326
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" To accomplish the great task of capturing Richmond and putting an end to the Re-
bellion, reinforcements should be
sent me, rather much over than much
less than
one
hundred thousand men.
I beg that you will be fully impressed by the magnitude of the
crisis
ill which we are placed."
The army was at Harrison's Landing, protected by gunboats.
The
campaign for tlie capture of Riclimond was over.
It had been under-
taken against the judgment of the President, who had
seen that the
Confederate army would be stronger at Richmond tlian at Centreville.
It would have been
easier for McClellan to
strike a blow near Wash-
ington than
in the enemy's country.
ISTo blow had been given;
the
Confederates had done the
striking.
The army
still numbered more
than
100,000.
It was
inactive and
dispirited.
There were
rivalries
and jealousies among the officers and a decline in disci]3line.
General McClellan, forgetting he was only commander of an army,
and the President his commander-in-chief, wrote a long letter, instruct-
iua: Mr. Lincoln as to what
ougiit and ouo;ht not to be done in
" ^
''
political
affairs.
" Let
neither
military disorder,"
it read, " po-
litical faction, nor foreign war shake your settled purpose to enforce the
equal operation of the laws of the United States upon the people of
every State."
The communication was offensive by its dictatorial tone.
It informed
Mr. Lincoln that a declaration
of radical views
in relation to slavery
would rapidly disintegrate the army.
The President knew his powers and responsibilities under the Con-
stitution, and did not
need
instruction from any general.
'No notice
was taken of the
letter.
He visited the arm}^ and was affectionately
received by the soldiers.
General McClellan had no plan.
With a heavy
heart Mr. Lincoln returned to Washington.
Shall we w^onder that
"
"^
he was depressed in spirit ?
The people had expected great things
from the Army of the Potomac, but it had accomplished nothing.
The
tide of success which marked the opening of the campaign in the West
w^as offset by the failure in the East.
The " Copperheads," as they were
called—the men who opposed the war—rejoiced over the state of affairs.
"You never can conquer the South," they said.
Many who had sup-
ported Mr. Lincoln began to question whether he had any serious in-
tention
of interfering with
slavery.
He had taken no notice of the
action of McClellan when
in West Virginia, or of Halleck
in Missouri,
excluding- slaves from the
lines
of the Union
armies.
On
the
other
hand, he had set aside the proclamations of Fremont and that of Hun-
ter, giving freedom to the slaves in their military departments.
Very
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
OC)-
EDWIN
D. MORGAN, WAR GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.
few people comprebended the President's
position.
He had appealed
to the members of Congress from the border Slave States to take action
towards
abolishing- slavery in
their respective
States.
Their indiffer-
ence
cut him
to
the
heart.
He would make one more
effort.
He
would invite them to the White House and address them personally.
Very earnest his appeal
:
"The incidents of war cannot be avoided.
If
it contiuues, as
it must
if
tlie object
is not soon attained, the institution
in your States will be extinguished by mere friction
and abrasion.
It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of
it.
Much
of its value
is gone already.
.
.
. How much better for j^ou as
seller, and the nation as
buyer, to
sell out and buy out that without which the war could never have been, than
to sink both the thing to be sold and the price of
it in cutting one another's throats
I
.
.
.
328
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned—one which threatens division among
those who, united, are none too strong.
An instance is known to you.
General Hunter
is an honest man.
He was, and
I hope
still is, my friend.
I value him none the less for
his agreeing with me
in the general wish that
all men everywhere could be
free.
He
proclaimed
all men free
in
certain
States, and
I
repudiated the proclamation.
He ex-
pected more good and
less harm from the measure than I could believe would follow.
Yet
in repudiating
it I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to many whose support the
country cannot afford to lose.
And this is not the end of
it.
The pressure in this direc-
tion
is
still upon me and
is increasing.
By conceding what now I ask, you can relieve
me, and much more—even relieve the country in this important point. ... As you would
perpetuate popular government for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you
do not omit
this.
"Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest action
to bring speedy relief.
Once relieved,
its form of government
is saved to the world,
its
beloved history and cherished memories are vindicated, and
its happy future
fully
as-
sured and rendered immeasurably grand.
To you, more than
to others, the privilege is
given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and to link your names therewith
forever."
What the President thus earnestly asked them to do was
to vote
a sum of money for purchasing the slaves in their
respective
States
sufficient
to fully compensate the owners. A majority submitted an
elaborate reply.
They thought freeing the slaves would not terminate
the war or tend to restore the Union.
So deeply concerned was the
President that he drafted a
bill for carrying out
his plans, but a ma-
jority of the members from the
border
States regarded
it as of no
more value than a piece of blank paper.
They maintained that under
the constitutions of the States and under the Constitution of the United
States they had a right to hold
slaves, and they were not ready to
give it up.
Nine of the gentlemen were ready to co-operate with him in carry-
ing out his plan, but with only a minority in favor of it nothing could
be done.
It was Sunday.
A day calm and peaceful, a mournful day to Sec-
retary
Stanton.
Death had come
to
his home and taken an infant
from the parents' arms.
The President and Secretaries Seward
"
" ^
'^^' and Welles were riding together in, the funeral procession.
The
President broke the silence.
He spoke of the disaster to the Army of
the Potomac
; the state of public opinion
; the power of the Pebellion.
He had given much thought to the question of issuing a Proclamation
of Emancipation.
" I have about come to the conclusion," he said, " that it is a military
necessity,
essential for the
salvation
of the -nation.
This
is
the first
time I have ever mentioned it to any one.
What do you think of
it ?"
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
329
" The subject
is so vast
that I must have time for reflection.
The
measure may be justifiable and necessary," said Mr. Seward.
Mr. Welles was of the same opinion.
Up to the time of the inter-
view with the members of Congress from the border States on Satur-
day the
President had been opposed to any interference by the gen-
eral government with an institution which each State could
itself deal
with.
It seems probable every member of the Cabinet had regarded the
matter in the same way. ('®)
" I would like you to give the question your careful consideration,
for something must be done," said the President.
;S? m'^^,.
WILLIAM DENNISON, WAR GOVERNOR OF OHIO.
330
LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN.
Congress had finished
its
business and adjourned.
It had passed
an act confiscating the property of the
rebels.
Slaves were property,
and under the act they might be seized and used for the benefit
July 17. ^^ ^]^g Government.
They were being used as teamsters.
They
were building fortifications.
Why not give them freedom ?
The Cabinet
is
in
session.
The President takes a paper from
his
desk and reads
it—the draft
of a proclamation for emancipating the
slaves—a notice that " on and after the first day of January, 1863,
Ju y 22. ^Y[
slaves within any State
or States where the
constitutional
authority of the United
States shall not then be recognized, submitted
to, and maintained, shall thenceforward and forever be free."
The members
of the Cabinet
listen in amazement.
Wipe slavery
from the land
!
Can
it be done ?
Give instant freedom to 4,000,000
!
Is it safe ?
They sit as if dazed.
" I have not called you together to ask your advice, but to lay the
subject before you.
I shall be pleased to hear any suggestions from
you."('^)
" I would like the language made a
little stronger," Mr. Chase
re-
marked.
" It will cost you the fall election," said Mr. Blair.
" Mr. President," said Secretary Seward, " I approve of the procla-
mation, but
I
question
the
expediency of
issuing
it
just now.
The
depression of the public mind consequent upon our reverses is so great
that I fear the
eft'ect of so important a step.
It may be viewed as the
last measure of an exhausted Government—a cry for help
: the Govern-
ment stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretch-
ing
forth her hands to the Government.
It will be considered as our
last shi-iek on retreat.
While I approve the measure, I suggest that you
postpone
its
issue
until you can give
it to the country supported by
military
success, instead of issuing it, as would be the case now, upon
the greatest disaster of the war."
Mr. Lincoln sees that it Avill be wise not to issue it at once, but wait
for a better moment.
Two members only of the Cabinet have had any intimation that the
President has thought
of issuing a document unparalleled
in the
his-
tory of the human race.
These the words of Mr. Lincoln a few months later
:
" It had got to be.
Things' had gone from bad to worse until I felt
that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan of operations Ave
had been pursuing—that we had played our last card and must change
PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION.
331
our tactics, or lose the game.
I determined on the Emancipation Proc-
lamation,
and, without
consultation
with
or
tlie knowledge
of
the
Cabinet, I prepared the original draft, and after, much anxious thought
called a Cabinet meeting upon the subject."
Thirty-one years had passed since a
flat -boatman
in 'New Orleans
lifted his hand towards heaven and uttered the words, "7/^ / ever ijet a
chance to hit that institution, I''ll hit it hard, hy the Eternal God P^
Strange the utterance, stranger the happenings.
Divine Providence
had placed him in position, and he would strike the blow!
NOTES TO CHAPTER XVII.
(
) Warden's " Life of Chase."
(
'2 ) " Liberator," May 23, 1862.
(3) "New Bedford Standard," quoted in the " Liberator," May 30, 1862.
( • ) " Boston Advertiser," May 30, 1862.
(5) "Albany Evening Journal," May 30, 1862.
(^) James S. Wadsworth was born at Geueseo, N. Y., October 30, 1807.
He was edu-
cated at Harvard and Yale colleges.
He studied law in the office of Daniel Webster at
Boston.
He inherited great wealth.
The Governor of New York appointed him mem-
ber of the Peace Convention, 1861.
When the war begau and conminnication between
Philadelphia and Washington was broken, he chartered a vessel at New York, loaded
it
with supplies, and sent it to Annapolis for
the
relief of the Union
soldiers.
He volun-
teered his services to the Government, was appointed aid on the staff of GeiTcral McDow-
ell, and displayed great bravery
in
the battle of Bull Run.
The President appointed
him Military Governor of Washington City and District of Columbia, March, 1862.
He
was the Republican candidate for Governor of New York the same year, bnt was defeated
by Horatio Seymour.
In the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and
the Wilderness, where he lost his life, he commanded a division of troops. He was inspired
by an intense patriotism, and made large contributions of money to carry on the war.
He was much beloved by President Lincoln.—Author.
(^ ) Major McLain, Confederate Army, to Author, November, 1862.
(8) Edward N. Pollard, " Second Year of the War," p. 29.
(') William D. Kelley, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 289.
(i«) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," p. 331.
(") William D. Kelley, "Lincoln and Stanton," p. 89.
('-) New York " Tribune," June 22, 1862.
('3) "Liberator," June 20, 1862.
(") William Alfred Buckingham was born at Lebanon, Conn., May 8, 1804.
He was
a manufacturer of carpets.
He was generous in his contributions to benevolent, charita-
ble, and educational institutions, and was held in high esteem for his integrity', energy,
ability, and patriotism.
He was elected to the United States Senate, 1869.
He
died
February 4, 1875.—Author.
('*) Edwin D. Morgan was born at Wasliington, Berkshire County, Mass., February 8,
1811.
He became clerk
in a grocery at Hartford, Conn., at the age of seventeen.
In
1836 he began
business
in New York, aud amassed a large fortune.
He was
elected
State Senator, 1849-53.
He was
active
in
the
formation
of the
Republican
Party.
332
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
In 1859 he was elected Governor of the State, and re-elected 1861.
His administration
was characterized by great
energy and
economy.
Although
the
State expenditures
were greatly increased by the war, there was a large decrease of the pnblic debt from
the wise management of the finances.
The troops furnished by the State numbered
220,000.
They were promj)tly armed and equipped.
Governor Morgan used his wealth
for the welfare
of the
State and
nation with
unstinted
liberality.
He was
elected
United States Senator, and served from 1863 to 1869.—Author.
('^) Andrew G. Cnrtin was born
at Bellefonte, Pa., April 28, 1817.
He studied law,
and took an active part in political affairs.
He was elected Secretary of State, 1855, con-
tinuing to 1858.
He became Superintendent of Public lustructiou, 1860, and Governor,
1861.
He was re-elected, 1863, and was appointed Minister to Eussia, 1869.—Author.
(") William Dennison was born at Cincinnati, November
23, 1815.
He graduated
at Miami University, 1835, and entered upon the practice of law, 1841.
He was a member
of the State Legislature, 1848-50, and elected Governor, 1860.
He administered the affairs
of the executive oifice with rare ability.
He was appointed Postmaster-general by Pres-
ident Lincolu, October, 1864. He retired from the Cabinet upon the accession of Andrew
Johnson to the Presidency.
(18) " Century Magazine," December, 1887.
(1^) President Lincoln to F. B. Carpenter, " Six Months in the White House," p. 21.
EMANCIPATION.
333
CHAPTER
XVIII.
EMANCIPATIOX.
NEW ORLEx\NS was in possession of the Union troops.
The peo-
ple
of that
city did not
like General Butler, who was in com-
mand
; neither what General Phelps was doing—forming a regiment of
negro
troops.
He was
at Carrollton, and a
great many
slaves came
into his camp.
He thought they would make good soldiers.
" I have
now," he wrote, "upwards of five hundred Africans organized into five
companies, who are willing and ready to show their devotion to our
cause
in any way that they may be put to the test.
They are willing
to submit to anything rather than slavery."
Mr. Reverdy Johnson had
been
sent
to New Orleans on
public
business, and improved the occasion to write a letter to the President,
informing him that the Union people were greatly disturbed by the
enlistment
of
negroes.
Mr.
Lincoln had
not
discovered very much
Union sentiment in Louisiana.
Notwithstanding all the burdens press-
ing him, he found time to write to Mr. Johnson
:
"It seems " [according to what Johnson had written]
'
' the Union feeling in Louisiana
is being crushed out by the course of General Phelps.
Please pardon me for believing it
is a false pretence.
The people of Louisiana—all intelligent people everywhere—know
full well that I never had a wish to touch the foundation of their societj'^ or any riglit of
theirs.
With perfect. knowledge of this, they forced a necessity upon me to send armies
among them, and it is their own fault, not mine, that they are annoj'ed by the presence of
Oeneral Phelps.
They also know the remedy—how to be cured of General Phelps
:
re-
move the necessity of his presence. ... If they can conceive of anything worse than Gen-
eral Phelps within my power, would they not better be looking out for it? ...
I distrust
the wisdom
if not the sincerity of friends who would hold my hands while my enemies
stab me.
This appeal of professed friends has paralyzed me more in this struggle than
any other one thing.
You remember telling me the day after the Baltimore mob in Api'il,
1861, that
it would crush
all Union feeling in Maryland for me to attempt bringing troops
over Maryland soil to Washington.
I brought the troops, notwithstanding, and yet there
was Union feeling enough left to elect a legislature the next autumn, which in turn elect-
ed a very excellent Union United States Senator!
I am a patient man—always willing to
forgive on the Christian terms of repentance, and also to give ample time for repentance.
Still, I must save this Government,
if possible.
What I cannot do, of course, I will not
334:
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
do; but
it may as well be understood, once for all, that I shall not surrender
this game
leaving any available card unplayed."
A private
citizen, Mr. Durant, complained
that
the
relations
be-
tween the masters and their slaves were disturbed by the presence of
the Union army.
He induced another gentleman, Mr. Bullitt, to write
to the President, who replied
:
" The rebellion
will never be suppressed in Louisiana if the professed Union men
there will neither help to do
it, nor permit the G-overnment to do
it without their help.
Now, I think the true remedy
is very different from what is suggested by Mr. Durant.
It does not
lie in rounding the rough angles of
tlie war, but in removing the necessity
for the war. ... If they will not do this,
if they prefer to hazard all for the sake of de-
stroying the Government, it
is for them to
consider whether
it
is probable
I will
sur-
render the Government to save them from losing
all.
If they decline what
I suggest,
you scarcely need to ask what I will
do.
What would you do in my position?
Would
you drop the war where
it
is, or would you prosecute it in future with elder-stalk squirts
charged with
rose-water?
Would you
deal
lighter blows
rather than
heavier ones?
Would you give up the
contest, leaving any available means unapplied?
I am
in no
boastful mood.
I shall not do more than
I can, and I shall do
all
I
can
to save
the
Government, which is my sworn duty as well as my personal inclination.
I shall do noth-
ing in malice.
What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing."
The campaigns had been hap-hazard.
There had been no head, and
President Lincoln called General Halleck to Washington to direct mili-
tary movements.
He was appointed chief of staff.
General Pope was
also ordered from the West to command the troops in front of Wash-
ington.
It was an unfortunate announcement which Pope made.
" I have
come," he said, " from the West, where we have always seen the backs
of our enemies."
The officers and men thought he was making unjust
comparison between the
soldiers of the East and those of the West.
Such was not his intention, but he did not reflect how it would be ac-
cepted.
An imputation that they were inferior to the Western troo.ps
gave great offence.
General Halleck directed Pope to concentrate
his
army
of 40,000, and cut the railroads
leading west from Richmond.
General " Stonewall" Jackson with 36,000 troops hastened to oppose him.
General Halleck went to Harrison's Landing to see McClellan, who
had
asked
for
50,000
more
men.
" I am
not
authorized
to
promise you more than 20,000," said Halleck.
" I
will make the attempt to take Richmond with
that number,"
McClellan
replied.
Halleck returned to Washington, but upon his ar-
rival found a despatch calling for 35,000.
It was seen that General Lee was intending to hurl a large force on
EMANCIPATION.
335
Pope and annihilate him, and
it was decided that the army must be
withdrawn from James River,
llalleck telegraphed
:
" Send Jiway your sick as fast as you can."
Three
days
later an
order was issued for the withdrawal
of
the
entire army, against which McClellan protested.
Two weeks passed
before the last of the troops left the banks of the James.
The citizens of Washington manifested their patriotic spirit during
this period of gloom by assembling in mass-meeting around the eastern
portico of the Capitol.
It was in the evening, the moon at its
^"°'
^'
full.
The thousands present rent the
air with cheers when
in
response to their calling the President rose to address them
:
"Fellow -citizens,
I believe there
is no precedent for my appearing before you on
this occasion, but
it
is also true that there
is no precedent for your being here on such
an occasion.
But I offer
in
justification of myself and of you that I do not know there
is anj^thing in the Constitution against
it."
(Great laughter and applause.)
.
.
. "The
only thing I think of now not likely to be said by some one else is a matter in which we
have heard some other persons blamed
for what I did myself.
There has been a very
unwise attempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan and the Secretary of War.
Now I occupy a position that enables me to believe at least these two gentlemen are not
nearly so deep in the quarrel as some presuming to be their friends."
(Cries of " Good!")
"General McClellan's attitude is such that, in the very selfishness of his nature, he cannot
but wish to be successful—and I hope he will
; and the Secretary of War is in precisely
the same situation.
If the military commander in the field cannot be successful, not only
the Secretary of War, but myself— for the time being master of them both—cannot but
be failures."
(Laughter and applause.)
"I know General McClellan wishes to be success-
ful, and
I know he does not wish
it any more than the Secretary of War for him, and
both of them together no more than I wish it."
(Applause.)
" Sometimes we have a dis-
pute about how many soldiers General McClellan has had.
Those who would disparage
him say he has had a very large number, and those who would disparage the Secretary of
War insist that McClellan has had a very small number.
The basis of this
is, there is al-
ways a wide difference, and on this occasion perhaps a wider difference, between the grand
total on McClellan's rolls and the men actually fit for duty.
General JlcClellan has some-
times asked for things which the Secretary of War is not to blame for not giving when
he had none to give."
(Applause and laughter.)
"And I say here, so far as I know, the
Secretary of War has withheld no one thing from him at any time in my power to give
him."
(Wild applause.)
" I have no accusation against him.
I believe he is a brave and
able man" (applause), "and I stand here, as justice requires me to do, to take upon my-
self what has been charged
to the Secretary of War, as withholding from him.
I have
talked longer than I expected to" ("No! no!"
"Go on!"), "and now I avail myself of
my privilege of saying no more."
The editor of the New York
'^ Tribune," in March, 1S(U, had said to
the seceding States, "Wayward sisters, go in peace;" but after twelve
months of conflict Mr. Greelev was advocatino- extreme measures.
He
published a long letter over his own name
in the
'" Tribune," accusing
336
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WAR MEETING IN WASHINGTON.
the President of being unwilling to enforce the laws passed by Con-
gress confiscating the projDerty of
rebels, and of
being unduly
influ-
enced by counsels and menaces of " certain
fossil politicians from the
border
States."
