hooker directions not
to move until further orders."
Two hours later came the following to Marcy
:
" The difficulties here are so great that the order for Keyes's movement must be coun-
termanded
until the
railway bridge
is finished, or some more permanent arrangement
made.
It
is impossible to supply a large force here."
"It was not the canal -boat
bridge, but the burnt
railroad bridge,
to which the despatch referred.
The railroad was open from Sandy
Hook to Washington and Baltimore.
The troops of General Keyes had
been taken
thither in
the
cars
;
the canal was
intact, yet the 10,000
men could not, according to the information, be supplied with food.
The pontoons for the permanent bridge had been built on the banks
of the canal.
General McClellan was an engineer
; he had constructed
railroads, and was
familiar with
practical
engineering;
but his
fore-
thought did not provide for a measurement of the lift-locks of the canal
by which the boats were to be taken to Harper's Ferry.
A startling
despatch came to Secretary Stanton
:
"The lift-lock is too small to permit the canal-boats to enter the river, so that it is im-
possible to construct the permanent bridge as
I intended.
I shall probably be obliged to
fall back upon the safe and slow plan of merely covering the reconstruction
of the
rail-
road.
This will be done at once, but it will be
tedious.
I cannot, as things now are, be
WINTER OF
1863.
303
sure of my supplies
for the force necessary to seize Winchester, which
is probably rein-
forced from Manassas.
The wiser plan is to rebuild the railroad bridge as rapidly as pos-
sible, and then act according to the state of affairs."
Secretary Stanton was amazed.
He telegraphed
:
"If the lift-lock
is not big enough, why cannot
it be made big enough?
Please an-
swer immediately."
A little before midnight he received a reply
:
" It can be enlarged, but entire masonry must be destroyed and rebuilt and new gates
made; an operation impossible in the present state of water, and requiring many weeks at
any time.
The railroad bridge can be rebuilt many weeks before this could be done."
We do not know why McClellan did not say that
the boats had
been built four inches wider than the locks, for such was the case.
Stanton telegraphed
:
" What do you propose to do with the troops that have crossed the Potomac?"
This the answer
:
"I propose to occupy Charlestown and Bunker Hill, so as to cover the rebuilding of
the railways."
Through the day the President waited for a telegram, pacing the
floor
at
times, absorbed
in
thought.
The long -looked -for
despatch
came from McClellan
:
"It
is impossible for many days to do more than supply the troops now here and at
Charlestown. ... I know
that
I have acted wisely, and
that you
will
cheerfully agree
with me when I explain."
Such the outcome of the movement that was to surprise and gratify
the country.
With a sinking heart Mr. Lincoln retired to his chamber,
but not to sleep.
He was carrying the burden of the nation.
McClellan marched with a strong force to Charlestown, but found no
enemy, and returned to Washington.
He did not call upon the President.
The conversation between Mr. Lincoln and Captain Ericsson resulted
in the building of an iron-clad vessel on a plan totally different from
any ever constructed.
The craft was launched
at Brooklyn, January
30th, and instead of sinking, as many had predicted, drew less water
by
several
inches than
Ericsson had
calculated.
Day and night the
hammers were ringing.
The Union spies at Xorfolk informed the Xavy
Department of the rapid progress made by the Confederates towards
completing the Merrimao.
The Monitor was
also
being
hurried
to
completion.
Captain Fox called upon the President.
" I do not expect the Mer-
304
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
rimac to make her appearance before day after to-morrow, Sunday,"
said Fox
;
" but she may come
at any moment, for my agent
^"^^•^' informs me that her engines are working and that her armor
is complete.
I am going to Fortress Monroe to be there when
she comes down from Norfolk.
I suppose, Mr. President, that you are
prepared for disastrous news ?"
" Oh no.
Why should I be ?
We have three of our most effective
war vessels in Hampton Roads, and any number of small craft that will
hang on to the stern of the Merrimao like small dogs on the haunches
of a bear.
They may not be able to tear her down, but they will be
able to interfere with the comfort of her voyage."
" I think that you do not take into account
all the
possibilities of
the Merrimac^'' said Captain Fox.
" Have we not three good ships against her ?"
" But the Merrlmac may prove invulnerable.
Suppose they are pow-
erless, and she sinks them ?"
" You are looking for disaster, I see."
"I anticipate nothing.
If she sinks our ships, what
is to prevent
her from coming up and sending a shell into this room ?"
"The Almighty!
I expect set-backs, defeats; we have had them
and shall have them.
They are common to all wars.
But I have not
the slightest fear of any result which
shall fatally impair our military
and naval strength, or give other powers a right
to interfere
in our
quarrel.
The destruction of the Capitol would do both.
I do not fear
it.
This is God's fight, and He will win it in His own good time."
" I
sincerely hope you
are
right, Mr. President, but probably we
cannot even guess what the Merrimac will do."
" Ericsson's vessel, the Monitor, ought to be at Hampton Roads now.
I believe in the Monitor and
in her commander, Captain Worden.
I
believe he will give a good account of himself," said the President.
" The new iron
craft
is an experiment, Mr. President.
We know
nothing about her.
She is liable to break down.
She went to sea with-
out a trial trip, when she should have had several.
We ought not to be
disappointed if she does not reach the mouth of the James.
If she ar-
rives, she may break down Avith the firing of her first gun."
"Ko, captain;
I respect your judgment, as you have good reason to
know, but this time you are wrong.
I believed in her when Ericsson
showed me the plans.