He complained
that
a large portion
of the regular
army officers, with many of the volunteer officers, were more ready to
uphold slavery than put an end to the Rebellion.
The article in the
" Tribune " was from one who professed to be friendly to the President.
Mr. Lincoln knew
it would be read by many thousand people whose
sons were in the army.
Mr. Greeley had signed his name to the edito-
rial, giving it the weight of his great personal influence.
What should
EMANCIPATION.
33Y
tlie
President do?
Ought
he
to remain
silent?
"Would
not
silence
be regarded
as acknowledging the indictment
(
As
President
of the
United
States he would not
notice
it, but
as an
individual he
could
with propriety
reply.
Let
us not forget
that neither Horace
'
°'
"
" Greeley, nor any one, other than the members of the Cabinet,
knew of the proclamation which for a month had been lying
in the
President's desk, penned by the same hand that wrote this reply to the
editor of the " Tribune :"
"Dear Sir,—I have just read yours of the 19lh, addressed to myself through the
New York 'Tribuue.'
If there be ia
it any statements, or assumptions of fact, wliicli I
may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them.
If there be in
it any
inferences wliicli I may believe to be falsely drawn,
I do not, now and here, argue against
them.
If there be perceptible in
it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive
it in defer-
ence to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.
As to the policy
I 'seem
to
be pursuing,' as you
say, I have not meant
to leave any one
in doubt.
I
would save the Union.
I would save
it the shortest way under the Constitution.
The
sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be
' the Union as
it was.'
If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could
at the same
time save slavery,
I do not agree with them.
If there be those who would not save the
Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with tliem.
My
paramount object in this struggle
is to save the Union, and
it
is not either to save or de-
stroy slavery.
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave
I would do
it; and
if
I could save
it by freeing all the slaves I would do
it; and
if I could save
it by freeing
some and leaving others alone,
I would also do that.
What I do about slavery and the
colored race I do because I believe
it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear I for-
bear because I do not believe
it would help to save the Union.
I shall do less whenever
I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall be-
lieve doing more will
help the
cause.
I
shall
try
to correct errors when shown to be
errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have
here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty
; and I intend no modifica-
tion of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."
The Confederate cavalry under
Stuart gained
the
rear
of Pope's
army, and captured
his supplies
at Manassas.
Then came the battle
at Groveton, and the second at Bull Run,
resulting- in the
de-
Ausr. 26.
'
>5
feat of Pope through the want of co-operation on the part of
Fitz-Jolm
Porter
with
his
division
of
the Army
of
the
Potomac.
General Franklin's
corps
w^as
at Alexandria.
Halleck
directed
that
it
should make
a
forced
march
to
join
Pope,
and
start
as
°'
soon
as
possible.
McClellan thought
it would
be
better for
Franklin not to go, and questioned whether Washington was safe.
He
recommended the troops be held where they were for its defence.
Halleck issued an order for Franklin to move at once.
This the
re-
ply of McClellan
:
338
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"The moment Franklin can
be
started with
a reasonable amount
of
artillery he
shall go."
Three hours passed
;
it was nearly night.
Then came a telegram
that Franklin was not in a condition to move, but might be able to do
so in the morning.
Halleck replied
:
" There must be no delay.
They must go to-morrow morning, ready or not ready."
Through the following day the President could hear the thunder of
cannon in the battle which Pope was fighting.
The aid expected
°'
from Fitz-John Porter was not given.
The members
of the Cabinet were
discussing
the
situation.
Sec-
retary
Stanton drew up
a remonstrance
against
the
further
contin-
uance of McClellan in command of the Array of the Potomac, to be
sent to the President.
It was signed by himself, also by Mr. Chase,
Secretary
of
the
Treasury
;
Mr. Bates, Attorney - general
;
and
Mr.
Smith, Secretary of the Interior.
Mr. Welles, Secretary of the l^avy,
agreed with
them, but
declined
to
sign
it, as
the
President
might
think
it an unfriendly
act.
The remonstrance was
not presented to
the President
; why, we do not know.
Night closed with the Union army in retreat to Centreville.
Sum-
ner's and Franklin's corps were there, but had arrived too late to be of
any
use.
It
is
not
surprising
that McClellan
keenl}^
felt the
"°'
' change that had come to him.
He had been commander of all
the armies, had issued orders to generals in the Far West—to Halleck
;
but now Halleck was
issuing orders to him.
He had seen
his troops
taken from him and sent to a commander whom he did not like.
General Pope was discouraged.
He saw that the army must fall back
to Washington and be reorganized.
He said, in a despatch to Halleck
:
" When there
is no heart in
their leaders, and every disposition
to hang back, much
cannot be expected of the men."
We are not to forget, as we review
in bare outline the events
of
the hour, the
letter written by McClellan from Harrison's Landing, in
which he arraigned the President— a letter which Mr. Lincoln had not
forgotten.
His heart was now
Avrung
with anguish
at the want
of
cordiality manifested by the commander of the army.
His sense of jus-
tice was outraged by the despatch which suggested that Pope be left to
" get out of his scrape as best he could."
" McClellan has acted very badly towards Pope.
He really Avanted
him to fail," said the President to his secretaries. ('
)
The army was drifting back to Arlington Heights.
Halleck directed
EMANCIPATION.
339
McClellan to take command of the troops
in the defences, but not to
assume control of those that were
to arrive.
Adjutant-general Kelton
was sent to the front by McClellan, and directed to make special
^HqJ' inquiries
as
to the
state of
affairs.
We do
not know whom
Kelton saw or what was said, but he had a doleful story to tell
the President
:
that the army was demoralized, that there were 30,000
stragglers making their way to Washington,
Throug-h the
niffht the President walked
his chamber.
The dawn
was just appearing in the east as he listened to Kelton's account. What
should he do ?
The remonstrance of the members of the Cabinet
^^
'
' had not been
laid before him, but he knew they had no confi-
dence in McClellan.
Mr. Stanton, who was intrusted with the manage-
ment of military affairs, and Mr. Chase, who must maintain the credit
of the nation, were bitterly opposed
to continuing him
in command,
but Abraham
Lincoln
comprehended
that under
existing
conditions
there was but one course to be pursued.
General McClellan was at
breakfast when the President and Gen-
eral Halleck called and asked him
to resume command of the troops.
Mr. Lincoln had not informed any member of the Cabinet of what he
was about to do.
He knew that he alone must bear the responsibility,
be the result beneficial or attended with disaster.
The hour arrived for the meeting of the Cabinet to discuss the ques-
tions of the moment.
" I have set McClellan to putting the troops into the fortifications.
I think that he can do it better than any other man," said the President.
" This can be done just as well by the engineer who constructed the
forts," Mr. Chase remarked.
" No one is now responsible for the defence of the Capitol," said Mr.
Stanton, " for the order to McClellan has been given by the President,
and
General
Halleck
considers
himself
relieved from
responsibility,
though he acquiesced and approved of the order.
McClellan can now
shield himself under Halleck should anything go wrong, while Halleck
can disclaim all responsibility."
" I consider General Halleck," said the President, " just as responsi-
ble now
as he was
before.
The
order
directs McClellan
to put
the
troops into the
fortifications, and command them
for the
defence
of
Washington."
" I can but feel that giving McClellan command is equivalent to giv-
ing Washington to the rebels," Mr. Chase said.
"It
distresses me exceedingly," said the President, "to find myself
340
LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
differing from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Treasury
on this point
;
so much do I feel it that I would gladly resign my place.
I cannot see who can do this as well as it can be done by McClellan."
" Hooker, Sumner, or Burnside will do
it better than he," Mr. Chase
replied. (')
" I have issued the order, and I must be responsible to the country
for it," the calm but firm words of the President. (^)
His constitutional advisers
disagree with
him.
He thinks
of the
attitude
of McClellan
;
of the army drifting back
to Washington
; of
the thousands of dead and wounded on the field of Manassas
; of the
victorious Confederates preparing to invade Maryland.
He walks
his
chamber and
exclaims, "How willingly would
I exchange places
to-
day with the
soldier who
sleeps on the ground
in the Army of the
Potomac !"(')
We are not
to conclude that
the
President had
lost
courage on
account of the
disasters that had come through the tardiness and
in-
efficiency, or lukewarmness, on the part of those who had been intrusted
with command.
He was deeply grieved over the differences between
himself and the members of the Cabinet, but there was no yielding of
his faith in what would be the final outcome.
He believed in the army
and
in
the
people.
He
directed Halleck
to proceed with
all
Sept. 3.
,
,
,
^
\
.
,
.
possible
despatch
to
organize an army
for
active
operations,
independent of the forces he might deem necessary for the defence of
Washington when the active army should take the field.
The Confederate army was crossing the Potomac at Leesburg.
It
was universally believed in the South that the sympathies of the people
of Maryland were with the Confederates.
General Lee thought
thousands of young men would hasten to join him
; that Balti-
more would welcome him.
The harvests had been gathered, and there
would be
little
difficulty
in finding food.
If he could win
a victory
north
of the Potomac the moral and
political results would be of in-
estimable value
to the Confederacy.
He
divided
his army, and sent
"Stonewall" Jackson to capture the 10,000 Union troops, under General
Miles, holding Harper's Ferry.
McClellan the while was moving
' slowly out from Washington with an army of 100,000.
He was
calling for more troops.
In the silence and seclusion of his chamber, Mr. Lincoln meditated
upon the situation.
He looked beyond the turmoil of the hour, to
as-
certain
if possible the ways and meanings of divine Providence.
These
his thoughts as recorded by himself;
EMANCIPATION.
341
" Tlie
will of God prevails.
In great contests each party claims to
act
in accordance
Avitli the
Avill of God.
Both
laaij be, and one rauat
be, wrong.
God cannot
ho: for and against the same thing at the same
time.
In the present ('ivil War
it
is quite ])ossil)le that God's purpose
is something different from
the purpose of either party; and yet the
human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adapta-
tion to effect His purpose.
I am almost ready to say that this is proba-
bly true
; that God
wills
this contest, and
wills that
it
shall not end
yet. By His great power on the minds of the non-contestants He could
have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest.
Yet
the contest began, and, having begun. He could give the final victory to
either side.
Yet the contest goes on."(')
The disaster that had come
to the Arm}" of the Potomac created
consternation among the loyal people of the North.
A delegation of
ministers from Chicago reached Washington
to urge the President to
do something to abolish
slavery.
Mr. Lincoln kindly listened to their
remarks.
He did not inform them that for two months a proclamation
had been lying in his desk, and that he was waiting for a victory before
issuing
it.
'' Gentlemen," he said, in reply, " you know that
I am powerless to
enforce the Constitution
in the States now in rebellion.
Allow me to
ask you
if you think that I can enforce a proclamation of emancipation
any better?"
The delegates interpreted the question as indicating a reluctance on
the part of the President to issue such a proclamation, even
if he had
the power to enforce
it.
" What you have said," replied one of the gentlemen, " compels me
to say that
it is a message of the divine Master, through me, command-
ing you, sir, to open the doors and let the oppressed go free !"
"AVell, that may be," said the President, with twinkling eyes, "but
if
it is, as you say, a message from your divine Master,
is
it not a little
odd that the only channel
of communication
to me must
be by the
roundabout way of that awfully wicked
city
of Chicago f'C)
They
departed without having obtained any satisfaction.
A very important and valuable paper fell into the hands of McClellan
—an order issued by General Lee, outlining the future movements of
^ £he Confederate army.
A
soldier had picked
it up where the
^ Confederate army had been
encamped
;
there was
no doubt
about
its being genuine.
McClellan learned that Lee had divided
his
army.
Jackson was
to move to Harper's Ferry;
Lee, with the other
342
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
half of his
troops, was
to be
in the vicinity of Boonsboro'.
A great
opportunity had come to McClelian.
General Franklin was in position
to make a quick march and fall upon Jackson
; he himself might hurry
on to Boonsboro' and overwhelm Lee.
But there was no quick issuing
of orders, no hurrying anywhere,
Frankhn, when he reached Cramp-
ton's Gap, won an easy victory over the Confederates holding
it
; but
Harper's Ferry, with
11,000 men and all its cannon, was being surren-
dered to Jackson,
McClelian moved leisurely to Turner's Gap, held by a portion of the
Confederates under Longstreet.
The advance was made with great de-
liberation.
The Confederates were finally driven, and the Union army
moved on to Boonsboro',
A battle was fought at Antietam.
When night closed the advantage
was on the side
of
the Union army, which looked forward to
Sept. IV.
.
J
a victory.
The following morning dawned, but no cannon thundered, nor was
there any rattle of musketry.
Through the day the two armies were
motionless.
Again the' morning dawned, and the Confederates were in Virginia.
The report showed that notwithstanding the losses in battle and from
straggling
soldiers, 93,000 men were present
for
duty.
The
Confed-
erate army, as
is now known, did not number 50,000,
It was
Avorn by hard marching, and greatly weakened.
Several thou-
sand troops had been sent to McClelian, but many had wandered from
the ranks and were
feasting on
the good things to
be found
in the
farm-houses of Maryland,
" Sending troops to the army," said the President, " is like attempt-
ing to shovel fleas across a barn-yard
: not half of them get there." (')
The ISTorth hailed the result of Antietam as a victory.
The time
had come for President Lincoln to issue his contemplated proclamation
concerning emancipation—giving notice to the States fighting against
the Government that unless they laid down their arms he should, on
January 1, 1863, issue an edict giving freedom to slaves.
The clock was striking twelve on Monday noon when the members
of
the
Cabinet
assembled
in
the White House— called
to a
Sept. 22.
.
,
special meeting.
" I have a very funny book here,'* said the President, " written by
' Artemas Ward,'
Let me read you what he says about an outrage
at
Utica."
"Artemas Ward," whose real name was Charles F, Browne, was a hu-
EMANCIPATION.
543
morist.
His book was an account of the incidents that befell him while
making his pretended travels through the country exhibiting his "show"
to the
public.
Mr. "Ward's"
spelling was
peculiarly phonetic,
llis
"show" consisted of "Three moral bares, a kangaro (a amoozin
little
raskal), wax figgers of G. Washington, Gen. Tayler, John Bunyun, Capt.
Kidd, and Dr. AVebster in the act of killing Dr. Parkman, besides sev-
eral miscellanyus wax statoots of celebrated piruts and murderers, &c.,
ekalled by few and exceld by none."
Among the
figures was one of
Judas
Iscariot.
The
account given by Mr.
" Ward " of his advent-
ures was flavored with
irony as well as humor.
The outrao-e at Utica is
a jest upon one phase
of human
nature
as
sometimes exhibited.
"In the fall of1856,"
reads
the
account, " I
showed my show
in
Utiky,
a
trooly great
sitty
in
the
state
of
New York.
The peo-
ple gave me a cordyul
recepshun.
The press
was loud m her prases.
" 1
day
as
I
was
givin my discripshun of
my Beests and Snaiks
in
my
usual
flowry
stile, what was my
skorn and disgust to see a big burly feller walk up to the cage contain-
ino; mv figger of Judas and drag' him out on the 2:round,
He then com-
menced to pound him as hard as he cood.
"
' What under the son are you about ?' cried
I.
" Sez
he,
' What did you bring this puss^'laneemus cuss here fur V
& he
hit the wax figger another tremenjis blow on the hed.
Sez
I,
•You
egrejus
ass, that
air's
a wax
figger— a
representashun
of the
false 'Postle.'
" Sez
he,
* That's all very well fur you
to say
; but
I
tell you, old
CHARLES
F. BROWNE ("ARTEMUS WARD"
344
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
man, that Judas Iscareiot can't show himself in Utiky with impunerty.'
With that he kaved in Judasses
hed.
The young man belonged
to
1 of the first famulies in Utiky.
I sood him, and the Joory brawt in a
verdick of arson in the 3d degree."
The President enjoyed the " hit " upon people who regarded them-
selves as belonging to the first families, and
also upon the verdicts of
juries as sometimes rendered.
The members of the Cabinet—all except
Mr. Stanton—laughed heartily.
The Secretary of War could not
see
anything to laugh at.
He had
little appreciation of humor.
He had
come to the White House to consult with the President upon a mo-
mentous question, and made no effort to conceal his contempt for the
nonsense of such a mountebank as
" Artemas Ward."
He could not
comprehend
the
relief which
it
had
given
the
President
after the
sleepless nights and anxious days preceding Antietam.
The laughter
and humor was a healthful stimulus
in preparing Mr. Lincoln for the
consideration
of
great
questions.
The
book was
returned
to
the
President's desk.
" I have called you together," he said, " to
consult upon an impor-
tant matter. (')
Gentlemen, I haye, as you are aware, thought a great
deal about the relation
of this war to slavery
; and you
all remember
that, several weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared on this
subject, which, on account of objections made by some of you, was not
issued.
Ever since then my mind has been much occupied with this sub-
ject, and I have thought, all along, that the time for acting on it might
probably come.
I think the time has come now.
I wish it was a bet-
ter time.
I wish that we were in a better condition.
The action
of
the army against the rebels has not been quite what I should have best
liked.
But they have been driven out of Maryland, and Pennsylvania
is no longer in danger of invasion.
When the rebel army was at Fred-
erick, I determined, as soon as
it should be driven out of Maryland, to
issue a proclamation of emancipation, such as I thought most likely to
be useful.
I said nothing to any one
; but I made the promise to my-
self, and" [hesitating a little] "to my Maker.
The rebel army
is now
driven out, and I am going to fulfil that promise.
I have got you to-
gether to hear what
I have written down.
I do not wish your advice
about the main matter, for that I have determined for myself.
This I
say without intending anything but respect for any one of you.
But I
already know the views of each on this question.
They have been here-
tofore expressed, and
I have considered them
as thoroughly and care-
fully as I can.
What I have written is that which my reflections have
EMANCIPATION.
345
determined me to
say.
If there
is anything in
the expressions
I
use,
or
in any minor
matter, wliich any
one
of you
thinks had best
be
changed, I sliall be glad to receive the suggestions.
One other observa-
tion
I
will make.
I know
ver\^ well that many others might,
in
this
matter, as in
others, do
better than
I can
; and
if I was satisfied that
the public confidence was more fully possessed by any one of them than
by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which he could be put
in my place, he should have
it.
I w^ould gladly yield
it to him.
But,
though I behev^e that
I have not so much of the confidence of the peo-
ple as I had some time since, I do not know that, all things considered,
any other person has more
; and, however this may be, there is no way
in which I can have any other man put where
I am.
I am
here.
I
must do the best I can, and bear the responsibility of taking the course
which I feel I ought to take. (")
" I have made a vow—a covenant—that
if God should give us
vic-
tory in battle I would consider
it as an
indication of divine
will, and
that
it would be our duty to move forward with emancipation.
You
may think it strange that I have thus submitted matters wdien the way
was not clear to my mind as to what I ought to do.
God has decided
this question in favor of the slaves.
I am satisfied that I took the right
course
;
it
is confirmed by results."('°)
" Would
it not be well," Mr. Sew^ard asked, " to make the proclama-
tion more clear and decided
;
to leave out all reference to the act being
sustained during
the incumbency
of
the
present
President, and
not
merely say that the Government
' recognizes,' but that
it will maintain
the freedom it proclaims ?"
" What you have said, Mr. President," remarked Mr. Chase, " fully
satisfies me that you have given the subject careful consideration.
You
have expressed your conclusions distinctly.
This it was your right, and
under your oath of office your duty to do.
The proclamation does not
mark out exactly the course I myself would prefer, but I am ready to
take
it just as it has been written, and to stand by
it with
all my heart.
I think, however, that the suggestions of Mr. Seward are very judicious,
and shall be glad to have them adopted."
" I am ready to sustain the proclamation with
all my power," said
Mr. Stanton, " but the act
is so great, and
in which such great conse-
quences are involved, I hope every member will be explicit in declaring
his opinion."
" I assent to it as a war measure," said Mr. Welles.
" I am on principle an emancipationist," Mr.
Blair remarked, ' but
346
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
doubt the expediency of issuing the proclamation just at this moment.
We ought not to do anything that will jeopardize the patriotic
senti-
ment of the border
States,
This proclamation will be likely to carry
them over to the Confederacy.
There is also a party of men in the Free
States who are trying to revive old party lines, and I do not want to
put a club into their hands just now.
I approve the measure, but the
time has not come for such action, and I must
file my
objection, Mr.
President."
" Certainly, Mr. Secretary, that you have the right to
do.
I have
thought over the objections which you raise.
The difficulty not to act
is as great as to
act.
For months
I have labored
to get
the border
States to consent to compensated emancipation.
I have endeavored to
convince them that it is for their best interest, but my labors have been
in vain.
The time has come for a forward movement.
They will
ac-
quiesce
;
if not at once, they will in a short time.
They will see that
slavery
has
received
its death-blow from the men who own
slaves.
They will see that slavery cannot survive the war.
In regard to the
party in the North, they will use their clubs against us, no matter which
course we pursue." (")
The people of the United States, as they opened their newspapers
on the following morning, beheld the head-lines which announced the
proclamation.
The
antislavery people thanked God
;
the
pro-
' slavery uttered curses.
Horace Greeley and the Chicago minis-
ters were surprised.
Mr. Lincoln had shut his chamber door on all the
world.
Twenty years had passed since Lucy Gilman Speed guided his
troubled
spirit into
restful peace.
His
conduct
of the
affairs of the
nation was based upon the precepts contained
in the book which she
had placed in his hands.
Not with his Cabinet
but with God had he
first taken counsel. A third of a century had gone by since he stood a
spectator in the slave mart
of New Orleans and uttered a vow
; alone
in his closet he reaffirmed
it and promised to strike a blow at slavery.
He had kept his promise.
Word came to President Lincoln that members of McClellan's staff
were making remarks which ought not to be made by army officers.
Major Turner asked, "Why was not the rebel army bagged at An-
tietam ?"
" That is not the game.
The object
is that neither army shall get
much advantage of the other
; that both shall be kept in the field
till
they are exhausted, when we will make a compromise and save slavery,"
replied Major John J. Key.
EMANCIPATION.
347
The two officers were summoned to appear at the White House, and
Major Key was informed that he had an opportunity of disproving the
language attributed to him.
He made no
denial, but said he was true
to the Union.
" If there
is a game," said the President, "among Union
men to have our army not take any advantage of the enemy when
it
can, I propose to break
it
up.
In my view
it
is wholly
inadmissible
for any gentleman
holding
a
military commission from
the
United
States to utter such sentiments as Major Key
is proved
to have done.
Therefore let Major John J. Key be forthwith dismissed from the mili-
tary service of the United States."
The army under McClellan, present and
fit for duty, numbered 100,-
000, besides 73,000 under General Banks, in and around AVashington.
The Confederates were at Winchester.
McClellan showed no
disposition to advance.
Pie complained that he needed clothing
and
supplies.
The
President determined
to
see for himself the con-
dition of the army, and
visited Harper's Ferry and McClellan's head-
quarters.
In the
early morning he climbed the mountain with a friend and
beheld the panorama—hill-side and valley, as far as the eye could see,
dotted with white tents.
'' Do you know," said the President, turning to
his
friend, " what
that is ?"
" It is the Army of the Potomac," the answer.
" So
it
is
called.
But that
is a mistake
;
it
is General McClellan's
Oct.
1.
PRESIDENT LIKCOLN AT MoCLELLAN S HEADQUAKTERS.
348
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
body-guard," said Mr. Lincoln, sadly.
Yery kind but frank the conver-
sation held with the commanding general, who was informed that the
army must move.
There was no ambiguity in the following despatch which General
McClellan received from General Halleck, October 6th
:
"The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle
to the enemy or
drive liim South.
Your army must move now while the roads are good."
-To a friend the President
said
:
" With
all McClellan's
failings
as
a
soldier, he
is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman.
He
is an admira-
ble engineer, but he seems
to have
a
special
talent
for
a stationary
enginer ('^)
Concealed by a fog that hung along the Potomac, General Stuart,
commanding 1800 Confederate cavalry, crossed that stream, rode north-
ward, and in the evening entered Chambersburg, Pa.
He spent
the night there, burned the railroad buildings, turned eastward,
reached
Emmettsbure: the next
evening-, and
recrossed the Potomac
into Yirginia, near Leesburg.
He had trotted round the army as once
before on the peninsula.
McClellan complained that his own cavalry
horses were broken down.
" "Will you pardon me for asking," wrote the President, " what the
horses of A^our army have done since the battle
of Antietam that
fa-
tigues anvthino; ?"
On
the day (October 13th) that the Confederate cavalry escaped
into Virginia, the President wrote a long letter to McClellan
:
"You say that you cannot subsist your army at Winchester unless the railroad from
Harper's Ferry to that point be put in working order.
But the enemy does now subsist
his army at Winchester, at a distance nearly twice as great from railroad transportation
as you would have
to do without the railroad last named.
He now wagons from Cul-
peper Court-house, wliich is just about twice as far as you would have to do from Harper's
Ferry.
He
is certainly not more than half as well provided with wagons as j'ou are.
I
certainly should be pleased for you to have the advantage of the railroad from Harper's
Ferry to Winchester, but it wastes all the remainder of autumn
to give
it to you, and in
fact ignores the question of time, which cannot and must not be ignored.
Again, one
of
the standard maxims of war, as you know,
is to
' operate upon the enemy's communica-
tions as much as possible without exposing your own.'
You seem to act as if this applies
against you, but cannot apply in your favor.
Change positions with
the enemy, and
think you
not he would break your communication with Richmond
within
the
next
twenty-four hours?
You dread his going into Pennsylvania; but if he does so in full force,
he gives up his communications to you absolutely, and you have nothing
to do but to
follow and ruin him.
If he does so with less than full force, fall upon and beat what
is
left behind
all
the
easier.
Exclusive of the water-line, you
are now nearer Richmond
than the enemy is by the route that you can and he must take.
Why can you not reach
EMANCIPATION.
349
there before him, unless you admit that he
is more than j'our equal on a march?
His
route is the arc of a circle, while yours is the chord."
The result of the October election in Pennsylvania was disastrous to
the Kepublican Party.
Several members of Congress failed of a re-elec-
tion.
William D. Kelley had been outspoken in
his o])inion of McClel-
lan, and had been chosen by an increased vote, while other candidates
whose
election was
regarded
as
certain
were
defeated.
Mr. Kelley
called upon the President.
" Kelley," said Mr. Lincoln, " you know how I sincerely congratulate
you.
Come, sit down and tell me how it is that you, for whose election
nobody seemed
to hope, are returned with a good majority at your
back, while so many of your friends have been badly beaten."
"My triumph, Mr. President,
is due to my loyalty to you and to my
independence in demanding the substitution
of a lighting general for
McClellan
; and
it
is the desire for a change
of commanders that has
brouo'ht me here this mornino:."
Mr. McPherson, who had been defeated in "what was regarded as a
strong Republican district, entered the room.
" Tell me, Mr. McPherson, how
it happened that
3^ou were so un-
fortunately left out?"
Mr. McPherson vaguely gave several reasons.
" Pardon me, Mr. President," said Mr. Kelley, " but my colleague
is
not dealing frankly with you.
His friends hold you responsible for his
defeat."
" If that is true, I thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Kelley.
'Now,
tell me frankly what
lost
us your
district, Mr. McPherson.
If there
was ever an occasion when a man should speak with
perfect candor
to another
it
is now, when
I apply to you
for information that may
guide my course in grave national affairs."
" Well, Mr. President, I will
tell you frankly w^hat our friends say.
They charge the defeat to the general tardiness in military movements,
which results, as they believe, from McClellan's unfitness to command.
The enforcement
of the draft occurred during the campaign, and of
course our political enemies used
it against us.
Stuart, you know, raid-
ed through my district on the Friday and Saturday before the election,
burned the railroad shops and trains, and destroyed thousands of mus-
kets and a large amount of supplies."
Before the
President
could
reply Mr. Moorhead, of
Pittsburg, en-
tered.
" Well, Moorhead, what word do you bring ?
You were
not
defeated ?"
350
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" No, Mr. President
; but
I am sorry to say that
it was not your
fault that we were not all beaten !" he exclaimed, very excitedly.
" Mr.
President, I came as far as Harrisburg yesterday, and passed the even-
ing with a number of the best and most influential men of the
State,
including some who have been your most earnest supporters
; and they
charged me to tell you that when one of them said he would be glad to
hear, some morning, that you had been found hanging from the post of
a lamp at the door of the White House, others approved the expression."
The President stands before the three gentlemen calm and unmoved.
His voice
is subdued.
" My friends, you need not be surprised to find
that your suggestion has been carried out any morning.
The
violent
preliminaries
of such an event would not
surprise me,
I have done
things incomprehensible to the people, and which cannot now be ex-
plained."
" Mr. President," said Mr. Kelley, with great earnestness, " you have
but to assert your position by showing yourself master of the military
department, as you have of the other departments, to command a
fol-
lowing in the Northern States such even as Andrew Jackson never had.
You enjoy a greater share of the personal affection of your fellow-citi-
zens than any public man since Washington.
Within twenty-four hours
after it shall be known that you have put a soldier in McClellan's place,
you
will command
the
moral,
social, and
financial
resources
of
the
country as no President ever has done."
" Kellev," replied the President, " if it were your duty to select a suc-
cessor to McClellan, whom would you name ?"
Mr. Kelley did not reply directly, but said
:
" Mv advice to you, Mr. President, is to make a change, and let it be
known that the loss of a great battle will be to the general the loss of
his command
; and go on changing
till you find the right man, though
it be a private with a marshal's baton in his knapsack."
" Well, but you are talking about an immediate successor to McClel-
lan, and
I ask you whom you would name for his position
if the duty
were yours ?"
" I think, sir, my judgment would incline to Hooker, whose sobriquet
of 'Fighting Joe' would convey the impression to the impatient coun-
try that the change meant
' fight,' which the people would believe to be
synonymous with an ultimate success."
"Would not Burnside do better?"
" I don't think so.
You know I have great respect for him, but he
is not known to the country as an aggressive man."
EMANCIPATION.
351
" But Burnside is the better house-keeper."
" Mr. President, you
are not
in search of a house-keeper or a hos-
pital steward, but of a soldier who will fight, and fight to win."
" I am not so sure, Mr. Kelley, that we are not in search of a house-
keeper.
I tell you that the successful inanagemeut of an army requires
a good deal of faithful house-keeping.
More fight will be got out
of
well-fed and
well-cared-for soldiers and animals than those who make
long marches on empty stomachs. (")
The words were kindly spoken, and the three gentlemen assented to
them.
Mr. McPherson and Mr. Moorhead took their departure, and
Mr. Kelley and the President were once more alone.
" Mr. President," said Kelley, " you know that at Antietam Lee was
in a cul-de-sac, with only one road by which he could retreat across the
Potomac
;
that
his ammunition was exhausted
;
that McClellan had
Fitz-John
Porter's corps
fresh, with an abundant supply
of ammuni-
tion
; and yet Lee was allowed to get across the river with no moles-
tation."
" I know
it, Kelley.
Victory was within McClellan's grasp.
I know
his unfitness to command
; but let me say to you that I restored McClel-
lan to the command of the army to reorganize
it. He owed his command
quite as much to Lee
as to me
; for while the work of reorganization
was going on, Lee crossed the Potomac into Maryland, and compelled
McClellan to move and check his advance."
Mr. Kelley noticed a smile
lighting up the
sad
face, but did
not
quite understand
its meaning.
The President continued
;
" Whatever the people and the troops may think or say of his failure
to capture Lee, my censure would be tempered by the consciousness of
the fact that I did not restore him to the command for aggressive fight-
ing, but
as an
organizer and
a good hand
at
defending
a
position.
McClellan, by
liis constant and unfounded
complaints, had done much
to impair confidence
in
the
Secretary
of "War and
myself.
He had
wantonly sacrificed Pope.
I admit that to employ him
to rescue the
array from
its demoralization
is a good deal like
' curing the bite with
the hair of the dog.'
But we must not forget the position
of
affairs,
which furnish a striking illustration of the danger to which republican
institutions are subjected by a great war, which may produce ambitious
and
rival commanders.
The
civil power in September was in reality
subordinate to the military.
I was commander-in-chief, but found my-
self, in that season
of insubordination, panic, and demoralization, con-
sciously under military duress.
McClellan, while fighting battles which
352
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
should produce no
result but the expenditure of men and means, had
contrived to keep the troops with him by charging each new failure to
some dereliction of the
Secretar}^ of War and the President
; had cre-
ated an impression among them that the Administration was hostile to
him, and withheld what should have been accorded him, and which in
some
instances he
falsely represented
as having been promised him.
The restoration of McClellan to command, in the face
of his miscon-
duct, was the greatest
trial and most painful duty of my official
life.
Yet, situated as
I was, it seemed to be my duty, and, in opposition to
every member of my Cabinet, I performed
it, and I feel no regret for
what I have done.
To-day, Mr. Kelley, I am stronger with the Army of
the Potomac than McClellan.
The supremacy of civil power has been
restored, and the Executive is again master of the situation.
The troops
AMBROSE
E. BURNSIDE.
EMANCIPATION.
353
know that
if
I made a mistake in substituting Pope
for McClellan, I
was capable of rectifying
it by again trusting him.
They know, too,
that neither Stanton nor myself withliekl anything from him at Antie-
tam, and that
it was not the Administration but their own former idol
wlio surrendered the just results of their terrible sacrifice and closed the
great
fight as a drawn
battle, when, had he thrown Porter's corps of
fresh men and other available troops upon Lee's army, he would have
driven it in disorder to the river and captured most of it before sunset."
The month of October was
closing.
For a period of six weeks the
army had idled the time away encamped on the bank of the Potomac.
It was
east
of the Blue Ridge.
General Lee was west
of
it, in
the
Shenandoah Valley.
McClellan was nearer Richmond.
The President urged him to make
a rapid march on the interior line for the Confederate capital, but the
army did not move.
The patience of the loyal people of the country
was
exhausted.
President
Lincoln knew
that
every member
of
his
Cabinet had lost faith in McClellan.
He had issued a peremptory order
for a movement which had been disregarded.
Slowly, during the last week of October, the army crossed the Poto-
mac
; slowly it moved a few miles each day southward.
More swiftly
marched the army of Lee, crossing the mountains and reaching Cul—
peper, ready to confront McClellan on the bank of the Rapidan.
The patience of the President was exhausted.
He had resolved to
remove him from
further command
if
he
allowed
Lee
to
cross
the
mountains and block the advance to Richmond.
A messenger
' came with an
order relieving McClellan of the command and
appointing General Burnside as his successor.
NOTES TO
CHAPTEE
XVIII.
( M " Centnry Magazine," January, 1889.
( 2 ) Warden's " Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 459.
(^) Gideon "Welles, " Lincoln and Seward," p. 194.
(^) Schuyler Colfax, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 337.
(^) " Century Magazine," August, 1889.
(M Ibid.
( ")
" Century Magazine," January, 1889.
C) Ibid.
O Gideon Welles's Diary, " Century Magazine," January, 1889.
('0) Ibid.
(") Gideon Welles, "Galaxy Magazine," December, 1882.
(
''^
) Isaac N. Arnold, " Life of Lincoln," p. 300.
('^) William D. Kelley, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 271,
354
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XIX.
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
THE Army of the Potomac was at Warrenton.
Its new commander,
General Burnside, had rendered excellent service in l^orth Caro-
lina,
He reluctantly accepted the command conferred upon him by
President Lincoln.
He doubted his ability to handle so large a body of
troops.
The
country demanded
aggressive
action.
He must plan a
campaign.
The advantages which
existed
after Antietam had been
lost.
The Confederate arm}^ was behind the Rapidan, at Gordonsville.
A new movement must be
planned.
General Halleck advised Burn-
side to make a direct attack upon the Confederate army.
Burnside
thought
it would be better to march south-east to Fredericksburg, and
cross the Rappahannock at that
point.
It would
necessitate the
re-
opening of
the railroad from Aquia Creek to Fredericksburg.
Pon-
toons would be needed.
The}'^ could be taken down the Potomac and
up the Rappahannock by steamer.
Burnside would conceal his inten-
tions by making a demonstration towards Gordonsville with a portion
of the army while the boats were on their way.
At the right moment
he would make a quick march to Fredericksburg.
Halleck would
see
that
the pontoons were there at the appointed time.
The plan was
approved by the President.
Day was dawning on l^ovember 15th Avhen the troops under Gener-
al Sumner folded their blankets and moved eastward from "Warrenton.
They reached the Falmouth
hills opposite
Fredericksburg.
The Con-
federate regiment of cavalry and four companies of infantry holding
the
place
saw with amazement
the
hills
across
the Rappahannock
swarming with Union soldiers.
The pontoons had not arrived.
Colonel
Brooks, commanding a brigade, saw a steer come down
the
southern
bank and wade across the stream.
He sent word to Sumner, who
de-
spatched a messenger to Burnside, asking permission to cross the river
and seize Fredericksburg.
He had 40,000 men.
Burnside hastened to
Falmouth, but thought the
risk too great,
as the pontoons were not
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
355
there.
Two days passed, and
Lee's army was
i\\)on the
hills
behind
the city.
Through want of co-operation or inefficiency at Washington
the well -laid plan had
miscarried.
Burnside was confronted by the
army of Lee, intrenched upon frowning hills.
The country was
^^gg^'-^' demanding a battle.
He must make a movement.
He decided
to cross the Rappahannock, capture the town, and then attack
Lee in the intrenchments.
It was done, resulting in failure, the loss of
12,000 men, and the withdrawal of the troops to Falmouth.
No language can adequately describe the emotions of the President
upon hearing of the terrible slaughter and the disastrous results.
Day
by day the lines deepened upon his brow.
The
elections
held
in November had
resulted
in the choice of a
large number of Democratic members of Congress, and the election of
Horatio Seymour
as Governor
of New York.
Mr. Seymour was a
Democrat, opposed to the war, and Mr. Lincoln could no longer turn
to the chief of that great State for support.
He had good reason to
look with apprehension into the future.
But in his message to Congress,
upon
its reassembling for its last
session, there w^as no swerving from
his conviction of what was right, or what ought to be done to maintain
the Union.
There is dignity, grandeur, and touching pathos in his clos-
ing sentences
:
" I do not forget the gravity -wliich should characterize a paper addressed to the Con-
gress of the nation by the chief magistrate of the nation.
Nor do I forget that some of
you are my seniors, nor that many of you have more experience than I in the conduct of
public ailairs.
Yet I trust that in view of the great responsibility resting upon me you
will perceive no want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem
to
display.
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.
The occa-
sion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.
As our case is new,
so we must think anew and act anew.
We must disinthrall ourselves, and then we shall
save our country.
"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history.
. We, of this Congress and this adminis-
tration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves.
No personal significance, or insignifi-
cance, can spare one or another of us
The fiery trial through which we pass will light us
down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.
We say we are for the Union.
The
world will not forget that we say this.
We know how to save the Union.
The world
knows we do know how to save
it.
We—even we here—hold the power and bear the re-
sponsibility.
In giving freedom
to the
slave we assure freedom
to the free—honorable
alike
in what we give and what we preserve.
We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the
last, best hope of earth.
Other means may succeed, this coidd not fail.
The way is plain,
peaceful, generous, just—a way which,
if followed, the world will forever applaud, and
God must forever bless."
Mr. Lincoln was carrying burdens which were not apparent to the
public.
The country was holding him responsible for all the
failures.
356
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The War Department was a part of tlie Administration. Why such in-
efficiency at Washington ?
Why were not the pontoons at Fredericks-
burg at the appointed time ?
Why did not the President bring about
harmony among the members
of the
Cabinet?
Mr. Seward and Mr.
Chase differed widely in their views as to what ought to be done.
They
had both been aspirants for the Presidency.
Mr. Lincoln, with great
magnanimity,
had
invited them
to
aid him
in
the
administration.
They were
strong men, who
not only criticised each
other, but the
President.