I am confident she is afloat and Avill give a good
account of herself," said the President, with an enthusiasm which Cap-
tain Fox could but admire. ('^)
WINTER OF
1863.
305
Eleven days had passed
since
McClellan's
return
from
Harper's
Ferry, and he had not called upon the President.
It was early in the
morning—half-past sev'en—when a messenger informed him that
Mr. Lincoln desired
his presence at the White House—an
indi-
cation that the chief magistrate of the nation did not intend to again
subject himself to the sneers
of men who were opposed
to the war.
He obeyed the command.
Just what was
said by the
President
in
this interview will never be known.
McClellan, in his " Ov/n Story,"
says
:
" lie appeared much concerned about somelliing, and soon said that he wished to tallc
Avith me about a very ugly matter.
I asked what
it was, and, as he still hesitated, 1 said
that the sooner and more directly such things were approached the better.
He then re-
ferred to the Harper's Ferry affair. ... He then adverted to the more serious, or ugly, mat-
ter, and now the effects of the intrigues by which he had been surrounded became appar-
ent.
He said that
it had been represented
to him (and he certainly conveyed to me the
distinct impression
that he regarded these representations as well founded) that my plan
of the campaign (whicli was to leave Washington under the protection of a sufficient garri-
son, and to throw the whole army suddenly by water from Annapolis and Alexandria to
the forts on James River) was conceived with the traitorous intent of removing its defend-
ers from Washington, and thus giving over to the enemj' the capital and the Government,
thus left defenceless."
Page 195.
.
.
.
" In a manner perhaps not altogether decorous towards the chief magistrate,
I
desired that he should retract the expression, telling him that I could permit no one
to
couple the word
' treason
' with my name.
He was much agitated, and at once disclaimed
any idea of considering me a traitor, and said
that he merely repealed what others had
said, and that he did not believe a word of
it. ... I then informed him that I had called
a meeting of the generals of division for that day with reference to the proposed attack
upon the enemy's Potomac
batteries, and suggested that xny plan should be
laid before
them in order that he might be satisfied.
This was done, and I heard no more of treason
in that connection."
Page 196.
To understand the situation in which the President was placed, we
must keep in mind the fact that the discontent
of the people was in-
creasing.
The
victories won
in
the West intensified
it.
If
Garfield,
Thomas, and Grant could move, why not McClellan ?
The failure at
Harper's Ferry was commented upon
in the newspapers, in the hotels
of Washington, in the corridors of the Capitol.
Men said McClellan had
no heart
in the war.
The fact that the boats were too wide
to be
taken through the locks was regarded as evidence of design on the part
of somebody to thwart a movement of the army.
Of the twelve division commanders, eight had been appointed by
McClellan, and were said to be his pets.
Many of the commanders of
brigades appointed by him were said to be attached
to
his
interests.
Every morning
letters came
to
the
President, expressing
fears
that
306
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLK
McClellan was surrounded by men who wanted the war to end in fail-
ure.
Members of Congress were outspoken in their denunciations.
With great frankness, according
to
McClellan's own
account, the
President informed him of the state of public opinion, and yet acknowl-
edged his own disbelief in the stories.
McClellan has not published all
the President said to him
:
in substance, that if he were not ready in ten
days with a plan which he could at once execute, he would be relieved
of the command of the army. (")
McClellan took
his departure, and
the
President,
anticipating what
the
verdict
of the majority
of the
division commanders might be, wrote an order in advance of their
as-
sembling.
'No movement of the army should be made without leaving
in and about "Washington a force that would make the capital secure
;
not more than two army corps—about 50,000 troops—should be moved
until the Potomac was freed from the enemy's batteries
; that the move-
ment should begin as early as March 18th, or within ten days.
The interview with the President and the issuing of the order pro-
duced a commotion among the Senators and members of Congress who
were on intimate terms with McClellan.
General Naglee, commanding
a brigade in Hooker's division, received a note from Senator Latham,
of California, saying that something must be done immediately by the
friends of McClellan, as the patience of the President w^ould bear no fur-
ther strain. C)
Naglee hastened to Washington.
Latham had been
called to New York, but a consultation was had with Senator Eice, of
Minnesota, who understood the situation.
It w^as decided that McClel-
lan should not attend the meeting which had been called.
Those gen-
erals who had been appointed by him w^ere to write out their views
on slips of paper of various
sizes and
colors, in order to avoid any ap-
pearance of concerted action.
By such a procedure they w^ould hood-
wink the President. ( "
)
They did
not
mistrust
that forthcoming
events
w^ould compel a
movement of the army.
Startling the news
: The Merrhnac had sunk
the frigates Cumlyerland and Congress !
Wooden war-ships were
Sunday, ^^ ^^ account in a contest with an iron-clad vessel.
Telegrams
Mar.
9.
°
were flying to all the seaboard
cities.
What was there to pre-
vent the Merrimac from making her way to New York, or ascending
the Potomac to Washington and sending a shell into the White House ?
As night came on workmen were loading canal-boats with stone, to be
taken down the Potomac and sunk where the channel was narrowest.
There was other information
: not a Confederate soldier remained at
Centreville
or
Manassas.
The great army which McClellan had de-
WINTER OF
1862.
307
Glared to be confronting him had departed
;
soldiers, cannon, supplies
—all gone.
Glorious news
!
Ericsson's Monitor
is at Hampton Roads, and the
Merrimac, instead of sending the Minnesota and all the other vessels to
the bottom,
is staggering back to Norfolk.
Since the days of
Monday,
j)j^yi(^|
^y^^| Goliath
there has been no such
contest.
Ko need
Mar.
10.
now to block the channel of the Potomac.
The Merrimac will
not make her appearance at Washington.
Just what McClellan's emotions were at the news of the departure
of the Confederates we do not know, but orders were issued, and the
troops which
previously could
not move on account
of mud
marched to Centreville.
They found deserted fortifications with
wooden cannon behind the embankments, the railroad bridges burned,
and the Confederate army beyond the Rapidan.
The division commanders assembled
in council, eleven
in number.
General Hooker was absent.
General IS'aglee had so managed things
that no notice had been sent to Hooker,
He himself was there instead.
It was known that McDowell held opinions differing from
theirs, and
he was called upon to preside.
A chairman could not express his own
view^s without leaving the chair
;
with him presiding, his voice would
not be heard opposing any plan.
Which is the best route to Richmond ?
Shall the army move over-
land from where
it
is?
Four voted yes—the other eight against the
proposition.
Shall the army go to Fredricksburg and move along the
line of the railroad to Richmond ?
Five voted in favor, seven against
the
plan.
There was
still another proposition.
Shall the army go to
Fortress Monroe by water and make that the base of operation ?
Naglee— brigade, and
not
a
division commander— said
the
last
plan ought to be adopted.
President Lincoln and Mr. Stanton were present.
Mr. Stanton no-
ticed that when the President asked a question Naglee was quite ready
to reply.
" General N"aglee," said Mr. Stanton, " you are not a division com-
mander; what are you here for?"
" General Hooker is indisposed, and I am here to represent him," the
reply.C')
Naglee did not say what he afterwards told a friend
:
that Hooker
was known to be opposed to the movement to Fortress Monroe.'
The
plan was adopted, although General Blenker said he did not understand
it, but voted for it because McClellan had requested
it.
General Keyes
308
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
voted for it upon condition that the Potomac should be
first opened.
Four of the division commanders voted against the plan.
The President and the Secretary of War, upon the adjournment of
the
council, met
for
consultation.
" "We
can
do
nothing
else than
adopt
this
plan and discard
all others," the words of the
President.
" With eight out of twelve division commanders approving
it, we can't
reject
it and adopt another without assuming all the responsibilities in
case of failure of the one we adopt."
" I agree with you," said Stanton, " in your conclusion, but not in
your arithmetic.
The four generals who dissent from the plan are in-
dependent of the influence of McClellan, while all the others owe their
positions to him, and are especially under his influence, so that instead
of eight to
four,
it
is really one
to
four.
You, Mr. President, are a
lawyer.
In estimating the value of a witness you look not only at the
words of the witness, but to his manner and all the surrounding circum-
stances of bias, interest, or influence that may affect his opinion.
Now,
who are the eight generals upon whose votes you are going to adopt
the proposed plan ?
All made so since General McClellan assumed com-
mand, and upon
his recommendation, and influenced by his views and
subservient to his wishes.
In fact, you have in
this decision only the
operation of one man's mind."
What shall the President do ?
Tlie Secretary of War is opposed to
the movement.
Five division generals, including Hooker, are opposed
to
it, only seven in favor, leaving out Xaglee, the brigadier.
The man
who has been accustomed to look at all sides of a case while riding the
circuit in Illinois makes this reply
:
" Mr. Secretary, I admit the full force of
3"our objection, but what
can we do?
We are civilians.
We should be
justlj^ held accountable
for any disaster, if we set up our opinions against those of experienced
military men in the practical management of the campaign.
We must
submit to the action of the majority of the council, and the campaign
will have to go on as decided
b}'- that majority."('")
" What
force, Mr. President, do you intend to have
left behind to
make Washington secure f
" General McDowell
will
remain with 40.000 men
to
cover
the
capital,"
During the Revolutionary War, General Washington was hampered
and distressed b}^ those who conspired against him.
In like manner Abra-
ham Lincoln was forced by the cabal surrounding General McClellan to
consent to that which
his judgment did not approve.
He wisely dis-
WINTER OF
1862.
309
cerned that
the country would
liold
liinv responsible
foi- any
failure
which might attend the carrying out of the plan which most commend-
ed itself to
liis judgment.
IS^eithcr McClellan, Naglee, or the division
commanders
acting with him foresaw that by forcing
the President
to accept their project the country would hold McClellan
responsible.
Nao'lee and
Senators
Rice and Latham devised the scheme
to
blind
the President and save McClellan from removal.
They did not know
the colored slips of paper were on
file in the pigeon-holes of the War
Department, and that Secretary Stanton knew all that had been going
on. CM
McClellan had been
in command
of
all the troops
in the country.
The President issued an order relieving him from such
control,
' but continuing him as General of the Army of the Potomac.
General McClellan had not organized the army into corps, but divis-
ions only, giving as a reason " that the mistakes of an incompetent
di-
vision commander might be rectified, wdiile those of a corps command-
er might prove
fatal."
After seeing what
the
division commanders
were competent to do in
battle, he might then divide the army into
corps.
The President had been studying authorities on military
art.
He thought an army organized into twelve divisions could not do the
most
effective work, and, without consulting McClellan, arranged the
divisions
into
four
corps, appointing Generals
Sumner, Heintzelman,
Keyes, and McDowell as commanders.
This action
of the President
was very distasteful to McClellan.
In his " Own Story " he says:
" It was the w^ork of the President and the Secretary of War, proba-
bly urged by McDowell.