" It is painful," wrote Mr. Chase to Senator Sherman, " to hear com-
plaints of remissness, delays, disorder, and dangers, and feel that there
must be ground for such complaints, and know at the same time that
one has no power to remedy the evils complained of, and yet be thought
tohave."(')
Mr. Chase
said the Administration had made many mistakes and
blunders.
He also felt that the influence of the Secretary of State over
Mr. Lincoln was not what it should be.
" I do not doubt," he said to Mr. Thurlow Weed, " Mr, Seward's fidel-
ity to his ideas of progress, amelioration, and freedom
; but he adheres
too tenaciously to men who have proved themselves unworthy and dan-
gerous, such as McClellan.
His
influence encourages the irresolution
and inaction of the President in regard to men and measures." (')
Mr. Seward offended a large number of Senators by a despatch writ-
ten to Mr. Adams, Minister to England, in which he criticised the policy
of that minister.
The Senators learned of the interview between Mr.
Chase and Mr. Weed, which made them still more dissatisfied with Mr.
Seward.
They met in conference and voted to demand his dismissal,
but subsequently thought
it would be more respectful to request a
re-
construction of the Cabinet.
The janitor at the White House was accustomed to see delegations
and committees ascend the
stairs leading to the President's room, but
not often had he seen nine Senators entering the chamber in a
Dec
' body.
They were men whom the President greatly respected
—Sumner, (') Fessenden, Collamer, Pomeroy, Howard, Harris, Wade,
Grimes, Trumbull,
They had no charge
to make
of any
particular
wrong done by Mr. Seward, but thought he was not heartily supporting
the measures of the President.
" I would like to see you again this evening," said the President.
The Senators departed, and a little later each member of the Cabi-
net, in response to a request from the President, entered.
They were
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
357
CHARLES SUMNER.
informed of
the
interview with
tlie
Senators.
He
desired them
to
know all that was being done.
Once more—in tlie evening—the Sen-
ators met the President, together with
the members of the Cabinet,
except Mr. Seward.
We never shall know all that was said.
A frank
and free discussion was carried on
till late in the night.
" Do you, gentlemen," said the President, " still think Mr. Seward
ought to be excused from serving as Secretary of State ?"
" Yes," said Sumner, Trumbull, Grimes, and Pomeroy.
" No," responded Senator Harris.
" We decline to commit ourselves," the answer of Fessenden, CoUa-
mer, and Howard.
23*
368
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
On December 20th Secretary Seward and Secretary Chase sent their
resignations to the President, but he declined to accept them
; he need-
ed their great services and had confidence in them.
Christmas was not, as in former years, full of joy and gladness, but
sorrow, to those whose loved ones were buried where they fell on the
battle-fields.
Gloom and despondency were settling upon the Army
of the Potomac.
The leading generals were quarrelling.
Burnside de-
manded the peremptory removal of those whom he believed had failed
to do their duty—among them General Hooker.
His subordinate com-
manders were denouncing him for the useless slaughter at Fredericks-
burg.
There was want of unity in the Cabinet.
Senators and mem-
bers of Congress were criticising the Administration.
The Republican
members were divided in opinion.
The Committee on the Conduct of
the War was bringing to light many scandals.
The men who opposed
the war were becoming
arrogant and
aggressive.
The
Democratic
Party was in power in many of the
States, determined to thwart the
President.
Leading officers in the army said that " the army and the
Government needed a dictator."
The time was near at hand when the
final edict of emancipation would be issued.
More bitterly than ever
was it denounced as unconstitutional, unrighteous, and wicked by those
who did not want to see slavery abolished.
Is
it a wonder that under
these circumstances the sadness deepened upon the countenance of the
President, or that he experienced unspeakable anguish as he thought of
the slaughter
at Fredericksburg and looked into the darkness of the
future ?
Many slaves had left their masters and made their way to Washing-
ton.
The Government was obliged to establish a " contraband camp,"
where they were cared for.
On the last day of December the hands of
the clock stole on to the midnight hour, when, according to the edict of
Abraham Lincoln, they were to be
free.
The thousands kneeled and
began to sing
:
" Oh, go down, Moses,
Way down
to Egypt's land
;
Tell King Pharaoh
To
let my people go.
Oh, Pharaoh said he would not cross
'Let my people
go.'
But Pharaoh and his hosts were
lost
Let my people go."
The song ceased.
The church bell slowly tolled the hour.
There
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
359
was
silence
as
of death, and then
'' Glory
!
hallelujah
I we
are
free
!
God bless Massa Linkum
!"
" O dark, sad
millions, patientlj' and dumb,
Waiting for God, your hour
at
last has come.
And freedom's song
Breaks the long silence of your night of wrong."
So wrote John G. "VVhittier on hearing the consummation
of the
event which gave freedom to 4,000,000 slaves.
General Burnside planned a movement of the arm3\
General Sum-
ner was to have charge of
it.
General Averill, with a large force of
cavalry, was to make a raid
in
rear of
the
Confederates and
''iS63^' ^^^stroy their communication with Kichmond.
While the church
bells were tolling out the old year and ringing in the new, with
its era of freedom, a despatch went over the wires from the President
to Burnside
:
" I have good reason for saying you must make no movement without consulting me."
General Burnside
hastened
to Washington, and
learned
that
sev-
eral of
his subordinate
officers had
protested
against
the movement.
He sent a letter to the President, in which he said that the countr}''
evidently had
lost
confidence
in Mr.
Stanton, General
Halleck, and
himself, and that all three ought to resign.
He enclosed his own resig-
nation.
He called upon Secretary Stanton and informed him of what
he had done.
" K," said Stanton,
'' you had as much confidence in yourself as oth-
ers have in you, things would go through all right."
The President sent the resignation back to Burnside, who returned
to the army.
Mr. Raymond, editor of the Xew York " Times," wishing to see the
actual situation, visited Falmouth and talked with many officers. (')
" I think," said General AYadsworth, " that the reported demoraliza-
tion of the army is much exaggerated, and that the only trouble
is in
the disaffection of some of the
officers, who had been greatly favored
by McClellan, and who were hoping for his return to command." (')
" There
is," said Colonel Morrow, " a good deal of dissatisfaction
or rather of despondency—among officers and men, due mainly, in my
opinion, to a lack of military successes and to a want
of confidence
in
General Burnside, because lie has no confidence in himself.
He has said
many times that he did not feel competent to command.
He has not
360
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".
only spoken of his incompetency, but has been before a Congressional
committee and sworn to it.
As an instance of the feeling in the army,
one of my lieutenants has sent in his resignation because he does not
approve of the policy on which the Government is conducting the war.
The army must be reorganized, with a general at
its head who has not
been mixed up with rivalries." (')
General Burnside planned another advance.
He intended to send
a portion of the army down the river and make a feint of crossing.
At
HENRY
J. RAYMOND.
the same time he would make a rapid march up the river and gain a
foothold on the southern side.
Generals Franklin, Smith, and Hooker
vehemently opposed
the
plan.
The
orders
w^ere
issued.
The
army began its march.
But a storm came— the rain poured in
torrents.
Wagons and cannon could not be moved, and the troops re-
turned to their quarters.
Jan. 22.
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
301
The
dissatisfaction
increased.
It was promoted by
officers rather
than by the men.
We need not wonder that Burnside keenly felt their
antagonism.
The command of the army had been thrust upon him.
He
had
been
thwarted
in
his
first
attempt
by
the
inefficiency or
neglect
of
Ilalleck
in
not
having
the
pontoons
at
Frederickslxirg.
Franklin had not done
his duty in battle, and together with Hooker,
Smith, Cochrane, Woodbury, Sturgis, and Newton
opposed
his
plans.
The President himself had interfered with one of his projects, and yet
would not accept
his resignation.
He could accomplish nothing, and
resolved to remove the officers who were opposing him
; but instead of
issuing the order, he went to Washington to lay the matter before Mr.
Lincoln.
" You know, Mr. President," he said,
'" that I never sought any com-
mand—and more particularly that of the Army of the Potomac.
You
know my desire to return to civil life.
I have no desire to place myself
in opposition to you or to do anything to weaken the Government.
I
have written the order removing those officers, but I have no right to
remove them without your approval.
In case you cannot approve
it, I
must tender you once more my resignation."
" General Burnside," replied the President, " I think that you are
correct, but I must consult with some of my advisers about this."
In addition to the burdens he had to bear, the President, in compli-
ance with custom, must hold receptions and shake hands
witli
Jin
*'4
several thousand
people.
It was only a minute
that he could
talk with Mr. Eaymond on such an occasion.
" General Hooker
is throwing
obstacles
in the way of Burnside,"
said Mr. Eaymond.
"• It
is
true,"
replied Mr. Lincoln
;
" Hooker does
talk
badly,
but
the trouble
is he
is stronger with the country to-day than any other
man."
" How long will he retain that strength when his
real conduct and
character is understood V
'' The country would not believe it
;
tliey would say it
is a lie."(')
Mr. Seward was anxious
to know what Mr. Raymond thought
of
affairs in the army.
" The mass of the soldiers are loyal
; the demoral-
ization is with the officers," said Mr. Raymond.
In addition to the jealousies and rivalries among the army officers,
the President was annoyed by the course pursued by Horace Greeley,
who was holding private interviews and correspondence with Mercier,
the French
Minister, to persuade him that the people
of the Ignited
362
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
States would welcome a mediation which would put an end
to the
war.(')
Mr. Seward was Secretary of
State, and had been intrusted by the
President with
all diplomatic
affairs
; but Mr. Greeley, a private
citi-
zen, was attempting to carry out a pet plan of
his own devising,
in
violation of the law which forbade all intercourse with foreign Minis-
ters.
Mr. Greeley was undertaking to manage the affairs of the nation.
He held intimate personal relations with the Secretary of State.
" He ought to be arrested," said Mr. J. P. Usher, who had succeeded
Mr. Smith as Secretary of the Interior.
" If you were to have him ar-
rested the public would see that the Government intended to punish
with impartial vigor all violations of law and
all departures from loy-
alty."
" Were I to cause his arrest," replied Mr. Seward, " it would be re-
garded as an act of personal hostility to Mr. Greeley, whose proposition
is to be ridiculed.
He proposes to make Switzerland the arbiter of our
destiny—a republic half
Prussian and half French, half Catholic and
half Protestant, represented
in Washington by a consul-general who
keeps a feed-store near the Capitol, and who knows no more of the ne-
cessities and conditions of our national existence than of the politics of
the moon.
The President must be supported in his conduct of the war.
The dream of separation is idle.
The South will not rest content with
any boundary that can be drawn.
If
it was the Potomac, they would
want Washington and Baltimore
;
if the Susquehanna, they would want
Philadelphia and then 'New York.
Permanent peace on such a basis
would be impossible.
With all his defects President Lincoln is just the
man for the crisis.
Patient, capable of endurance, just and tolerant be-
yond example, Providence has raised him up for this emergency as He
raised up Washington for the necessities of our struggle for independ-
ence." (')
Once more General Burnside entered the President's chamber.
" I
have
decided," said Mr. Lincoln, " to relieve you of the command of
the army
; not to accept your resignation, but to give
j'^ou a little rest,
and I shall place General Hooker in command.
I intend also to relieve
General Sumner and General Franklin of
their commands.
Sumner
is much older than Hooker, and ought not to be asked to serve under
him."
'' I am content, Mr. President, to accept it as the best solution of the
problem.
ISTeither yourself nor General Hooker will be happier than I
will be at any victory won by him."
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
363
It was a very frank, open, and earnest
letter which the President
wrote to General Hooker
:
" I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac.
Of course I have done
this upon what appears to me to be suflicient reasons, and yet I think
it best for you to
know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you.
I
believe you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which, of course, I like.
I also believe you
do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right.
You have confidence
in yourself, which
is a valuable,
if not an indispensable, quality.
You are ambitious,
which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm.
But I think that during
General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambitions, and
thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong both to the country
and a most meritorious and honorable brother-officer.
I have heard, in such a way as to
believe
it, of your recently saying that the army and the Government needed a dictator.
Of course it was not for this, but in spite of
it, that I have given you a command.
Only
those generals who gain success can
set up as dictators.
What I ask of you
is military
success, and I will risk the dictatorship.
The Government will support you to the utmost
of its ability, which is neither more nor less than
it has done and will do for all command-
ers.
I much fear that the
spirit you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising
its commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you.
I shall
assist you, as far as I can, to put
it down.
Neither you nor Napoleon,
if he were alive
again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in
it.
And now,
beware of rashness
!
Beware of rashness
But with energy and
sleepless vigilance go
forward and give us victories.
General Hooker found that the soldiers were homesick.
The long-
ing had becotne a disease.
The medical
staff had no medicine for
its
cure.
The sight of home— of parents, wives, sisters, children^— alone
would cure
it.
He proposed to furlough for several days a specified
number
of men from each regiment, who must return on the appoint-
ed day, or their
fellow-soldiers would
not be able
to
go.
President
Lincoln at first objected, but allowed the experiment.
The soldiers were
upon their honor, and promptly returned.
Homesickness disappeared,
and the army took on new vigor and moral strength.
The Confederate cavalry under General Mosby made a daring and
successful
raid.
They eluded the Union pickets at Centreville in the
night, rode to Fairfax Court-house, surprised and captured Gen-
eral Stoughton, who was in command at that
point, also thirty
men, and
fifty -eight horses and mules.
Mosby and his
soldiers were
Virginians.
They knew every road and path, and could make their way
through the
forest in the darkest night.
Their exploits were those of
marauders rather than of soldiers.
President Lincoln laughed heartily
when he heard of the capture.
" So one of mv generals
is captured,"
he said.
" How fortunate
!
I can fill his place in five minutes without
costing a cent, but those mules cost $200 each."('°)
364:
LIFE OF. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
JOSEPH HOOKKR.
It was the bubbling up of the unfailing spring of humor.
A great
many men wanted to be generals—those who had had no military experi-
ence.
Senators, Congressmen, men of standing and position were asking
him to appoint their friends.
Colonels of regiments were looking for-
ward to the time when they would wear a star on each shoulder, and
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
365
were using all possible means to bring it about.
There was grim humor
in the expression,
'" My generals."
lie appointed them,
Ijut had no
means of knowing their fitness for command, except the representations
of
those who sought the appointments.
During the first week
in May, General Hooker advanced to Chan-
cellorsville, suffered defeat, and returned to Falmouth
Hills.
Kothing
had been gained, and the Confederates
could justly boast that
^^'^^^'
they had won a great victory.
The strategy of Hooker in gain-
ing a position south of the Rapidan must be regarded as brill-
iant.
His
falling back
from
Tabernacle
Church
(see "Marching
to
Victory," battle of Chancellorsville) seemingly was a mistake in tactics.
His hasty conclusion that the movement of Jackson across
his front
was a retreat of the Confederate army was an error of judgment.
On the morning that saw the Army of the Potomac once more
at
Falmouth,
Professor Henry and Mr. Brooks, personal
friends
of Mr.
Lincoln, were ushered into one of the family-rooms of the White House.
The President entered, handed them a despatch, and tottered to a chair.
" Read it—news from the army."
It was all he could say
"The army has safely recrossed the Rappahannock
!"
His face was the color of ashes, as if the fire of life had gone out.
'' Oh, what will the country say ?
What will
it say ?" he gasped.
No thought of himself.
The welfare of the country was the fore-
most thought. (")
A great battle had been fought.
The Confederates, with an
infe-
rior force, had attacked Hooker and defeated him, compelling him to
recross the
river.
Thousands had been
killed.
Nothing was gained.
The country would hold the Administration responsible.
The Abolitionists, who had anticipated great and immediate results
from the Emancipation
Proclamation, were
disappointed
because the
slaves did not flock in crowds to the Union armies.
A delegation vis-
ited the White House to see
if something could not be done to make
the proclamation more
effective.
Senator Wilson,
of Massachusetts,
introduced them to the President
They found him laughing heartily
as they entered.
"You
find
the White House," he
said, "in a highly
sensational
state.
Tad informed me
this morning that a lot of kittens had been
added
to the household, and
just now a
bulletin has been issued an-
nouncing that we have a family of puppies."
Some of the gentlemen thought
it rather undignified for the Presi-
366
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
dent of a great nation to receive a delegation of honorable gentlemen
in so hilarious a manner, but they saw the smile fade from his face, and
heard sober words follow the gleeful laughter.
" It gives me pleasure to introduce Mr, "Wendell Phillips, of Boston,"
said Senator Wilson, " and Mr. Moncure Conway, Mr. Bird, Mr. Wright,
and Mr. Stearns."
" Oh, I know you all, gentlemen.
Please be seated."
" We have come, Mr. President," said Mr. Phillips, " to express our
gratitude and joy for what you have done in issuing the Proclamation
of Emancipation.
May we ask how, in your judgment, it is working ?"
" Well, gentlemen, I never Taave supposed that any very great result
would come at once, and consequently am not disappointed.
I have
hoped, and still hope, that something will come of it after a while."
' It was to be expected," said Mr.. Phillips, " that the proclamation
would arouse hostility in some quarters, but the people of the Xorth are
nearly satisfied in regard to
it.
But
it has seemed to us that
it
is not
being honestly carried out by all the generals in command."
" It
is my impression," responded the President, " that the masses
are only dissatisfied at our lack of military successes.
Defeat and fail-
ure make everything seem wrong.
Most of us here present have nearly
all our lives been working in minorities, and many have got into a habit
of being dissatisfied."
Mr. Phillips and those with him understood the significance of the
words, for they had severely commented upon the President on many
occasions, but they disclaimed any dissatisfaction since the proclama-
tion had been issued.
" At any rate, gentlemen, it has been very rare that an opportunity
has been lost of running this Administration."
" Mr. President," said Mr. Phillips, " if we see
this Administration
earnestly working to free the country from slavery and
its
rebellion,
we will show you how we can run it into another four j^^ears of power."
" Oh, Mr. Phillips
!
I have ceased to have
an}^ personal feeling or
expectation in that matter.
I do not say that I never had any, but
I
have been greatly abused and borne upon.
I must bear this load which
the country has intrusted to me as well as I can, and do my best.
I
am glad
to have met
you, gentlemen.
I have known
of your
dis-
tinguished services.
Am pleased to have met you personally."
He bows graciously, and they take their .departure, but they
will
carry through life the memory of a countenance inexpressibly sad, and
burdened with care.
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
367
Visitors
to
the
executive
chamber saw maps
suspended on
the
walls, with the positions of the armies of the Union and Confederacy
plainly marked, and their movements traced from time to time.
From
the outbreak of
the Rebellion the President had pointed out to the
members of the Cabinet and others what he conceived to be the true
lines for military operations.
" I see no hope of success," said the President, as he stood looking
at the maps.
"This movement towards Richmond by the Army
of
the Potomac
is on the same line as that attempted by Burnside.
The
one
against
Yicksburg by
the
Yazoo
Pass,
the movement
of
the
monitors against Charleston, are not, in my judgment, going to be
ac-
complished."
He never had studied
military
science, but he comprehended the
principles that must underlie successful strategic movements.
" There was not one of his most trusted military counsellors in the
beginning of the war who equalled him in military sagacity," (") said
General Keyes.
The failure of Hooker produced a feeling of depression throughout
the country.
A poem written by E. C. Stedman, which the President
read to the members of the Cabinet, well expressed public sentiment
:
"Give us a man of God's own mould,
Born
to marshal his fellow -men
;
One whose fame
is not bought and sold
At the stroke of the politician's pen.
Give us a man of thousands
ten,
Fit
to do as well as
to plan.
Give us a rallying cry, and then,
Abraham Lincoln, give us a man."
McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Buell, Fremont, Pope—all had failed
as commanders.
Grant, who had won Donelson and Pittsburg Land-
ing, was trying to capture Yicksburg.
He had not succeeded in
his
attempt to turn the Mississippi by digging a canal, so as to gain the
rear of Yicksburg by the Yazoo Pass.
The Confederates were boasting
that
it was a Gibraltar, and that Grant would
fail, no matter what his
plan might
be.
General Halleck had shown no marked
ability as a
commander in the field.
The people were asking Mr. Lincoln for what
he could not give.