It was
issued without
consulting me, and
against my judgment.'"
The army was returning from Centreville.
The withdrawal of the
Confederates had left McClellan
in a position where he must do some-
thing.
He called the
four corps commanders to
counsel with
^ him.
A plan
for removing
the army
to York Piver, leaving
enough to protect Washington, was agreed to unanimously.
General
Sumner said a total force of 40,000 should be
left.
Generals Keyes,
Heintzelman, and McDowell said enough should be left to garrison the
forts around the city, besides 25,000 men in front of
it.
The President
reluctantly accepted the
plan.
Steamers
at
Baltimore, Philadelphia,
New York, and Boston, also many sailing-vessels, were engaged to trans-
port the army.
The
operations
of
the Merrimac^ together with
information
that
the Confederates were likely to have gunboats from England, created
310
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
great uneasiness in New York, and a committee, representing moneyed
men, hastened to Washington
to
see
the
President about
protecting
that
city.
Accordingly,
fifty gentlemen called upon Mr.
Lincoln,
to
duly impress him with the gravity of the situation.
They said a Brit-
ish-built cruiser might
suddenly appear
in
the
harbor, destroy
the
shipping and bombard the
city, or demand millions of dollars for
its
ransom.
They represented $100,000,000.
It was the imperative duty
of the Government to protect them by sending a gunboat to that port.
The President listened attentively to the earnest speech of the chairman.
" Gentlemen," he said, " I am, by the Constitution, commander - in-
chief of the army and navy of the United
States, and, as a matter of
law, I can order anything done that is practicable to be done
; but, as a
matter of fact, I am not in command of the ships of war.
I do not
know exactly where they
are, but presume that they are actively en-
gaged.
It
is impossible for me
in the condition
of things to furnish
you a gunboat.
The
credit of the Government
is at a low ebb.
The
currency
is depreciating.
Now, if I was worth half as much as you,
gentlemen, are represented to be, and as badly frightened as you seem
to be, I would build a gunboat and give it to the Government."
The gentlemen never had looked at it in that light.
They saw they
had cheapened themselves by making the
request, and in
not taking
into account the fact that the Government was emploj^ing
its utmost
energies to save the nation.
With profuse apologies for troubling the
President they left the White House. ('")
More agreeable news than that regarding the fitting out of war ves-
sels came from England.
Princess Alexandra, daughter of the King of
Denmark, had been married to the Prince of Wales with much pomp
and ceremony.
Lord
Lyons,
the
British
Minister, was
directed
to
notify the President of this most important event.
Every nation must
be duly informed.
Lord Lyons was a bachelor, but ever maintained the
embassy with true British dignity.
He rode in state to the executive
mansion at an appointed hour to present the Queen's letter.
" Mr. President," he
said, " it will be my duty and my great pleas-
ure to transmit
to my most gracious sovereign Victoria whatever
re-
sponse it may please the President of the United States to make."
There
is a merry twinkle
in the eyes
of Abraham Lincoln, as he
takes the official letter and replies
:
"Lyons, go and do thou likewise." (")
The dignity of the British realm was suddenly snuff'ed out.
To the
President the proceeding was farcical and ludicrous.
He had relegated
WINTER OF
18G2.
311
it to the past, with the knee-breeches, ruffled shirts, and cocked hats of
a by-gone age.
It was perfectly proper for the Prince of Wales to get
married
; he had set Lord Lyons a good example
; but to the millions
of American people, who were themselves sovereigns, the event was of
no more consequence than a marriage of a couple in a country village.
NOTES TO CHAPTER XVI.
(
' )
" Ceiitnrj' Magaziue," October, 1888.
(2) Ibid.
{
'
) George B. McClellan's " Own Story," p. 157.
(')
Ibid.
("*)
J. W. Hutchinson to Author
(") Ibid.
( ') Doiin Piatt, " Memories of Men who Saved the Union," p. 57.
C)
J. G. Holland, "Life of Aliraham Lincoln," p.
435.
(") Robert Lincoln was born August
1, 1843; Edward Baker, March
10, 1846, died in
infancy; William Wallace,
December 21, 1850, died February, 1862; Thomas, April
4,
1853.
( '0) F. B. Carpenter, " Six Months in the White House," p. 117.
( ") William D. Kelley, " Lincoln and Stanton," p. 22.
C'-^) " War Records," vol.
v., series
i.,
p. 727.
('•*)
L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of President Lincoln," p. 209.
(!'*) William D. Kelley, "Lincoln and Stanton," p. 40.
('M
Ibid.
('«)
Ibid., p. 42.
(1^) Ibid., p43.
(1^) Ibid., p. 33.
('')
Ibid., p. 41.
C^) Chauncey M. Depew, " Reminiscences of President Lincoln,"
p. 433.
(') Schuyler Colfax, "Reminiscences of President Lincoln," p. 346.
312
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XYII.
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
GENEKAL GRANT
Avas encamped at Pittsburg Landing, on the
west bank of the Tennessee.
General Bnell was leisurely moving
from aSTashville to join him.
After the loss of Fort Donelson the Con-
federates concentrated
at
Corinth, twenty two miles from the
^I'se^o^' position occupied by Grant.
General Beauregard had been sent
west by Jefferson Davis, to aid Albert Sidney Johnston
in con-
centrating and organizing an army.
They resolved to attack Grant,
and crush him before the
arrival of Buell.
Though not expecting to
be
attacked, and
although
man}'-
of
the men were
asleep when
the
first volley of musketry broke the stillness of the morning, the Union
soldiers
did
not
fiee, but fought
obstinately
througli
the
day.
(See
" Drum-beat of the Kation.")
General Nelson's troops of Buell's army
arrived at sunset, and were placed in
line of
battle.
Before morning
other divisions joined them, and the Confederates suffered a disastrous
defeat.
General Grant had maintained
the
battle against a superior
force during the
first day
of the
conflict.
He had
displayed great
ability at Donelson.
Yet busybodies were depreciating him
; they in-
formed the President that he drank intoxicating liquor.
" Are you sure of it ?" the President asked.
" So they say."
"Thank you.
Now,
if you
will
find out what kind
of liquor he
drinks, I'll send some of the same brand to other generals."
Gratifying news came from New Orleans
:
General Butler and Ad-
miral Farragut were in possession of tlie city.
The
negroes
left behind by
their masters on
the Sea
Islands
of
South Carolina were being fed and clothed by General Hunter, who
had been appointed to command a military department compris-
1862
^"o South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
He issued a procla-
mation, in which he said that slavery and martial law in a free
country were incompatible.
He declared that all slaves in
his depart-
PRELIMINARY TO
EISIANCIPATION".
313
ment were therefore
entitled
to
their
freedom.
It
greatly
gratified
those who desired to see the system destroyed.
" General Hunter ought
to be sustained," said Secretary Chase to
the President. (
'
)
By what authority had Hunter
issued
this order?
Solely that
of
military law.
But the President was commander-in-chief,
" No commanding general shall do such a thing upon my responsi-
l)ility without consulting me," his reply to Secretary Chase.
An order
was issued by Mr. Lincoln
setting aside
that
of
his
personal
friend,
whom he knew to be loyal, honest, and true.
Friendship did not have
the weight of a feather in the decision.
"Whether
it be competent for me," reads the order, "as commander-
in-chief
of the army and
navy, to declare the
slaves
of any State or
States
free, and 'whether at any time or in any case
it shall
he-
Mav
19.
...
.
' come a
necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the Govern-
ment
to
exercise such supposed powers^ are questions which, under my
responsibility, I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel justified in
leaving to the decision of commanders in the field."
Once in the world's history, when a favored people gave themselves
to wickedness, when violence and oppression
ruled, when the dry and
thirsty land was parched with summer
heat, and
the famine
sore, a
prophet of God sent up
his
supplication, and there appeared a cloud
like a man's hand, as
it were, above the sea—the sign of coming rain.
So
at an hour when the wickedness of the Rebellion was
fillins: the
country with woe
; when the land was parched by the heat of war, red
with human gore, lurid with the lightning of
battle, resounding with
the thunder of the cannonade; when
supplications were ascending to
God that the causes of the woe and anguish might be swept away
Abraham Lincoln, like the prophet of old, spoke the words which will
ever remain as the sign of the coming of one of the greatest political
and philanthropic events of all the ages
: the gift of freedom to 4,000.(MI()
bondmen.
Yet there were those who could not discern the
little cloud.
Will-
iam Lloyd Garrison could not see
it.
He said, " All honor to General
Hunter.
With cheer upon cheer the welkin rings.
Shame and confu-
sion of face to the President for his halting, shuffling, backward policy.
By his act he has dispirited and alienated the truest friends of freedom
universally, and gratified the malignity of the enemies of his Adminis-
tration, who at heart are traitors." (')
Some of the newspapers failed to comprehend the meaning under-
314
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
lying the revocation
of General Hunter's
orders.
"He
lias
declared
against the Federal
right
of emancipation in the
States," wrote the
editor of the Albany "Argus."
There was no declaration in the order of his want of power under
the Constitution to put an end to slavery, but, on the contrarj^, a clear
intimation that the time might come when he would be called upon to
exercise such authority.
Other newspapers sustained the President.
"We are not surprised," said the New Bedford, Mass., "Standard,"
" at the action of the President. We know too well the strength of sla-
very.
The diiliculty is not so much in the President's mind as in public
opinion.
Abraham Lincoln had not for a moment considered whether
or not his action would affect his standing with the people.
He could
not allow others to exercise an authority which was exclusively his own.
His judgment decided that the people were not ready for emancipa-
tion." (^)
" The President has to-day a stronger hold than ever upon the confi-
dence of the majority of the people," said the Boston " Advertiser." (')
" He has shown his own good sense, his consistency, and steady ad-
herence to the Constitution and the laws," the words of the Philadelphia
" Ledger."
"He has given
to the world evidence
of that firmness and moral
courage for which he
is distinguished," the declaration of the Albany
" Evening Journal." ( ')
The President sent a
special message to
Congress, recommending
the passage of a resolution to the effect that the United
States ought
to co-operate with any
State
in
securing the abolition
of slavery by
compensating the owners of
slaves.
Congress complied with the
rec-
ommendation.
Slavery had been thus abolished in the District
of Co-
lumbia, but the border States stood aloof from such a measure.
The
President made
a
tender and
pathetic
appeal
to
those
States.
He
said
:
" The proposal makes common cause for a common
object, cast-
ing no reproaches upon any.
It acts not the Pharisee.
The change
it contemplates would come as gently as the dews of heaven, not send-
ing weakness to anything.
Will you not entertain
it ?
So much good
has not been done by one effort
in all past time as, in the providence
of God, it is now 3"our privilege to do.
May the vast future not have
it to lament that you neglected it."
The army under McClellan was on its way to Fortress Monroe.