• Senators and members
of
Congress were urging him
to remove
Grant, who, they
said, was accomplishing nothing.
"Mr.
President,"
said Senator Wade, of Ohio, " I have called to ask you to relieve Grant.
368
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
He
is doing nothing.
His hospitals are
filled with
sick.
His army is
wasting away."
" Senator, that reminds me of a story."
" Bother your stories, Mr. President.
That is the way with you, sir.
It
is
all story—story.
You are the father of
every military blunder
that has been made during the war.
You are on the road to h— 1, sir,
with this Government, and you are not a mile oif this minute."
" Wade, that
is about the distance from here to the Capitol," Mr.
Lincoln replied, his eyes twinkling and smiles rippling his countenance.
He knew that a true heart was beating in the breast of the outspoken
Senator, and was not offended by the uncomplimentary language. ('')
More than a quarter of a century had passed since the tragedy at
Alton,
111.,
in which Rev.
E.
P. Lovejoy was murdered
(see
p.
377).
BENJAMIN
F. WADE.
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
369
Through many years Mr. Lincohi had enjoyed the
personal friendship
of Owen Lovejoy, a brother, wlio had
giv^en
Jiis hfe
in defence
of the
freedom of the Press. {'*)
The brother was mendjer of (>)ngress, and
was always warmly welcomed at the executive mansion.
He thought
that national unity would be promoted by a greater mingling of East-
ern with Western
troops.
The President saw that much good might
come from such action, and wrote a note to the Secretary of War, which
Mr. Lovejoy handed to Mr. Stanton.
" I will not do it," said the Secretary.
" But here, Mr. Secretary,
is the President's letter."
" The President is a d
d fool."
Mr. Lov'ejoy returned to the White House.
" Well, what now, Lovejoy V the President asked.
" Stanton says you are a d
d fool."
" Did he say that ?"
" Yes."
" Well,
if he
said
so, I reckon
I must be, for
lie
is
nearly always
right,
ril step over and see about it."
The object which Mr. Lovejoy had in view was accomplished a few
months
later, when a portion of the Army of the Potomac was sent
west to
share
in
the movement which swept
the Confederates from
Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, and to take part
in
the capture
of Atlanta and the March to the Sea.
In the battle of Chancellorsville the Confederates lost the very able
commander, "Stonewall" Jackson, who, although
fighting against the
•Government, was highly esteemed by Mr. Lincoln
for
his
ability as a
commander, and
for
the
stainless
purity of his character.
A
fitting
tribute to the fallen general in the Philadelphia " Press " elicited from
the President a not3, thanking the editor for what he had written. (")
General
Burnside had
been appointed commander of
the Depart-
ment of Ohio.
Lie issued an order which announced that persons who
committed
acts for the
benefit- of
the enemies of
the country would
be
tried as
spies
and
traitors, and
if
convicted
would
suffer
death.
Instead of allaying discussion, the order aroused the
hostility of those
who opposed the w^ar.
The Democratic Party was emboldened by the
results of the
fall
elections.
Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, became very bitter.
At
a political meeting held
at Mount Vernon he inflamed his hearers by
saying
it was the design of those
in power to
establish
a despotism,
and they had no intention of restoring the Union.
If the people sub-
370
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
mitted to the conscription, they were not worthy to be called free men.
He spoke of the President as " King Lincoln."
The defiant attitude and
treasonable
speeches
of Yallandigham caused
liis
arrest and
trial by
court-martial, and he was sentenced to be placed in confinement during
the war.
General Burnside approved the sentence, and selected Fort
Warren, in Boston Harbor, as the place where he should be imprisoned.
The President did not know
of
this.
It seems probable that had he
known he would not have allowed the trial to go on.
General Burnside
possibly saw he had not pursued the best course.
He wrote that his
resignation was at the disposal of the President.
" When I wish to supersede you I will let you know," the reply.
The President saw that if Vallandigham were to be kept in confine-
ment he would have
the sympathy
of the
entire Democratic
Party.
There is humor in his action
in changing the sentence of the court
that he be sent " beyond our lines into those of his friends."
Yallandigham was accordingly escorted to the Confederate lines in
Tennessee, from whence he proceeded to Eichmond.
It was not a very
cordial reception that was
g'iven him.
" He has no claim on
Mav 25.
.
'
"
' our gratitude," said the "Richmond Examiner;" "he
is simply
an alien enemy, a prisoner of war, a respectable enemy."
Mr. Yallandigham assured Jefferson Davis that
if the Confederates
could hold out another year the Peace Party of the ISTorth would sweep
the Lincoln d3masty out of political
existence.
After a short stay in
Richmond he ran the blockade to JSTassau, and thence to Canada.
When the war began more men volunteered than were called for, but
the wave of patriotism had spent
its force, and Congress had ordered a
draft which w^as to be made on the first day of July.
The Democratic
Party opposed it.
The war was declared to be a
failure.
Peace con-
ventions were held; one in 'New York City, which declared that " Under
the Constitution there
is no power
to
coerce the
States by
military
force."
The Democratic convention
of Pennsylvania denounced the
emancipation of the slaves.
" The party of fanaticism,'' read one of the
resolutions, "or crime, whichever
it may be called, that seeks
to
turn
loose the slaves of the Southern States to overrun the
ISTorth, and to
enter into competition with the white laboring masses, thus degrading
their manhood by placing them on equality with the negroes, is insult-
ing to our race and merits our unqualified condemnation.
This
is a
government of white men, and was
established exclusively for white
men."
The Democrats
of New York held a "peace meeting" at Albany
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
371
OWEN LOVEJOY.
(May 16th), at which a letter was read, written by Governor Seymour.
Concerning the arrest of Vallandigham, he said
:
" If
it is approved by the Government and sanctioned by the people, it is not merely
a step towards revolution—it is revolution. ...
If it is upheld our liberties are overthrown.
.
.
. The action of the Administration will determine, in the minds of more than one-half
of the people of the loyal States, whether the war
is waged to put down rebellion in the
South or destroy free institutions in tiie North."
The convention passed a series of resolutions condemning arbitrary
arrests, and calling upon the President to reverse the proceedings of the
military courts.
372
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
'Not many State papers surpass in vigor, force, clearness, and direct-
ness
of
statement
the
reply
of
Mr.
Lincoln.
He
referred
to
the
safety of individuals under the
Constitution, and
reviewed
the
state of
affairs when he was inaugurated President—how forts
and arsenals
had been
seized.
The men who were
fighting
against
the lawful authority
of government had been long
prej^aring for
its
overthrow.
They knew that if war came habeas corpus would probably
be suspended.
The President said
:
"Civil courts were powerless.
Even
in times of peace bands of horse-thieves and
robbers frequentl}'- grew too numerous and powerful for ordinary courts of justice..
But
what comparison in number have such bands ever borne to the insurgent sympathizers in
many of the loyal States
? A jury too frequently has one member who is more ready
to
hang the panel than to hang the
traitor.
He who dissuades one man from volunteering
or induces one soldier to desert weakens the Union cause just
as much as he who kills a
soldier in battle.
Yet this dissuasion may be so conducted as to be no definite crime of
which any civil court would take cognizance.
.
. .Mr. Vallandigham was not arrested be-
cause he was damaging the political prospects of the Administration, or the personal inter-
ests of the commanding general, but because he was damaging the army, upon the exist-
ence and vigor of which the life of the nation depends.
He was warring upon the military,
and this gave the inilitary constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands on him.
.
.
. Long experi-
ence has shown that armies cannot be maintained unless desertion shall be punished by
the severe penalty of death.
The case requires, and the law and Constitution sustain this
punishment.
Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier-boy wlw deserts, and not touch a hair of
the loily agitator loho induces him to desert ?
" This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, brother, or friend
into a public meeting, and there working upon his feelings until he is persuaded to write
to the soldier-boy
that he
is
fighting
in
a bad
cause, for a wicked administration
of a
contemptible government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he
shall desert.
I think
that in such a case to silence the agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but,
withal, a great
mercy. ...
I am not able to appreciate the danger apprehended that the
American people will, by means of military arrests during the Rebellion, lose the right of
public discussion, the liberty of speech and the Press, the law
of evidence,
trial by jurj^
habeas corpus throughout the indefinite, peaceful future, which I trust lies before them, any
more than I am able to believe that a man could contract so strong an appetite for emetics
during a temporary illness as
to persist in feeding upon them duriiig the remainder of his
healthful life."
The " Peace Democrats " were very angry, but the letter gave great
satisfaction to the
Ioy'aI people.
They saw in
its perfect candor that
Abraham Lincoln never would assume to be a
dictator, and that
civil
liberty was safe in his hands.
Spies
reported
that
the
Confederates
were
preparing
to
in^^ade
Pennsylvania.
General Hooker
wrote to the President, expressing a
desire, in case a large portion
of Lee's army was to leave Fredericks-
burg, to cross the river and fall on the remainder.
The President replied
:
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
373
"I
liave but one idea which
I think worth suggesting to you, and
tliat in case you
find Lee coming north of the Rappahannock, I would by no means cross south of
it.
If
he should leave a rear force
at Fredericksburg, templing you
to fall upon
it,
it would
fight iu iutrenchmeuts and have you at a disadvantage, and so, man for man, worst you at
that point, while his main force would in some way be getting an advantage of you north-
ward.
In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon a river like an ox
jumped half over
a
fence and
liable
to be torn by dogs front and
rear, without a
fair
chance to gore one way or kick the other."
Again General Hooker sent a despatch
:
"Will it not promote the true interest of the cause
for me to march to Richmond at
once ?"
The President answered
:
"I think Lee's army and
not Richmond
is your true objective
point.
If becomes
towards the upper Potomac follow his flank, and on the inside track, shortening your line
while he lengthens his.
Fight him, too, when opportunity offers.
If he stays where he is
fret him, fret him."
From
the beginning
of the war
the
cry had been "Kichraond."
McClellan had made the Confederate capital his objective point.
Hooker
was doing the same.
They had been educated
in military
ideas
at
West Point
; but the President understood that the power of the Kebel-
lion was in the Confederate Army.
Destroy that, and the Confederacy
and its " corner-stone " would crumble.
A brigade of Confederate cavalry entered Chambersburg, Pa.
Par-
ties
of
soldiers
w^ent
out
in
all
directions
collecting what
cattle and
horses they coukl find, also negroes, sending them into Virginia
' to.be sold as slaves.
It mattered not that they were free.
Having
collected a large amount
of provisions, the Confederates
fell back to
Williamsport.
It was known the army under Lee was making its way
northward.
Hooker was east of the Bull Kun Mountain, ready to cross
the Potomac whenever Lee
indicated
his chosen
line
of
march.
On
Maryland Heights, at HanDer's Ferry, were 10,000 Union
troops, com-
manded by General Frencli
; they were in a military department under
General Schenck, whose headquarters were at Baltimore.
Hooker w^ant-
ed to use them, and asked that they be transferred
to
his command.
Halleck
refused
to grant
the
request.
General Heintzelman was
in
command of 30,000 troops holding the forts at Washington.
General
Lee's plan was soon discovered by the advance of the Union cavalry
westward to
Aldie,
in
Virginia, where
it came
in
collision with
the
Confederate cavalry under Stuart.
The infantry, artillery, and supplies
374
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
of
the
Confederates were
all moving
northward down the
Shenan-
doah Yalley.
Stuart was east of the Blue Kidge, covering the movement.
The war had divided families, especially in the border States
; in Ken-
tucky, Maryland, and Missouri brothers were fighting against brothers.
Kentucky had not seceded, but many citizens of that State had joined
the Confederates, among them Major Todd, brother of Mrs. Lincoln.
The Confederate corps leading the advance of Lee's army, command-
ed by General Ewell, reached Williamsport, crossed the Potomac, and
moved on to Chambersburg.
Major Todd was in E well's com-
mand.
He attempted
to enter the house
of Dr.
Stevens unin-
vited, but was confronted by Miss Stevens, the doctor's daughter, who
raised an axe and stood ready to strike.
" I'll split your head open,"
she said.
The major thought it prudent to give ujd the attempt.
When
the
Confederates
reached
Chambersburg, Hooker
compre-
hended the meaning of the movement.
The Union army crossed the
Potomac.
Again he asked that the
troops at Harper's Ferry
" be transferred to his command.
He intended to join them to the
Twelfth Corps, nnder General Slocum, making a force of 25,000 to close
upon the rear of Lee, and prevent his receiving supplies.
General Hal-
leck again refused, whereupon Hooker sent a despatch to Mr. Stanton^
resigning the command of the army.
Mr. Stanton was greatly
depressed.
Ko other
officer knew
what
plan, if any. General Hooker had in view.
A great battle must soon be
fought.
"Will you please come to the War
Office, at
once?" the message
from the Secretary of War,
Mr. Lincoln entered and read the despatch
; the blood for a moment
left his face, as if the heart had ceased to beat.
'' What shall be done, Mr. President ?"
"Accept his resignation," the instant reply. (")
Such prompt action warrants the conclusion that Mr. Lincoln had
anticipated such a possible contingency, and had decided the question of
a successor
to
Hooker.
He knew General George G. Meade had ren-
dered
efficient
service as a division commander on the peninsula and
at Fredericksburg.
He was a native and citizen of Pennsylvania.
The
Confederate army was about to invade that State.
The people would
have confidence in him.
He was a Democrat, but not a partisan.
He
would have the confidence
of
the War Democrats. (" )
Mr.
Lincoln
was in doubt whether he should appoint Meade or General Reynolds.
The latter was also from Pennsylvania, and had shown marked qualities
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.
375
of character, and was equally well qualified to assume command of the
army.
A
special
train came from Washington,
bringing
Colonel
Hardie
with a
letter to General Hooker from
the
President, relieving
' him, and
another
to
General
Meade, commanding
the
Fifth
Corps, appointing him commander-in-chief.
It was a surprise to General Meade and to the army.
I saw him a
few minutes after he received the order, standing with bowed head and
downcast e^^es, his slouched hat drawn down and shading his features,
lie was
lost in thought.
His uniform was the worse for wear during
hard service.
As a loyal
soldier he accepted the great responsibility.
General Hooker bade good-bye to
his
officers with the tears coursing
down
his cheeks.
He issued a brief but tender, pathetic, and patriotic
address
:
" With the earnest prayer that the triumph of this army may bring
successes worthy of it and the nation, I bid
it farewell."
NOTES TO CHAPTER XIX.
(') Schncker's " Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 379.
(2) Warden's "Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 475.
(^) Charles Snmner was born in Boston, June
11, 1881.
At the age of 19 he gradnated
from Harvard University, stndied law, and was appointed reporter of the United States
Circnit Conrt.
While occnpying tliat jjosition he edited the " American Jnrist," and gave
lectures on constitutional law in Harvard University.
In 1837 he visited Great Britain
and Europe.
During three
years' sojourn abroad he acquired
several
European
lan-
guages— was received as a scholar in all countries.
At a civic banquet, July
4, 1845, he
delivered an oration upon the " True Grandeur of Nations," in which he vigorously as-
sailed the attitude of the United States towards Mexico, maintaining that all differences
between the two countries should be settled by arbitration.
The oration attracted much
attention in the United Sfates and other countries.
He opposed the annexation of Texas.
He saw that it was wiiolly in the interest of slavery.
He published a letter in which he
conunented severely upon the course of Robert C. Wiuthrop, representative in Congress,
for favoring the war.
His pronounced position against the extension
of slavery led, in
1851, to his election as Senator to succeed Daniel Webster.
He remained in the Senate
till his deatii, March
11, 1874.
A speech delivered May 19 and 20, 1856, upon " Tlie Crime
in Kansas," led Preston
S. Brooks, member of Congress from South Carolina, to bi'utally
assault Mr. Sumner in the Senate-chamber, dealing a blow which felled him to the lloor,
and from which he never fully recovered.
Brooks
Avas
expelled from the House, but
was immediately
re-elected and
presented with a gold-headed
CMue by
his
constitu-
ents.
After the assault Mr. Sumner visited Europe to obtain medical treatment.
Upon
resuming his seat he took an
active part in
all matters
of legislation.
He saw, with
President Lincoln and Secretary ScAvard, that the seizure
of Masou and Slidell. was a
violation of international law.
Tiirough
tlie War of the Rebellion he occupied an influ-
ential position as cliairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
His speech upon
376
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the Alabama Claims in
1869 caused much excitement in England, wlien
it was looked
upon as an attempt to bring about a war with that country.
Mr. Sunmer opposed the
acquisition of Santo Domingo as proposed by President Grant.
His attitude led to his
deposition from the chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Aft'airs.
The transaction
was regarded
as unwarranted.
Mr. Sumner became antagonistic to President
Grant's
Administration, and in 1872 supported Horace Gi'eeley for the Presidency, and was nomi-
nated by the Democratic Party of Massachusetts for Governor.
The nomination was de-
clined.
He advocated the removal from the regimental colors of the army and from the
army register the names of battles won by Union troops, and introduced a bill to that
eifect.
The Legislature of Massachusetts passed a resolution censuiing his course, wliich,
however, was rescinded before
his death.
Upon
the assassination of President Lincoln
Mr. Sumner gave an oration beginning with a memorable sentence
: "There are no mis-
takes in the universe of God."
As statesman and scholar Mr. Sumner will ever occupy
an exalted position.—Author.
(1) Henry
J. Raymond was born in New York City, January 24, 1820, but was taken
to the country by his parents.
His early years were passed on a farm.
He graduated at
the University of Vermont at the age of 20, studied law, but became, in
1841, associated
with Horace Greeley as assistant editor of the New York " Tribune."
Subsequently he
was connected with
the New York " Courier and Enquirer," and with the publishing
house of Harper & Brothers.
In 1849 he was elected to the State Senate, and the
fol-
lowing year to theAssemblj'^, and became Speaker.
In 1851 he established the New York
"Times."
He was active in the formation of the Republican Party, and became Lieu-
tenant-governor of the State, 1854.
He was offered the nomination for Governor in 1857,
but declined the honor.
In the memorable contest between Stephen A. Douglas and
Abraham Lincoln in 1858 Mr. Raymond advocated the election of Douglas.
He warmly
supported Mr. Seward in 1860
as candidate for the Presidency, but supported Mr. Lincoln
during the campaign.
He was again elected to
tlie State Assembly in 1861, and was a
candidate for Senator in 1863, but was defeated by Edwin D. Morgan.
In 1864 he was
elected to Congress.
During his Congressional term he compiled a " History of President
Lincoln's Administration," also the "Life and Services of President Lincoln."
He died
June 18, 1869.—Author.
( = ) H. J. Raj'mond's Diary, " Scribuer's Magazine," January
1, 1880.
C^) Ibid.
C)
Ibid., March, 1880.
(8)
Ibid.
(9) Ibid.
{^^) Schuyler Colfax, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,"
p. 339.
(11) <'Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 592.
(12) Ibid., 498.
(1^) Benjamin F. Wade was born
in Spiingtield, Mass., October 27, 1810.
His early
life was one of great hardship.
His boyhood was passed on a farm.
When
thirteen
years old he aided in driving a herd of cattle from Massachusetts to Philadelphia.
He
worked as a laborer in the construction of the Erie Canal, earning sufficient money to
begin the study of medicine, but the legal profession being more congenial to his taste,
he became an attorney when twenty years of age at Jefferson,
O., forming a partner-
ship with Joshua R. Giddings.
In 1835 he was elected ])rosecuting attorney of Ash-
tabula County, and in 1837 a member of the State Senate.
He was elected to the Senate
of the United States, 1851.
He was a determined opponent of the aggressions of the slave
power.
He made
a brave and resolute speech in the Senate
after the brutal
assault
upon Senator Charles Sumner by Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina.
He was made
chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of the War.
After the death of President
DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWK
377
Lincoln ho became, <as President of the Senate, acting Vice-president of the United States.
He was evei- outspoken in his opinions.
He died at Jefferson, O., 1878.—Author.
('^) Owen Lovejoy was born in Allison Me., 1811.
His father was a Congregationalist
minister.
He worked on a farm till eighteen years of age, and then by his own exertions
Itiiid his way through Bowdoin College.