In
eighteen days' time 121,000 men, nearly 1.5,000 horses and mules, 1150
wagons, 260 cannon, and Yl ambulances were transported from Alexan-
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
315
dria, besides provisions, camp equipage, ammunition, and a vast amount
of other material.
General McClellan
left "Washington
to join the three corps
of
his
army—Heintzelman's, Sumner's and Keyes's—which had preceded liim.
McDoweirs was to
follow.
Startling information came
to the
President from General Wadsworth, informing him that he had
only 19,000 troops to garrison the forts and defend Washington
I
At
the
conference
of the commanders
of the
four army
corps, held at
Fairfax Court-house
(see page 307), Generals Keyes, Heintzelman, and
McDowell had
agreed that
if the
forts on
the Virginia
side
of the
Potomac should be fully garrisoned, and those on the Washington side
occupied, there must
still be left a covering force
of
25,000.
General
GENERAL WADSWOKTH.
316
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Sumner, commanding a corps, said that a total of 40,000 must be
left.
Was not General Wadsworth mistaken ?
Could the information be cor-
rect?
The President directed Generals Hitchcock and Thomas to
in-
vestigate the matter.
They reported
it ^Yould require 30,000 men to
man all the forts, which, with 25,000 as a covering force, w^ould make
a total of 55,000 to render the capital secure.
" The requirement of the
President has not been fully complied with," they said
; whereupon Mr.
Lincoln issued an order that McDowell's corps should remain.
In speaking of this action of the President, McClellan says
: " It frus-
trated all my plans for impending operations.
It made brilliant opera-
tions impossible.
It was a fatal error." (')
Yorktow^n was held by a Confederate force
of 11,000 men under
General Magruder.
His
line extended thirteen miles along Warwick
Creek.
McClellan saw breastw^orks and fortifications with cannon.
He
sent this despatch to the President
:
" The approaches, except at yorktown, are covered by the Warwick, over which there
is but one, or, at the most, two passages, both of which are covered by strong batteries.
It will be necessary to resort to the use of siege operations before we assault. ... I am im-
pressed with
the conviction that here
is
to be fought the great battle that
is
to decide
the existing contest.
I shall, of course, commence the assault as soon as I can get up my
siege train."
The President rephed
:
" You now have over one hundred thousand troops.
I think you had better break the
enemy's line from Yorktowu to Warwick River at once.
Your despatches complaining
that you are not properlj^ sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very much.
Blenker's division was
Avitlidrawn from you before you
left
here, and you know the
pressure imder which I did
it, and, as
I thought, acquiesced in
it—certainly not without
reluctance.
After vou left I ascertained that less than twenty thousand unorganized men,
without a single field battery, were
all you designed to be left for the defence of Wash-
ington and Manassas Junction, and part of this even was to go to General HookeT's old
position.
General Banks's corps, once designed for Manassas Junction, was diverted and
tied up on the line of Winchester and Strasburg, and could
not leave
it without again
exposing the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad.
This presented, or
w^ould present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone, a great temptation to the
enemy to turn back from the ^Rappahannock and sack Washington.
My explicit order
that Washington should, by the judgment of
all the commanders of
arni}^ corps, be left
entirely secure, had
been
neglected.
It was
precisely
this
that
drove me
to
detain
McDowell.
" I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave Banks at Manas-
sas Junction;
but when that arrangement was broken up and nothing was substituted for
it, of course I was constrained to substitute something for
it mj'self.
And allow me to
ask, do you really think I should permit the line from Richmond via Manassas Junction
to
this city to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented by
less than
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
317
twenty thousaud unorganized troops
?
This
is
a question which
the country wiil
not
allow me to evade.
"There
is a curious mystery about
llie number of troops now with you.
When
I
telegraphed you on the 6th, saying you had over one hundred thousand with you,
I had
just obtained from the Secretaiy of War a statement, taken, as he said, from your own
returns, making one hundred and
eight thousand then with you and en route to you.
You now say you wiil have but eightj'-five thousand when
all en route to you shall have
reached you.
How can the discrepancy of twenty-three thousand be accounted for ?
"As to General Wool's conmiaud
[at Fortress Monroe],
I understand
it is doing for
you precisely what a like number of your own would have to do
if that command was
away.
"I suppose the whole force which has gone forward
for you
is with you by this
time, and,
if
so,
I think
it
is the
precise time
for you
to
strike a blow
By delay the
enemy
will
relatively gain upon you—that
is, he
will gain
faster by
fortifications and
reinforcements than you can by reinforcements alone.
And once more
let me tell you, it
is indispensable to you that you strike a blow.
I am powerless
to help
this.
You will
do me the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bay in search of a
field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting and not surmounting a
diflSculty
;
that we would
find the same enemy and the same or equal intrenchments at
either place.
The country will not fail
to note,
is now noting, that the present hesitation
to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated.
" I beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in greater kind-
ness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as, in my most
anxious judgment, I consistently can.
But you must act."
General
McClellan wrote
that
he wanted McDowell's
full
corps,
but would try to get along with Franklin's
division, and would be
re-
sponsible for results.
The President complied with the request.
The
division arrived, but there was nothing for
it to
do.
The 100,000
sol-
diers already there were building earthworks and putting heavy guns
.in position.
The artillery threw a few shells into the enemy's works,
and McClellan sent this despatch to Secretary Stanton
:
" General Smith has just handsomely silenced the fire of the so-called one-gun battery,
and forced the enemy to suspend work.
Mott's battery behaved splendidly."
Stanton telegraphed
:
"Good for the first lick
!
Hurrah for Smith and the one-gun battery
!
Let us have
Yorktown, with Magruder and his gang, before the first of May, and the job will be over!"
We may regard
it as a bit of sarcasm on the part of the Secretarv
of War.
General
McClellan
had
a
large
number
of
mortars and cannon
mounted, but telegraphed for more.
This the despatch from the Pres-
ident
:
318
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" Your call for Parrott guns from Washington alarms me, chiefly because
it argues
indefinite procrastination.
Is anything to be done ?"
McClellan replied
:
" Our work going on very well.
.
.
. Our rifle-pits are rightly advancing.
Indications
of a brush to-night.
Tlie time for opening fire is now rapidly approaching.
Enemy still
in force and working hard."
ISTearly one hundred heavy guns and mortars were in position, but
McClellan would not allow them to open fire till all arrangements were
completed.
Then he would
astonish
the
Confederates.
He did
not
mistrust that Magruder's spies were in his camp, and knew everything
that was going on— that the enemy was ready to
leave
at any mo-
ment, (')
When the batteries of McClellan w^ere prepared to begin the bom-
bardment, not a Confederate
soldier was to be seen
;
all had departed.
Exultant the despatch sent by McClellan to Washington
:
"Yorktown
is
in our possession.
"We have the
ramparts, have guns, ammunition,
camp equipage,
etc.
Hold
the
entire
line of works.
.
.
. Gunboats have gone up York
River.
I shall push the enemy to the wall."
The division commanded by General Hooker overtook the
retreat-
ing Confederates at Williamsburg.
Although confronted by a superior
force, he boldly and resolutely began an engagement.
McClel-
lan was far in the
rear, and did not arrive
till the battle was
over.
Through the following night the Confederates retreated to Kich-
mond.
The Union
soldiers kindled their bivouac fires and passed the
night on the field.
There was commotion
in the Confederate
capital.
"In the Presi-
dential mansion
all was
consternation and
dismay,"
the words
of
a
Southern
historian. (')
Congress adjourned
hastily and many people
left the city.
The pubhc documents were packed
in boxes and taken
away
;
the
presses which
Avere
printing treasury notes were
sent
to
Georgia.
It seems probable
that
if McClellan had pushed
resolutely on he
could have made his way at once into Richmond.
The Merrimac Avas
still a menace
to the great
fleet
of vessels
in
Hampton Roads.
Mr. Lincoln believed the time had come Avhen Nor-
folk could be seized and the Merrimac destroj^ed.
He was con-
^^
' fident that with the army moving towards Richmond the Confed-
erates would not leave many troops to hold Norfolk and the batteries
May 5.
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
319
along the shore.
Accompanied by Secretary Chase and Secretary Stan-
ton, he visited
Fortress Monroe.
Pie asked Admiral Goldsborough
if
troops could not be landed on the north shore.
If so, they would only
have to march eight miles to reach
Norfolk.
"There
is
no
landing-place
on the north shore," said the ad-
miral.
" We shall have to double
the cape and approach the place
from the
south
side, which
will
be a long and difficult journey."
" Have you ever tried to find
a landing T'
" We have not."
" That reminds me," said Mr.
Lincoln, " of a
fellow^ out
in
Il-
linois who had
studied law, but
who never had tried a case.
He
was
sued, and not having
confi-
dence
in
his
own
ability, em-
plo3"ed a lawyer to manage it for
him. He had only a confused idea
of law terms, but was anxious
to make a display
of learning, and on
triaj made suggestions to his lawyer.
He said
:
' Why don't you go at
him with a capias, or surrebutter, or something, and not stand there like
a confounded old mudiim factum V
Now, admiral, if you do not know
there is not a landing on the north shore, I want you to find out."
Admiral
Goldsborough
understood why
the
President
told
the
story.
Accompanied by Secretary Chase and General Wool, he closely
examined the shore and found a landing.
The troops were put in mo-
tion.
The Confederates evacuated Norfolk.
The Merrimac was blown
up, and the Union gunboats steamed up the James.
The President returned to Washington much pleased with the results.
Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, called at the White House to pre-
sent four gentlemen from England.
It was early in the forenoon, and
the President had not laid aside his dressing-gown.
He rose and greeted
them without embarrassment, making no apology for not having com-
pleted his toilet.
"You have been lighting great
battles," said Mr. Gold win
Smith,
one of the visitors.
HAMPTON ROADS.
320
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"Yes."
" Will not your great losses impair the industrial resources of the
]S[orth and the revenues of the country ?"
" That brings to mind
' darkey arithmetic,' " said Mr. Lincoln.
" Darkey arithmetic
!
I did not know, Mr. President, that you have
two systems of arithmetic."
" Oh yes
; and I'll illustrate that point by a little story.
Two young
contrabands, as we now
call them, were seated together.
' Jim,' said
one,
' do you know 'rithm'tic V
"
' No.
What is 'rithm'tic V
"
' It's where you adds up
tings.
When you has one and one and
puts dem togeder, dey makes two.
When you substracts tings, if you
has two tings and 3^ou takes one away, only one remains.'
"
' Is dat 'rithm'tic ?'
"
' Yes.'
'"Well, 'tain't true
;
it's no good.'
"'Yes
'tis, and
I'll show ye.
Now
spose
tree pigeons
sit on dat
fence, and somebody shoots one of dem, do tother two stay dar ?
Dey
flies away fore tother feller falls.'