He was present at Alton, 111., when
liis brother,
Kev. E. P. Lovejoy, was murdered
l)y a pro-slavery mob
in defence of the liberty of the
Press.
Over the dead body of liis brother he vowed eternal hostility to slavery.
He pre-
pared himself for the clerical profession, and became pastor of the Congregational church,
Princeton,
111.
The church excluded slave-holders from its fellowship.
Mr. Lovejoy was
active in aiding fugitive slaves to reach Canada.
He took an active part in political af-
fairs and was elected to the Legislature of Illinois, where he made the acquaintance of
Mr. Lincoln, and became his personal friend.
He was elected to Congress, 1858. He took a
prominent part in debate, and was held in high esteem by his political opponents for no-
bility of character and uncompromising fidelity to principle.
He was a frequent visitor
to the White House, and was greatly beloved by the President.—Author.
('*)
J. W. Forney, "Anecdotes of Public Men," vol.
i., p. 167.
( '^) George S. Boutwell, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 128.
(!')
Ibid.
378
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XX.
GETTYSBURG.
^T^HE sun was
setting on the
last day
of June when a division of
-*-
Union cavahy under General Buford entered the town of Gettys-
burg.
The scouts had been w^atching the roads leading through the
mountains towards the Cumberland Yalley.
During the previous night
they had seen the Confederate camp-fires gleaming in the Avest.
Gen-
eral Buford had
been
directed
by
General Reynolds
to
proceed
to
Gettysburg and hold that section of the country.
It was known that
E well's corps
of the Confederate army was near Harrisburg, and the
main body of
the army
\vest of
Gettysburg.
Reynolds saw that a
collision must soon take place.
The cavalrymen, as they wheeled into
the public square, beheld Pettigrew's brigade of Confederate infantry
descending the
hill on the Chambersburg turnpike west of the town.
They were intending to help themselves to
boots, shoes, and clothing
from the stores, but, seeing the Union troops, they retraced their steps
to Herr's Tavern, beyond Willoughby Run.
The cavalry followed to
that stream, along Avhich the pickets of both armies w^atched through
the night.
From
the road
in
front
of
the
tavern,
at
seven
o'clock
in the
Juiyi. morning, Pegram's cannon sent a shell across Willoughby Run,
1863.
g^|-^(j ^ moment later the guns of Calef's battery made reply.
The
battle of Gettysburg had begun.
The scenes of that conflict are a part of the history of the war.
(See
" Marching to Victory.")
It has come
to be regarded as the turning-
point of the Rebellion — deciding the destiny of the nation and of
re-
publican government.
Through the forenoon of the national holiday I was riding over the
battle-field.
The
Confederates were
holding
the ground along the
woods from whence Pickett's division advanced on the preceding
"
' afternoon, but behind the outposts were unmistakable signs that
Lee was preparing to
retreat.
A
little
later
I saw baggage - wagons
GETTYSBURG.
379
winding along the road westward.
At General Meade's headquarters
it was believed that Lee was intending to retire at nightfall.
The next
morning I entered the Eutaw House, in Baltimore.
The corridor was
filled with anxious men, among them Henry Winter Davis and Elihu B.
Washburne, members of Congress.
They had heard of the repulse of
Pickett's division and were anxious for further information.
" Where are you from ?" Washburne asked.
" Gettysburg."
" What's the news ?"
" We have won the greatest battle of the war."
" Now, see here
;
don't
tell
a
lie.
We have
been
deceived often
enough.
Is it true ?"
" I have been all over the battle-field, and the rebels are in retreat."
" Hurrah
!
Hurrah !" the shout.
The next moment Washburne and Davis were hugging each other.
General Schenck, commander of the military department, seized me by
the arm, led me to
his own room, closed the door, asked when I had
left the field, and what
I had seen.
He telegraphed the information to
the President.
It was the first report received in Washington of the
movement of Lee towards Virginia.
At no period of the war did the President exhibit such anxiety as
during the week succeeding the appointment of General Meade to com-
mand the army.
" I
shall never forget,"
writes a
Senator,
" the
painful
anxiety
of
those few days when the fate of the nation seemed to hang in the bal-
ance, nor the
restless
solicitude
of Mr. Lincoln, as he paced up
and
down the room, reading despatches, soliloquizing, and often stopping to
trace the map which hung against the wall
; nor the relief we all felt
when the fact was established that victory, though gained at a fearful
cost, was indeed on the side of the Union." (')
After the President received the telegram from General Schenck
that the Confederates were retreating from Gettysburg, he proceeded
to
the
Ebbitt
House
to
call upon
General
Sickles, who was
"
' wounded
during
the
second
day's
engagement, and who
had
arrived
in Washington.
General James B. KuslingC^) was with Gen-
eral Sickles when Mr. Lincoln entered the room.
There was no longer
any
sign
of anxiety on the face
of the President as he shook hands
with the wounded commander.
"Were you not worried, Mr. President, as to what might be the re-
sult of the battle V Sickles asked.
380
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" Oh no
;
I thought it would all come out right."
" But you must have been the only man who felt so," replied Sickles,
" for I understand that there was a deep feeling of anxiety here among
the heads of the Government."
"Yes," rephed the President, "Stanton, Welles, and the rest were pret-
ty badly rattled.
The}^ ordered two or three gunboats up to the city and
placed some of the Government archives aboard, and wanted me to go
aboard; but I told them it wasn't necessary, and that it would be all right."
" But what made you
feel
so
confident, Mr. President V persisted
General Sickles.
" Oh, I had my reasons
;
but I don't care to mention them, for they
would perhaps be laughed at," said Lincoln.
The
curiosity of both the other gentlemen was greatly excited, and
General Sickles again pressed Mr. Lincoln for the grounds of his
confi-
dence.
Finally, Lincoln said
:
" Well, I will tell you why I felt confident we should win at Gettys-
burg.
Before
the
battle
I retired
alone
to my room
in
the White
House, and got down on my knees and prayed to the Almighty God to
give us the victory.
I said to Him that this was His Avar, and that
if
He would stand by the nation now,
I would stand by Him the rest of
ray life.
He gave us the victory, and I propose to keep my pledge.
I
arose from my knees with a feeling of deep and serene confidence, and
had no doubt of the result from that hour."
" General Sickles and myself," said Eusling, " were both profoundly
impressed by Lincoln's words, and
for some minutes complete
silence
reigned.
Then Sickles, turning over on his couch, said
:
" Well, Mr. President, how do you
feel about the Vicksburg cam-
paign ?"
" Oh, I think that will be all right, too.
Grant
is pegging away at
the enemy, and
I have great confidence
in
him.
I
like
Grant.
He
doesn't bother me or give any trouble.
I prayed for success there, too
;
I told the Lord about the Vicksburg campaign
; that victory there would
cut the Confederacy in two, and would be the decisive one of the war.
I have abiding faith that we shall come out all right at Vicksburg.
If
Grant wins I shall stick to him though the war."
In the congratulatory address
issued by General Meade
after the
battle, he urged the soldiers " to drive the invaders from our soil."
The
President read
it
;
his hands fell upon his knees and the old-time sad-
ness
appeared,
as he
exclaimed,
^'' Drive
the
invaders from our
soil!
My God
I
Is that all ?"(=)
GETTYSBURG.
381
While the Confederates were retreating from Gettysburg, General
Pemberton was surrendering Vicksburg to General
Grant, with
^'^
" 31,000 soldiers and 172 cannon.
General Banks was besieging Port Hudson.
" Vicksburg
is ours !"
shouted
the Union
soldiers.
An
officer with a white
flag came
out
from the Confederate lines with a letter from General Gardner,
"
•
askino- if
it was true that Vicksburg had fallen.
General Banks
replied that
it was, and enclosed a copy of the letter he had received
from General Grant.
The Confederates were on
the point of starva-
tion.
They had been eating mule meat.
Their commander could hold
out no longer, and surrendered.
Tlie last vestige of Confederate power
had disappeared from the
Mississippi, and once more
its waters were
free to peaceful commerce.
We have seen President Lincoln standing before a map in the ex-
ecutive chamber and predicting that the proposed movement of Hooker
towards Richmond, the
effort
of the
monitors
at
Charleston, the
at-
tempt of Grant to reach Vicksburg by the Yazoo Pass, would not be
successful.
His predictions had proved true.
But the determination of
Grant to capture Vicksburg was strengthened by his repeated failures.
Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and
Port
Hudson make
a
turning-point
in
history.
On July 13th the President wrote to General Grant
:
" I do not remember that yoii and I ever met personally.
I write this now as a grate-
ful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country.
I
write to say a word further.
When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I tliought
you should do what you tinally did
: march the troops across
tlie neck, run the batteries
with the transports, and thus go below.
I never had any faith, except a general hope,
that you knew better than I that the Yazoo Pass expedition and
tlie
like could succeed.
When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand
Gulf, and
vicinity
I thought you
should go down the river and join General Banks.
Wlien you turned northward, east of
the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake.
I now wish to make the personal acknowledg-
ment that you were right and I was wrong."
" I giiess," said the President to a friend, " I was right in standing
by Grant, although there was a
great pressure made after Pittsburg
Landing to have him censured.
I thought I saw enough in Grant to
convince me
that he was
one on whom
the country could
depend.
That unconditional message to Buckner at Donelson suited me.
It
in-
dicated the spirit of tlie man."(\)
The victories won
at Gettysburg and on the Mississippi, instead of
kindling the patriotism of the Peace Democrats, made tliem angry.
On
July -ith, while Lee was preparing to retreat from Pennsylvania, while
382
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Pemberton's troops were laying down their arms, Governor Seymour,
of Ts^ew York, was addressing a Democratic convention
:
"I stand before you on this oceasiou not as one animated by expected victories, but
feeling, as
all feel now within sound of my voice, the dread uncertainties of the
conflicts
which rage around us—not alone in Pennsylvania, but along the whole course of the Mis-
sissippi—that are carrying down to bloody graves so many of our fellow-countrymen.
.
.
.
The doctrine of the suspension of the habeas corpus
is unconstitutional, unsound, unjust,
and treasonable."
In New Hampshire, at the same hour, ex-President Franklin Pierce,
one
of
the
" house-builders,"
said
:
" The mailed hand
of despotism
strikes down the
liberties of the people, and
its foot tramples a dese-
crated Constitution."
The draft was resisted in ISTew York City.
The mob attacked the
office of the provost marshal.
The President was denounced as being
worse than Nero or Caligula of imperial Rome.
Negroes were
' seized and hanged,
an asylum for colored
children burned, the
office of the " Tribune " assailed.
Many of the rioters were killed be-
fore order was restored.
In Ohio
the Peace Democrats
had
nominated Yallandigham
for
Governor.
A body
of
Confederate cavalry under John Morgan was
making a raid througli Southern Indiana and Ohio
;
but their seizure
of horses and plundering of
citizens did not contribute to^Yallandig-
ham's success.
The Peace Democrats of Illinois were very bitter against the Presi-
dent.
The Eepublicans were to hold a convention in September, and
desired Mr. Lincoln to be present.
That he would not do.
Under no
circumstances would he attend a political gathering.
He wrote
:
"The
signs look
better.
The Father
of Waters
again
goes un vexed
to the
sea.
Thanks to the great North-west for
it.
Nor yet wholly to them.
Three hundred miles
lip they met New England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing
their wa3^
right and
left.
The Sunny South, too, in more colors than one, also lent a hand.
On the spot their
part of the history was jotted down in black and white.
The job was a great national
one, and
let none be banned who bore an honorable part in
it.
And while those who
have cleared the river may well be proud, even that is not all.
It is hard to say that any-
thing has been more bravely and w^ell done than at Antietam, Murfreesborough, Gettysburg,
and on many fields of lesser note.
Nor must Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten.
At all
the watery margins they have been present.
Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay,
and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou; and wherever the ground was
a little damp they have been and made their tracks.
Thanks to all
!
For the great re-
public, for the principle
it lives by and keeps alive, for man's vast future, thanks to all
!
GETTYSBURG.
383
"Peace does not appear so distivnt as
it did.
I hope
it will come soon, and come to
stay; and so come as to be woith the keeping in all future time.
It will then have been
proved
that among
free men there can be no successful appeal from the
ballot
to the
bullet, and they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost.
And
there will be some black men who can remember that with
silent tongue and clinched
teeth and steady eye and well poised bayonet they have helped mankind on to this great
consummation; while I fear there will be some white ones unable to forget that with ma-
lignant heart and deceitful speech they strove to hinder
it.
"Still let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triumph.
Let us be quite sober.
Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in His own good time,
will give us the rightful result."
General Rosecrans,
in command
of
the Army
of
the
Tennessee,
by a strategic movement had forced
General Bragg
to evacuate the
stronghold of Chattanooga.
He thought the Confederates were
Sept. 20.
^
.
,
,
*
,
,
retreatmg towards Atlanta
;
but they were, instead, concentrat-
ing
all
their available troops for an
attack.
Longstreet's
cor])s was
sent from Virginia, and Rosecrans, at Chickamauga, suddenlj^ found him-
self confronted by an army larger than his own.
He suffered a defeat.
Notwithstanding this disaster, and the earnest
efforts made by the
Peace Democrats against the Administration, the loyal
people of the
JSTorth manifested
their approval by increased
majorities
at
the
fall
election, every State except New Jersey being carried by the Republi-
cans.
John Brough, who had been
a Democrat before
the war, but
who was loyal to the flag, was the candidate of the Republicans in Oliio.
"John Brough, what is your majority?" asked the President, about
nine o'clock on the evening of the election.
" Over 30,000, Mr. President."
" What is your majority now ?" the question late in the night.
" Over 100,000," the reply.
"Glory to God
in the highest!
Ohio has saved the nation!"
the
fervent exclamation of the President as he read the despatch.
The State of Pennsylvania had purchased a portion of the
Gettys-
burg battle-field as a
burial-place for the Union soldiers killed in that
engagement.
It was to be consecrated by imposing ceremonies.
' President Lincoln arrived at Gettysburg on the preceding after-
noon, and became the
guest of Judge
AVilHs.
Mr. Everett, of Massa-
chusetts, and
other distinguished gentlemen, were also
entertained at
the same hospitable mansion.
" What
is to be the order of exercises to-morrow?" asked Mr. Lin-
coln, just
before retiring to his chamber, after a delightful evening of
social intercourse.
384
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
JOHN BKOUGH.
" The oration will be given by Mr. Everett," said Judg^ Willis, "and
then I shall call upon the President of the United
States for some
re-
marks."
" I supposed I miglit be expected to say something, and I shall have
GETTYSBURG.
385
to put some stray thoughts together," said President
Lincoln, smiling
pleasantly. (')
In his chamber, after the fatiguing journey from AVashington, after
an evening reception, he wrote out his " stray thoughts."
On the morning of July
1st, when the brigade of General AVads-
worth turned from the Emmettsburg
road by the house of Nicholas
Codori and marched across the
fields, the soldiers saw a man with a
gun running to join them.
It was John Burns,
citizen, who stepped
into the ranks of
the One Hundred and
Fiftieth Pennsylvania Regi-
ment, and, without waiting to be enrolled, went into the fight, and was
severely wounded.
" I should like to have Burns go Avith me to the dedication," said Mr.
Lincoln.
The veteran came and accompanied the President to Ceme-
tery Hill, which during the
battle was swept by shot and
shell from
the Confederate artillery, and where fort}^ Union cannon thundered de-
fiance in the heat of the conflict.
Mr. Everett was an accomplished orator. (")
His rhetoric was fault-
less.
For two hours the great audience listened to him.
The applause
that followed his closing sentence died away.
" Lincoln
! Lincoln !" shouted the people.
The President arose, stepped
to the front
of the platform, put his
spectacles on his nose, took a sheet of paper from his pocket and read
what he had written, and which will be reread
so long as the United
States is a nation
:
"Fourscore and seven years ago
our
fathers brought
forth upon
this
continent a
new nation, conceived in libertj', and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal.
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation, or any nation
so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
We are met on a great battle field of that
war.
We are met to dedicate a portion of
it as the final resting-place of those who here
gave
their lives that that nation might
live.
It
is altogether fitting and proper that we
should do this.
"But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow
this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated
it
far above our power to add or
detract.
The world will
little note nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather
to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so
noblj^ carried on.
It
is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from
these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which thej^ here gave the
last full measure of devotion;
that we here highly resolve that the dead
shall not have
died in vain; that the nation
shall, under God, have
a new
birth of freedom; and
that
government of the people, by the people, and
for the people shall
not
perish from
the
earth."
386
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The audience has loudly applauded Mr. Everett, but now is hushed
as if it were a prayer or a benediction falling from the lips of the chief
magistrate
of
the
nation.
Eyes unaccustomed
to weeping
fill with
tears.
" Mr. Everett, allow me
to
congratulate you upon your
success,"
said the President, reaching out his hand to the orator of the day.
" Ah, Mr. President, how gladly would I exchange all my hundred
pages to have been the author of your twenty lines !" Mr. Everett replied,
with emotion.
The beginning of November had seen the defeat of the Peace Dem-
ocrats in the elections
; the month ended with the Confederates fleeing
in
confusion from Lookout
Mountain
and
Missionary
Ridg-e.
Nov
-
o
The
President
was
dissatisfied
over
the
inaction
of General
Meade (who, after the battle of Gettysburg, accomphshed nothing), but
was much
gratified by what
General Grant had
done.
Some who
thought he had made a
mistake
in
paroling
prisoners
captured
at
Yicksburg
expressed
to
the
President their
fears
that
the
soldiers
would be again conscripted into the Confederate army.
" Did you ever hear of what became of Sykes's dog ?" Mr. Lincoln
asked.
"No."
" Well, I must tell you.
Sykes had a yellow dog which he thought
a great deal of, but the boys in the village didn't think the cur was of
any good to anybody.
The puppj^ was generally regarded as of no ac-
count.
The boys thought they would get rid of him somehow.
They
didn't want to pound the dog with clubs, so they put a cartridge into a
piece of meat and attached a
fuse.
They saw the dog coming down
the street, threw the meat on the sidewalk, lighted the fuse, and waited
to see what would happen.
The dog swallowed the meat, cartridge,
and
all, but the next moment there were several pieces of dog lying
round loose.
Sykes came along and looked
at the pieces.
' Well,' he
said,
' I reckon the puppy never will be worth much
hereafter
as a
dog P
So, gentlemen, I reckon that Pemberton's soldiers will never be
of much account again
as an armyT
General Milroy, in command of a corps of Union troops at Winches-
ter when Lee advanced
to Pennsylvania, was brought before a court-
martial by Secretary Stanton for alleged disobedience of orders.
Milroy
shielded himself behind the order of General Schenck, who was in com-
mand of the military department.
General Schenck sent Donn Piatt,
one of the members of his
stafi', to the President with his protest.
GETTYSBURG.
387
" Mr, President, I am directed to read it to you," said Piatt.
" Let me see
it
;
I can read," said Mr. Lincoln.
" Piatt, don't you think that you and Schenck are
squealing,
like
pigs, before you are hurt ?"
" No, Mr. President."
"Why, am I not the court of appeal?
Do you think I am going to
have injustice done Schenck ?"
" Mr. President, allow me to say that before the appeal can be beard
a soldiers reputation will be blasted by a packed court."
EDWARD EVEKETT
" Come, now, Piatt, you and I are lawyers, and I know the meaning
of the word
' packed.'
I
don't want to hear
it from your lips
again.
What is the matter with the court ?"
" It is illegally organized by General Halleck."
" But General Halleck's act is mine."
388
LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN.
" Mr, President, I beg your pardon.
The
' Kules and Regulations
direct that in cases of this sort you shall select the court.
You cannot
delegate that to a subordinate officer, any more than you can the par-
doning power.
Here is the article," said Piatt, opening the "Rules and
Regulations."
" That
is a
point.
Do jo\x know, Piatt, that I have been so busy
that I never have read the
' Rules and Regulations V
Give me the book,
and I Avill read them to-night."
" Yes, Mr. President, but in the mean time General Schenck will be
put under arrest for disobedience, and the mischief will be done."
" That's so.
Here, give me a pencil."