"Now, gentlemen,
the
story
illustrates
the
arithmetic
j^ou must
use
in
estimating the
actual
losses
resulting from
one
of
our great
battles.
The
statements
j^ou
refer
to
give
the
killed, wounded, and
missing
at
the
first
roll-call, which
always
gives
an
exaggerated
total"
" Is it not unfortunate that such reports should go out ?
Would
it
not be better to delay making any report, Mr. President ?"
"Perhaps
so.
But
I am
surprised
at
the
smallness
rather than
the greatness of the number missing, when we take into account the
dense woods, long marches, and the fatigues
of men unaccustomed to
military life."
To the astonishment of the gentlemen, the President gave compari-
sons between American and European wars, and showed by statistics
that the missing in the battles fought by the volunteers were less than
in the armies of Europe after a great battle.
Mr. William D. Kelley, member of Congress, was
present, a
silent
listener.
As
the gentlemen
passed from the
executive
chamber he
heard their conversation.
" What are your impressions of him ?" one asked.
"Such a person," the reply, "is quite unknown to our ofiicial circles
or to those of continental nations.
I
think his place in history
will
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
321
be unique.
He has not been
trained
to diplomacy or administrative
affaire, and
is in
all respects one of the people.
But how wonderfully
ho
is endowed and equipped for the performance of the duties of the
chief executive ollice of the United States at this time!
The precision
and minuteness of his information on all questions to which we referred
was a succession of surprises to me.'X")
The colored people— not only those
in
the Northern
States, but
throughout the South—knew from the time Abraham Lincoln was nomi-
nated for the Presidency that he represented Freedom
; that the party
supporting him was pledged to prevent the further extension of Slavery.
They comprehended that the war was a conflict between Freedom and
Slavery.
The most ignorant slaves on a Southern plantation understood
that Mr. Lincoln represented Liberty.
Many thousand colored people
were in Washington.
Their churches on Sunday were thronged.
The
children were gathered into Sunday-schools, which held a May -day cele-
bration.
Kever had there been
such a
spectacle
witnessed
in
the
United
States as that on the day set apart for the festivities.
Parents arrayed
themselves and
their children in gaudy clothing, displaying startling
contrasts of color— white, yellow, green, blue, crimson— regardless of
artistic harmony.
The marshals wore huge rosettes, and marched with
conspicuous dignity.
The procession came down Pennsylvania Avenue,
entered the White House grounds, and passed beneath the portico.
At
one of the windows stood the President.
The teachers had endeavored
to impress the children that they must march in solemn and dignified
silence when in the presence of the greatest man in the world.
They
might as well have said to the yeast in a barrel of beer there must be
no fermentation.
The ministers and teachers at the head of the proces-
sion
passed
the President with
stately
dignity, but
the
irrepressible
yeast burst forth with the coming of the first file of boys.
" Hooray
!
Hooray !" they shouted, and waved their
flags.
The
enthusiasm ran
down the line.
The girls tossed their flowers into the window.
" There
he
is !"
" I
seen him !"
" Dats
Mars. Linkum."
" Look
at him
!''
"Lookathim!"('°)
Till the last child has passed he stands
there.
Kever before has a
President
of the United
States reviewed such
a
procession.
Never
before has a chief magistrate so recognized a down-trodden people, or
so acknowledged the brotherhood of the human race.
His thoughts were turned from the children to the war.
May 10th
McClellan telegraphed for more troops
:
322
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"I ask for every man the department can send me.
I beg that you will cause this
army to be reinforced without delay by all the disposable troops of the Government.
I
ask for every man that the War Department can send.
.
.
. The soldiers have confidence
in me as their general, and in you as their President.
Strong reinforcements will at least
save the lives of many of them."
In response to these
calls General McDowell, who -w^as at Freder-
icksburg, was ordered to march overland to York River.
President Lin-
coln visited him, and directed his movements.
But there came a sud-
den change of the plan.
General Banks, with a small force, was near
Strasburg.
"Stonewall"
Jackson, with
a much
larger
Confederate
army, was pushing northward, forcing Banks to make a rapid retreat.
Jackson's movement menaced Washington.
The President thereupon directed McDowell to move westward and
gain Jackson's rear instead of marchino^ to Richmond, and then
Mav 25
o
sent the following despatch to McClellan
:
"If McDowell's force was now beyond our reach, we should be
entirely helpless.
Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, have always
been my reasons for withholding McDowell from you.
Please understand this, and do
the best you can with the force you have.
A little later the same day the President telegraphed
:
"I think the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job
and come to the defence of Washington."
The President mapped out the best possible movements for the dif-
ferent bodies of troops
: McDowell to hasten westward to Port Royal
and
cut
off
Jackson's
retreat
;
Fremont, who
was
farther
west, to
hasten east and join McDowell.
McClellan the while was calling for
more troops.
The attempt to cut off Jackson resulted in failure through the tar-
diness of Fremont.
The Confederates retreated from Harper's Ferry as
rapidly as they had advanced.
The array on the Peninsula was divided by the Chickahominy River.
Two
corps, commanded by Heintzleman and Keyes, Avere attacked at
Seven Pines
; Sumner hastened to their aid, and the Confederates were
defeated, and their commander, General Johnston, wounded.
General
Dix, who had succeeded General Wool
at Fortress Mon-
roe, sent 10,000 men to McClellan;
McCall's
division
of 10,000 from
McDowell's
corps was also
forwarded, increasing the army to nearly
15Y,000.
Mortifying the news that came to McClellan.
General Stuart, with