The President tore
off part of a blank sheet from the protest and
wrote the following
:
" All proceedings before the court-martial convened to try General
Milroy are suspended until further orders." (')
The President's sense of justice and right settled the question.
He
was commander-in-chief.
Stanton had overstepped his authority.
The Confederates w^ere in need of percussion-caps
; they also wanted
quinine, a remedy for fever -and -ague, which commanded a very high
price.
Among
those
arrested
for
attempting
to supply them with
articles contraband of war was Rev. Henry M. Luckett, a Methodist
minister past seventy years of age.
He was tried by court-martial and
sentenced to be
shot.
The day before the one fixed for his death his
daughter, Mrs. Bullitt, of Kentucky ; Hon. Henry M. Lane, Senator from
Indiana
; Daniel W. Voorhees, member of Congress from that State, and
several other gentlemen, entered the executive chamber.
" "We have called," said Senator Lane, " to ask you, Mr. President,
to reprieve Henry M.. Luckett, who is sentenced to be shot to-morrow.
He is an old man.
He has done wrong, but there are extenuating cir-
cumstances.
He
is poor.
He has been overpersuaded by Confederate
friends."
The President made no
reply.
The daughter
of the condemned
man approached.
He turned to hear what she had to say.
She plead-
ed earnestly for her father's life.
" Lane, what did you say the man's name was ?" said the President,
breaking in, seemingly awakening from a dream.
" Luckett."
" Not Henry M. Luckett ?"
" Yes
; that is my father's name," Mrs. Bullitt replied.
" Didn't he preach in Springfield years ago ?"
GETTYSBURG.
389
" Yes, sir
; my
father preached
there."
" Well,
this
is
wonderful
!
I
know him—have heard him preach.
He
is
tall and angidar like myself.
I have
been mistaken
for him on
the
streets.
Did you say he
is to
be shot to-morrow ?"
"Yes, sir."
" No, no
; there will be no shoot-
ing in this case.
Henry M. Luckett
!
There
must
be
something
wrono:
with him, or he wouldn't get
into
such a scrape as this."
The
President
dictated
a
de-
spatch to General Hurlburt, in com-
mand of the Department at Mem-
phis, directing him to
suspend the
execution till further orders.
" No
; we
will have
no
shoot-
ing
in
this
case," he
repeated,
as
if
in soliloquy.
The grateful peti-
tioners
took
their
departure,
the
daughter
of
the
reprieved
man
laughing and crying by turns over
the joy that had come to her. (
'
)
GETTYSBURG MONUMENT.
Dec.
7.
Congress was once more in session, listening to the annual message
of the President.
The year had been marked by great events.
Mr. Lincoln said
"Eleven months having now passed, we
are permuted to take another review.
The
rebel borders are pressed back still
farther, and by the complete opening of the Missis-
sippi the country dominated by the Rebellion
is divided into distinct parts, with no polit-
ical communication between
them.
Tennessee
and Arkansas have been
substantially
cleared of insurgent control, and
influential citizens in each— owners of slaves and advo-
cates of slavery at the beginning of the Rebellion—now declare openly for emancipation
in
their respective
States.
Of those States not included
in the Emancipation Proclama-
tion—Maryland and Missouri—neither of which three years ago would tolerate any re-
straint upon the extension of slavery into new Territories, only dispute now as to the best
mode of removing it within their own limits."
The proposition to employ negro troops had aroused much
opposi-
390
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
tion.
The President had patiently waited for the time when he could
use them
as
soldiers.
General Butler had' enlisted a regiment
of free
negroes in 'New Orleans in September,
1862.
But negroes who had
been
slaves were also
enlisting.
President
Lincoln's message on
this
subject read
:
.
" Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the war, fully one hundred thousand
are now in the United States military service.
About one-half of these actually bear arms
in the ranks, thus giving the double advantage of taking so much labor from the insurgent
cause, and supplying the places which otherwise must be filled with so many white men.
So far as tested,
it is difficult to say that they are not as good soldiers as any."
All the predictions that the slaves would cut their masters' throats
;
that they were cowards and would run at the sound of a hostile shot,
had been proven false.
The enlistment of so many negroes made the
men who were opposing the war very angry, but gave great satisfaction
to the loyal people of the country.
The President presented a plan by which the seceded
States might
be restored to the Union.
The message was accompanied by a procla-
mation which offered pardon and amnesty.
" He has struck another great blow," said Senator Wilson, of Massa-
chusetts.
" It is," remarked Mr. Boutwell, from the same State, " a very able
and shrewd paper.
It has great points of popularity, and it is right."
" I
shall
live
to
see slavery ended !"
the
gleeful words
of Owen
Lovejoy.
" God bless old Abe
!
I am one of the
radicals who have ahvays
believed in him !" shouted Mr. Blow, member from Missouri.
" The message
is highly
satisfactory,"
the more
quiet remark
of
Senator Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland.
There were few, if any, dissenting voices.
Senator Sumner, who had
been strenuous in maintaining his own theory of
reconstruction, mani-
fested
his
pleasure.
Many members
of
Congress
visited the White
House to express their thanks and appreciation of what the President
had done.
NOTES TO CHAPTER XX.
(') Zachariiih Chandler, quoted in "Every-day Life of Abraham Liucolu," p. 598.
(^) James B. Rnsling, Lecture before the Yonug Men's Christian Association, Trenton,
N. J., 1892.
(^) James B. Fry, "Eemiuisceuces of Abraham Lincoln," p.
402.
GETTYSBURG.
391
{*) "Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 599.
(*) Edward McPhersou to Anthor.
(*) Edward Everett was a native of Dorchester, Mass., born April
11,
1794.
He
graduated at Harvard University, 1811, when but sixteen years old.
He studied theology,
and became pastor of the Brattle Street Unitarian Church at the age of twenty.
In 1819
he became Professor of Greek
in Harvard University; was member of Congress, 1825-
35; Governor of Massachusetts four years, 1836-40.
A law restricting the sale of intoxi-
cating liquors in quantities less than fifteen gallons, passed by the Whig Party, created
a revolution iu public sentiment upon the question of temperance, which caused his de-
feat
for a fifth term by one vote.
He was appointed President of Harvard University,
1846, continuing till
1849, when he succeeded Daniel Webster as Secretary of State.
He
became United States Senator, 1853, remaining
till May, 1864.
Mr. Everett was renowned
for his scholarship, erudition, and oratory.
An attempt was made by the " Mount Vernon
Association" of women to purchase the estate of Washington on the banks of the Potomac.
Funds were needed, and Mr. Everett, with a desire to promote so worthy an object, pre-
pared a lecture upon Washington, which was given
iu most of the cities of the Union.
The proceeds were devoted to
its purchase.
He also contributed a series of articles to
the New York " Ledger," by which many thousand dollars were obtained.
He wi'ote
a biographjr of Daniel Webster and edited his speeches.
Mr. Everett was nominated as
candidate
for Vice-president in 1860, on a ticket with John Bell, of Tennessee, as Presi-
dent.
He supported President Lincoln iu 1864, and was one of the electors of Massachu-
setts.
He was selected as orator at the dedication of the Gettysburg monument.
He
was for many years editor of the "North American Review."
He has been justly
re-
garded as one of the foremost scholars and orators of his time.—Author.
(') Donn Piatt, "Memorials of Men who Saved the Nation," p. 40.
(*) D. W. Voorhees, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 357.
392
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LmCOLN.
CHAPTER
XXI.
SPRING OF
1864.
MR. LTNCOL]!^ was entering upon the last year of the Presidential
term, and people were thinking about his renomination.
He had
made enemies.
The Peace Democrats opposed him because he was car-
rying on the war so persistently and for issuing the Proclamation of
Emancipation.
Opprobrious and insulting epithets were still applied to
him.
Those aggrieved at the removal of General McClellan said the
President was an autocrat and tyrant.
Men who had endeavored to
use him to attain their own selfish ends, but whom he had foiled, said
he was not
fit
to be President.
Members
of Congress turned against
him.
Earnest and impulsive men, who wanted
to
see the RebelHpn
crushed at once, said Mr. Lincoln was too slow.
Conservatives main-
tained he was going too
fast.
Mr.
Chase, Secretary
of
the Treasury,
was ambitious to be President.
He wrote a letter to
his
friend, Mr.
James C. Hall, of Toledo, O., formally announcing himself as a
•^^gg]^' candidate.
A committee of Senators, representatives, and
citi-
zens was formed to bring about
his nomination. (
' )
A circular
was issued by Senator Pomeroy and
others advocating
the
selection
of Mr.
Chase.
Mr.
Thaddeus
Stevens,
of
Pennsylvania, one
of
the
most influential members of Congress, was opposed to the renomination
of Mr. Lincoln. (')
A friend of Mr. Stevens visited the
Capitol.
"In-
troduce me to some of the members who are friendly to Mr. Lincoln,"
he said.
Mr. Stevens took him to Isaac
IST. Arnold, member from Illinois.
" You are the only one I know," said Mr. Stevens, " who favors the
renomination of Lincoln, and
I have come to
introduce my friend to
you."
"Thank you,"
replied Mr. Arnold; "I know many members who
want him renominated.
I will present your friend to them." (^)
" If the question could be submitted to the people," said Mr. Stevens,
in a speech, " the majority of them would vote for General Benjamin
F. Butler." n
SPRING OF
1864.
895
People in foreign countries were watching the conflict between free-
dom and slavery with much interest.
Count Gasparin, of France, pub-
lished a volume entitled,
" The Uprising of a Great People."
He ad-
mired President
Lincoln, and wrote a letter to a friend
in the United
States, in which the hope was expressed that he would be renominated.
The letter was sent to Horace Greeley, who replied as follows
:
" Tiiose who know the least about the way things are mauaged
iu Washington want
Mr. Lincoln renominated, and
I presume they will have their way.
I match their judg-
ment with that of Congress, whereof not one-third of the Unionists desire jMr. Lincoln's
renomination, and not half can be constrained to seem to oppose
it even by the terror of
popular reprobation.
Count Gasparin, 3500 miles away,
is naturally even more decided
and zealous than any one
in Connecticut.
Well, 10,000
miles away he would
be
still
more so.
I am not accustomed
to allow majorities
to
dictate my opinion
;
if I were, I
should be among the new converts to abolition and share their choice of President.
But
having seen and felt too much during the last three mournful years,
it seems my duty to
force the nomination of some one who will not go through Baltimore in disguise and dark-
ness when he goes
to be inaugurated, and who will cause the mayor
of
Baltimore and
young Christians of that city to be kicked out of the White House whenever they shall
dare propose that troops be forbidden
to cross the
territory of Maryland
to defend the
federal metropolis.
Had the first general that proved treacherous or cowardly been shot
on sight thereafter, we should long since have seen the end of the Rebellion." (*)
A committee of the New York Working-men's Association
visited
Washington to inform Mr. Lincoln he had been elected honorary mem-
ber of that organization.
The President, thanking them for the honor,
said
:
" I think your association must comprehend that the existing Kebel-
lion means more than the perpetuation of African slavery—that
it
is a
war upon the rights of working people.
The most notable feature of
the disturbance in your city last year was the hanging of some working
people by other working people.
It should never be so.
The strongest
bond
of human sympathy
outside
the family relation should
be one
uniting all working people
of
all nations, tongues, and kindreds
;
nor
should this lead to a war on property or owners of property.
Property
is the fruit of labor.
It is desirable.
It is a positive good to the world.
That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence
is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
Let not him who
is
houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor
diligently
and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall
be safe from violence when built." (")
Ten months had passed since the battle of Chancellorsville and the
publishing of the poem, " Abraham Lincoln, Give us a Man."
The man
396
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
had been found, and the President had appointed him
lieutenant-gen-
eral— Ulysses
S. Grant,
He was
to command
all the troops in the
field.
He saw the country was divided into nineteen military depart-
ments, each with an independent commander who received orders
^^gg^^' direct from the War Department.
It was
like having a team
with nineteen horses—liable to ]3ull in different directions.
The
troops were widely scattered; he would concentrate them and
consol-
idate the departments.
The theory of General Halleck had been that
when a section of the Confederacy was conquered it must be held to re-
establish the authority
of the United
States.
It seemed
to General
Grant that it would be far better to crush the Confederate armies. When
all power of resistance was gone
it w^ould be an easy matter to restore
the civil authority.
General Grant never had met the President, but was on his way to
Washington
in
obedience
to
a
summons.
The
Cabinet, Mr.
March 9
Stanton, and E. B. Washburne were in the White House when
he entered.
" General
Grant,"
said
the
President,
" the
nation's
appreciation
of what you have done, and
its reliance upon you
for what remains
to be done in the existing struggle, are now presented with
this com-
mission, constituting you lieutenant-general in the array of the United
States.
With this high honor devolves upon you a corresponding
re-
sponsibility.
As the country trusts in you, so, under God, it will sustain
you.
I scarcely need add that with what I here speak for the nation
goes my own hearty personal concurrence."
The words were spoken with trembling lips, so deep the feeling of
Mr. Lincoln.
"Mr. President," General Grant
replied, "I accept the commission
for the
hiffh honor conferred.
With the aid of the noble armies that
have fought on
so many fields of our common country,
it will be my
earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations.
I feel the
full
responsibilities now devolving upon me; and
I know that
if they are
met
it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of
that
Providence which leads nations and men."
General Grant visited the Army of the Potomac
at Culpeper, and
made the acquaintance
of General Meade, took a look at the
soldiers
in a quiet way, and returned to Washington.
Mrs. Lincoln had pre-
pared a grand dinner expressly in his honor.
" Mrs. Lincoln must excuse me," he
said.
" I must be in Tennessee
at the earliest possible moment."
SPRING OF
1864.
399
" But we can't excuse you," said the President.
" Were we
to
sit
down without you it would be " Hamlet " with Hamlet left out,"
" I
appreciate the honor, Mr. President, but time
is very precious
just now.
I ought to be attending to affairs.
The loss of a day means
the loss of a million dollars to the country."
" Well, then, we shall be compelled to have the dinner without the
honor of your presence," said Mr. Lincoln, as they parted.
Never before had a commander of any of the armies pleaded public
necessity for declining a dinner at the White House
; never a command-
er so absorbed as was General Grant
in the business of
the country.
Possibly the
declination
gave
the
President more
pleasure
than
he
would have had from an acceptance of the invitation.
A few days
before General
Grant
received
his commission
F. B.
Carpenter, an artist, was installed in the White House to paint a picture
commemorating the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
He
became a member of the household, and recorded scenes in the routine
of the President's official life.
Mr. Lincoln and the artist were together
one evening when the President turned from his paper as if weary.
(
'
)
" Tad," he
said
to
his youngest
son, " run
to the library and get
' Shakespeare.' "
He read passages which had ever been a delight to
him. "The opening of 'Eichard
III.,'
it seems to me, is almost always
misapprehended,"
he
said.
" You know the
actor
usually comes
in
with a flourish, and, like a college sophomore, says
:
" 'Now
is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by
this suu of York.'
Now this
is all wrong.
Richard had been, and was then, plotting the
destruction of his brothers to make room for himself.
Outwardly, he is
most loyal to the newly crowned king
;
secretly, he could scarcely con-
tain
his impatience at the obstacles
still
in the way of his own eleva-
tion.
He
is burning with repressed hate and jealousy.
The prologue
is the utterance of the most intense bitterness and satire."
Mr. Lincoln assumed
the
character, and
recited
the
passage with
such force that it became a new creation to the artist.
" There
is a poem," he said, " which has been a great favorite with
me for many years.
Jason Duncan first called my attention to
it.
I
cut it from a newspaper, and carried it in my pocket and learned
it.
I
would give a great deal to know who wrote it."
Half closing his eyes, he repeated the poem " Oh. why should the
spirit of mortal be proud V
400
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The poem contained thirteen stanzas, but Mr. Lincoln never recited
the third
:
"The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye
Shone beauty and pleasure—her triumphs are by
;
And the memory of those who loved her and praised
Are alike from the minds of the living erased."
Neither did Mr. Lincoln, in his many recitations of this poem to his
friends, ever include the seventh stanza
:
"The saint who enjoyed the communion of Heaven,
The sinner who dared
to remain unforgiven.
The wise and the foolish, the guilty and
just,
Have quietly mingled their bones
in
the dust."
There were tender and sacred memories connected with the poem
which
time
never
effaced.
He
recited
once more
Holmes's
" Last
Leaf."
The corridors leading to the executive chamber were daily crowded
by Senators, members of Congress, officers of the army and navy, vis-
itors from foreign lands, delegations from
civic, religious, and
political
organizations^—men with schemes for putting an end to the war
;
ap-
plicants who wanted
special permits to trade
in the South
; men and
women who desired to get their sons home from the army or out
of
prison.
Mr. Lincoln often recognized an old acquaintance among them.
" I presume you have forgotten me," said one.
" No, your name is Flood.
I saw you twelve years ago.
I am glad
to see you, and
it gives me pleasure to know that the Flood still fiow^s
on."
Many years before the outbreak of the Rebellion, George Thompson,
an Englishman, came to America
to promote the abolition of slavery.
The people resented the
interference
of a foreigner in American
af-
fairs, and he was rudely
treated.
He
w^as once more
in the United
States, and
called on the President, accompanied by Rev. John
Pier-
pont, of Boston, Lewis Clephane, publisher, and Oliver Johnson, editor
of an antislavery paper, the " New Era."
" The aristocracy and the moneyed interests of Great Britain," said
Thompson, " would rejoice to see the United States broken up
; but the
working people know that the cause
of liberty
is at
stake, and their
sympathies are with the North and for the extirpation of slavery."
" Mr. Thompson," said the President,
'' the people of Great Britain
and
of other countries have been
in
error in regard to
this
conflict.
SPRING OF
1864.
401
They seemed to think tlie moment I became President I had the power
to abohsh slavery, forgetting that I had to take an oath to support the
Constitution and to execute the laws as I found them.
I (hd not con-
sider
tliat
I had any right
to touch the
institution of slavery in the
States
until all other means for maintaining the integrity of the Gov-
ernment had been exhausted.
The time came when,
if the nation was
to
live, slavery must
die.
Many
of my
strongest
supporters
urged
emancipation before I thought
it indispensable and before the country
was ready for
it.
It
is my conviction
that
if
it had been issued
six
months
earlier public sentiment would not have sustained
it.
Just so
in
reference
to
enlisting
colored
soldiers.
Had the
step been taken
sooner
it could not have been carried out. A man watches his pear-tree
day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit.
Let him attempt
to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree
; but let him
patiently wait, and he will have the ripe
pear.
I can solemnly assert
that
I have a clear conscience
in regard to my action.
I have done
Avhat no man could have helped doing, standing in my place."
A lady from Alexandria complained that the medical director had
taken the church where she was accustomed to worship for a hospital.
" Mr. President," she said, " as there are only two or three wounded
soldiers in
it, I came to see
if you would not let us have
it, as we want
it very much to worship God in."
'' Have you called upon the post surgeon ?"
" Yes, sir, but can do nothing with him."
"Well, madam, he
is there to attend to just such business, and
it
is
reasonable to suppose that he knows better than I what should be done
under the circumstances.
You probably own property in Alexandria.
How much will you give towards building a hospital?"
" Keally, Mr. President, our property
is very much embarrassed by
the war, so I could not give much for such a purpose."
"AVell, madam, I expect there will be a
battle soon, and
it
is my
opinion
that God wants the church for poor wounded Union
soldiers
quite as much as he does for secesh people to "worship
in.
You will
excuse me.
Good-day, madam."
Two aged people, husband and w^fe, with much hesitation approached
the President.
The severity upon his face changed to a kindh^ look.
" "Well, my good lady, what can I do for you ?"
" Mr. President, I never spoke
to
a President
before, but
I am a
Union woman, dowm here in Maryland.
My boy has been wounded in
battle.
He
is
in the
hospital.
I have been
trying
to
get him
out;
402
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
somehow I can't.
They said I'd better come and see you.
When the
war broke out I gave my boy to God, and then told him he might go
and
fight the
rebels.
IsTow, Mr. President,
if you'll
let me take him
home, I'll nurse him up, and just as soon as he gets well enough he'll
go right back and fight again.
He's a good boy
; he won't shirk."
Tears glistened
in the
eyes
of Mr. Lincoln as he looked into the
honest face and listened to the pleading words.
" You
shall have your boy.
There, take this scrap
of paper, and
3^ou will get your boy if he is able to be moved."
" God
bless you, Mr. President
! we are
so much obliged to you !"
said the grateful woman,
stifling her sobbing joy as she received the
paper. (^)
The Attorney-general came to the President soliciting a favor.
" A
friend of mine," said Mr. Bates, " over in Yirginia is a Union man, but
his boy enlisted in the rebel army.
He has been captured by our troops,
and the father wants him paroled.
He promises that the boy shall not
serve again.
As a personal favor
I hope you
will
see your way to
grant it."
" Bates," said Mr. Lincoln, " I have a case almost like
it.
The son
of an old friend
in
Illinois ran away from home and enlisted in the
rebel army.
The poor fool has been captured, and his broken-hearted
father wants me to send him home, and he promises to keep him there.
Kow, let
us
unite our
influence with
this Administration, and
see
if
we can't make the two old men happy, and at the same time keep two
fools from going back into the rebel army."
The fathers received
their sons, and the "fools" never again took
up arms against their country.
A fair was held in Washington on March 16th for the benefit of the
sick and wounded
soldiers
in the
hospitals.
It was given under the
auspices of women.
Mr. Lincoln visited it, and, being called upon for a
speech, said
:
"I have but a few words
to
utter.
This extraordinary war
falls heavily upon
all
classes of people, but most heavily upon the soldier.
It has been said,
' All that a man
hath will he give for his
life
;'
the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields
it, in his
country's cause.
The highest merit thus
is due the soldier. ...
I am not accustomed to
the language of eulogy
;
I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women.
But I must say that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the
world in praise of women were applied to the women of America,
it would not do them
justice for their conduct during this war."
An entertainment in aid of the fair, consisting of poetical recitations
SPRING OF
1864.
403
and readings by
elocutionists, was held
in the Representatives'
Ilall.
The President attended, and was
invited
to a
seat on
the
platform.
Among the selections was a poem entitled " The New Pastoral," written
by Thomas Buchanan Read
in
1850, after the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise—a prophetic poem containing a remarkable passage:
"Here the great statesman from the ranks of
toil
May rise with judgment
clear, as strong as wise,
And with a well-directed patriot blow
Reel inch
the
rivets
in our Union bonds
Which tinkering knaves have striven
to
set
ajar."
Fourteen
j^ears had passed since the writing
of the poem, and the
prophecy was being fulfilled in the person of President Lincoln.
It was
recognized by the audience, and the Capitol rang with applause.
The Governor of Kentuck}^ Mr. Bramlette, together with
]\rr. Dixon
and Mr. A. G. Hodges, visited Washington to see about the draft for
soldiers which
Congress had
ordered.
They talked with Mr.
' Lincoln about the Emancipation Proclamation.
After their re-
turn to Kentucky, Mr. Hodges asked the President to write out w^hat he
had said to them.
Yery remarkable the closing sentences
:
" I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled
me.
Now, at
the end of three
years' struggle, the nation's condition
is not what either
party or any man devised
or expected.
God alone can claim
it.
Whither
it is tending
seems plain.
If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of
the North as well as you of the South shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wroug.
impartial history will find therein new causes to attest and revere the justice and goodness
of God."
General Grant returned from the "West to take supreme command
of military affairs.
"What
sort of a man
is General Grant?" asked one of the Pres-
ident's friends.
" Well, I
hardly know what
to think
of him," said
Mr. Lincoln.
" He
is the quietest fellow^ you ever saw.
He don't make any fuss.
I
believe two or three times he has been in this room a minute or so be-
fore I knew he was here.
The only evidence you have that he is in any
place
is that he makes things
git.
Grant
is the
first general I have
had."
" How
is that ?"
" You know how it has been with the
others.
As soon
as
I put a
man in command, he'd come to me with a plan of a campaign, as
if to
4:04:
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
say,
' Kow, I don't believe I can do
it, but
if you say so
I'll try,' and so
put the
responsibility
of
success
or
failure on me.
It
ign't so with
Grant.
He hasn't told me what
his plans
are.
I don't know, and
I
don't want
to know.
I am glad
to have found a man who can go
ahead without me."
The President had been lying on a lounge, but now sat upright and
talked more earnestly, as if it were a congenial topic.
"You
see, when
an}^ of the
others
set out on a campaign, they'd
look over matters and pick out some one thing they were short of and
which they knew I couldn't give them, and
tell me they couldn't win
unless they had
it, and
it was most generally cavalry."
Mr. Lincoln laughed heartily a moment, and then went on
:
•' ISTow, when Grant took hold I was waiting to see what his pet im-
j)Ossihility would be.
I reckoned
it would be cavalry, as a matter of
course, for we hadn't horses enough to mount the men we had.
There
were 15,000, or thereabouts, up near Harper's Ferry, and no horses to
put them on.
Well, Grant sent word to me the other day about those
very men, just as
I
expected, but he
didn't ask
for horses.
He only
wanted to know whether he should make infantrj^ of them or disband
them.
He don't ask impossibilities of me, and he
is the first general
who hasn't."
General Grant intended that the army under Sherman, at Chatta-
nooga, the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, and the Army of the
James, under Butler, should move at the same time.
General Burnside
w^as at Annapolis, in Maryland, with the Ninth Corps, numbering near-
ly 30,000 men.
He was directed to march to Washington, and from
there to the Rapidan, to co-operate with the Army of the Potomac.
Down
Pennsylvania Avenue comes
Burnside's
troops, turning up
Fourteenth Street, where the President stands upon a balcony to review
them.
Some of the veterans have fought at
Bull Run, Ball's
April 25
Bluff, Roanoke, ]N'ewbern, in front of Richmond, Antietam, Get-
tysburg, Knoxville.
The flags which they carry are in tatters, but they
are the dearest things on earth to the men keeping step to the drum-
beat.
There is the steady tramping of the men, the deep, heavy jar of
gun-carriages, clattering of horses' hoofs, clanking of sabres.
General
Burnside and the President, standing side by side, look down upon the
serried ranks.
The lines are deepening in the face of Abraham Lincoln.
He
is pale and care-worn.
The soldiers behold him, swing their hats,
and hurrah.
A
division
of
veterans pass, and
then, with
full ranks,
the platoons extending the
entire width
of
the
street, come brigades
SPRING OF
1864.
405
which have never been
in
battle—men who have come at the call of
their country to lay down their lives on the battle-field.
Their country !
They never had a country
till that pale man on the balcony gave them
one.
They never were men till he made them such.
They were slaves
;
he made them freemen.
They have been chattels—things
; now they
are owners of themselves—citizens—soldiers of
the Republic.
Never
before have they beheld their benefactor.
"Hurrah for Uncle Abe!
Hurrah for Mars Linkum !" No cheers like theirs.
It is the spontaneous
outburst from grateful hearts.
Yes
;
in return for what he has done for
them and for their race will they fight to the death
!
" Can you," said the President to Mr. L. E. Chittenden, "leave your
office and go over to Annapolis?
A party of about 400
officers and
men out of rebel prisons at Belle Isle, at Richmond, arrived there
*^''^^' yesterday.
Their condition
will be investigated by Congress;
but
that
will
take
time.
An
intelligent
lady, w^hom you know, has
given me such an account of their sad state that I should like to know
the truth
at once from one w-ho will neither exaggerate nor suppress
any of the facts.
Will you go and see them, and bring me back your
report ?"(")
Mr. Chittenden
visited
Annapolis,
beheld
the
men, returned
to
"Washington, and reported to Mr. Lincoln.
" All the way from Annapolis," he said, " I have been studying the
formula for an answer to your question.
It is useless.
You would like
to know what
I have seen
;
I cannot
tell you.
Imagine,
if you can,
strong men, robbed of their money, blankets, overcoats, boots, and cloth-
ing, covered with rags, driven like foxes into holes on an island, exposed
to frost and cold until their frozen extremities drop from their bleeding
stumps, fed upon food such as the swine would have rejected, until by
exhaustion
their manhood
is crushed
out, their minds
destroyed, and
their bodies, foul with filth and disease, are brought to the very borders
of the grave, which soon will close upon half of them, and you may get
some faint conception of wdiat may be seen at Annapohs.
But
it will
be very faint.
The picture cannot be comprehended even when
it
is
seen."
" Can such things be possible !" the President exclaimed.
" You are
the fourth person who has given me the same account.
I cannot be-
lieve
it
!
There must be some explanation for
it.
The Richmond peo-
ple are Americans— of the same race as ourselves.
It is incredible !"
" No," Mr. President, " I saw the poor unfortunates last evening.
I
went again this morning to find something which would
relieve
the
26*
406
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
horror of
the
first
impression.
I did
not
find
it.
I have conversed
with men who know thev are dying.
They all tell the same story, and
but
one
conclusion
is
possible:
a frightful weight
of
responsibility
and
guilt
rests upon
the
authorities
at Richmond
for
these
crimes
against humanity."
" Nothing," replied Mr. Lincoln, " has
occurred
in
the war which
causes me to suffer like this.
I know it seems impossible to account for
the treatment of these poor fellows, except on the theory that somebody
is guilty.
But the world will be slow to believe that the Confederate
authorities intend to destroy their prisoners by starvation.
We should
be slow to believe it.
It must be that they have some claim of excuse.
The Indians torture their prisoners, but I never heard that
the}^ froze
them or starved them !"
We may not know all the
facts, the whole
inside history.
They may have excuses of which we know nothing."
" Make the case your own, Mr. President," said Chittenden.
"Wash-
ington is larger than Richmond.
Your duties are quite as absorbing as
those of Mr. Jefferson Davis.
Could Confederate prisoners of war be
dying by hundreds of exposure and starvation on an island in the Po-
tomac, between this city and Alexandria, and jom not know it ?
Why,
the newsboys in the streets would publish
it, and the authorities could
not remain ignorant of it, even if they were deaf and dumb."
" Well," said Mr. Lincoln, " I admit you have the best of the argu-
ment.
But do me a favor.
Retain your opinions, if j^ou must, but say
nothing about them at present until we are forced to make the charge
—until there is no alternative, and the world is forced to think as we do."
" I will do as you request, Mr. President."
" Let us hope," he replied, " for the best.
We shall have enough to
answer for if we survive this war.
Let us hope at least that the crime
of murdering prisoners by exposure and starvation may not be fastened
on any of our people."
With fifteen days'
rations for the army, General Grant cut
loose
from
all communication
with Washington, crossed
the Rapidan, and
went on to the Wilderness.
(See " Redeeming the Republic," chap, iv.)
A courier arrived at the White House with an account
of the two
days'
struDj'o-le — an undecided
battle, in which 20,000 men had
Mav 8
"^
^~
'
been killed or wounded.
The President paced his chamber, and
gave way to uncontrollable emotion, exclaiming
:
" My God
! ray God
! twenty thousand
!
I cannot bear
it
!
I
can-
not bear
it
!
Why do we
suffer so ?
Could we not have avoided the
terrible, bloody war ?
Was it not forced upon us ?
Will it ever end ?"
SPRING OF
1864.
409
In the evening John ^Y. Forney, editor of the Philadelphia " Press,"
called at the White House.
He found Mr. Lincoln suffering great de-
pression
of
spirits.
He was
ghastly
pale.
There were
dark
rings
around his deep-set eyes.
He was reading Shakespeare.
" Let me read you this fi-om Shakespeare," he said.
" I cannot read
it like Forest, who
is acting at the theatre, but
it comes to me to-night
like a consolation
:
"
' To morrow, and
to morrow, and
to morrow,
Creeps in
this petty pace from day to day,
To the
last syllable of recorded time;
And
all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way
to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle
!
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player.
That struts and
frets his hour upon the
stage.
And then
is heard no more:
it
is a tale
Told by an
idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifj'iug nothing.' " ("*)
A few days later the wounded began to arrive from the Wilderness
and
Spottsylvania.
Washington became a
vast
hospital.
The
Presi-
dent visited the disabled soldiers, speaking kind words and doing what
he could for them.
Day by day his own countenance was changing,
the sadness becoming habitual.
" He
looked,"
writes
Mr. Arnold, member
of Congress, " like one
who had lost a dear member of his own family.
I recall one evening
late in May, when
I met the President in
his carriage driving slowly
towards
the
Soldiers' Home.
He had just parted from one of those
long lines of ambulances.
The sun w^as just sinking behind the desolate
and deserted
hills
of Virginia
; the flags from the forts, hospitals, and
camps drooped sadly,
Arlington, with
its white colonnade, looked like
what it was—a hospital.
Far down the Potomac, towards Mount Yer-
non, the haze of evening was gathering over the landscape, and when I
met the President
his attitude and expression spoke the deepest sad-
ness.
He paused as we met, and pointing his hand towards the
line
of wounded men, he said
:
' Look yonder at those poor fellows.
I can-
not bear
it.
This suffering, this loss of
life,
is
dreadful.'
Recalling a
letter he had
written years
before to a suffering
friend whose
grief
he had sought
to console, I reminded him
of the incident, and asked
him
:
' Do you remember writing to your sorrowing friend these Avords
:
" And
this,
too,
shall
pass
away.
Never
fear, victory
will
come."
'Yes,' replied he, 'victory will come, but
it comes slowly.' "(")
410
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Sunday was ever a
restful day.
Public cares were
laid
aside.
In
the floorless cabin on the banks of Nolin's Creek Mr. Lincoln had
lis-
tened to the stories of Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel—heroes
of Biblical history, as narrated by his mother.
There
is no more beau-
tiful picture in Mr. Lincoln's life than the scene often witnessed in the
White House on Sunday afternoons—the chief executive of the nation
narrating the same stories to his hstening boy.
NOTES TO CHAPTEE
XXI.
(
' ) Warden's " Life of Salmou P. Chase," p. 570.
C) Thaddeus Steveus was bom
at Peacliam, Vt., April
4,
1794.
He was educated
at Dartmouth College, graduating 1814.
He became a school-teacher at York, Pa.
He
studied law, and began practice as an attorney at Gettysburg, Avhere he remained
till
1842
; then became a resident of Lancaster.
He served many j'ears as a member of the
Legislature, and became a political leader.
He was elected to Congress, 1848, and made
the acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, then member from
Illinois.
Through life he had been
ardent in his opposition to slaverj^, and took a prominent part
in debate upon the floor
of Congress.
Few members surpassed him in attention to public affairs.
His constitu-
ents re-elected him many times.
He was ever a friend to the poor and oppressed, a de-
fender of their rights.
From the begiuning of the war he urged President Lincoln to
strike a blow at slavei-y.
He initiated and urged the passage of the Fourteenth Amend-
ment to the Constitution.
During the war he wielded great influence in Congress, and
though advocating extreme measures to put down the Eebellion, he was, on the other
hand,
a? stanch supporter of the Administration.—Author,
( ^) Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 380.
(*) "Congressional Globe," Thirty-eighth Congress, Second Session, pp.
1, 400.
( = ) "The Nation," October 2, 1873.
{ ^ )
" Harper's Weekly," April 2, 1864.
( ') F. B. Carpenter, " Six Months 'in the White House," p. 48.
O W. C. J., in New York " Times," March 16, 1864.
(
' ) L. E. Chittenden, " Recollections of Lincoln," p. 323.
( '")
J. W. Forney, "Anecdotes of Public Men," vol.
ii., p, 180.
('^) Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 375.
SUMMER OF
1864.
411
CHAPTER
XXII.
SUMMER OF
1864.
THE political campaign for nominating candidates for the Presidency
began with the assembling of the Abolitionists and others at Cleve-
land.
General Fremont was nominated.
Wendell
Phillips
in an
ad-
dress said
:
"The Administration I regard
as a civil and military failure, and
its avowed policy
ruinous to
tlie North in every point of view.
Mr. Lincoln may wish the end peace and
freedom, but he is wholly unwilling to use the means which can secure that end.
If Mr.
Lincoln
is re-elected,
I do not expect to see the Union reconstructed in my day, unless on
terms more disastrous to liberty than ever disunion would be."
Mr. Phillips did not state what means the President could use.
The
Emancipation Proclamation had been issued
; more than 100,000 negro
soldiers were in the army.
What more could be done ?
Mr. Phillips also said
:
"I
see
in General Fremont one whose thorougli loyalty to democratic
institutions
witliout regard to race, whose earnest and decisive
character, wliose clear sighted states-
manship and rare military ability justify my confidence that in his hands all will be done
to save the Slate that foresight,
skill, decision, and statesmanship can do."
Instead of showing rare military abilit}^ General Fremont had utterly
failed as a commander.
The convention denounced corruption in office,
yet one of its leading members, who had served on Fremont's staff, had
been dismissed from military service on account of his dishonest trans-
actions.
It was a gathering
of a handful of discontented men— less
than four hundred.
Mr. Lincoln read the account of the proceedings, and laughed.
It
reminded him of a gathering
in another age, and
in another country.
He took up his Bible and read
:
"And every one that was
in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one
that was discontented, gathered
themselves unto him;
and
he
became
a
captain
over
them; and there were with him about four hundred men."
412
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The United
States under the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln was
not just like the Kingdom of Israel under Saul; neither was General
Fremont the exact counterpart of David.
But the four hundred gathered
at Cleveland and the four hundred in the cave of Adullam w^ere alike
discontented and opposed to those in authority.
The President laughed
heartily over the
similarity.
He
respected and honored
the earnest
men W'ho had nominated Premont, but could not accept their views as
to his duty in administering the affairs of the nation.
From the outbreak of the Kebellion the people had gradually come
to see that
it had been caused by slavery, and that there could be no
lasting peace
till
it was wholly eradicated.
President Lincoln issued
his Proclamation of Emancipation as a war measure to cripple the ene-
my, but it did not wholly abolish slavery.
Congress could not do it by
an enactment.
The people must
act
in their sovereign capacity and
change the Constitution.
James M. Ashley, of Ohio
; James P. Wilson, of Iowa
; Senator Sum-
ner, of
Massachusetts, and
Senator Henderson, of
Missouri, had
sub-
mitted resolutions for amending the Constitution, which were referred
to a Joint Judiciary Committee, of w^hich Senator Trumbull was chair-
man.
The months were
slipping
away, summer approaching.
The
committee had taken no action.
President Lincoln was solicitous that
something
should be
done.
The Emancipation Proclamation was
of
little effect, save as victories were won.
The National Convention of the Eepublican Party to nominate a
candidate for the Presidency w^as to meet in Baltimore,
It would be
called to order by Edwin D. Morgan, chairman of the National Com-
mittee.
" I would like you," said Mr. Lincoln to him, " in your address,
when you call the convention to order, as its key-note, and to put into
the
platform,
as
its key -stone, the amendment
to
the
Constitution
abolishing and prohibiting slavery,"
The day arrived (June
8, 1864).
At the outset the delegates mani-
fested their determination to take advanced ground for the maintenance
of the Union.
•
The Army
of
the Potomac was at Cold Harbor.
It had
fought
its way from the Wilderness to the vicinity of Kichmond.
It
w^as so
near the
city that
in the
stillness
of night the Union sentinels
could
hear the church
bells
toll the passing hours.
The army commanded
by Sherman had
forced the Confederates under Johnston from Buz-
zard's Eoost to Kenesaw.
With victory upon their banners the soldiers
of the Union would continue the struggle to the end.
SUMMER OF
1864.
413
As he called the convention to order, Mr. Morgan said
:
" It is a little more than eight years since
it was resolved to form a national party, to
be conducted on the principles and policy of Washington and Jefferson. ... In view of
the dread realities of the past and what is passing at this moment, the fact that the bones
of our soldiers are bleaching in every State of the Union, and with the further knowledge
of the
fact that this has all been caused by slavery, we
shall
fail
of accomplishing our
great mission unless we shall declare for such an amendment
to the Constitution as will
positively prohibit African slavery in the United States."
The delegates clapped their hands, rose
as one man, and made the
hall
rino- with
cheers.
It
was
significant
of
their
determination
to
carry on the work they had begun till that which caused the war should
be eradicated from the Constitution.
Eev. Robert
J. Breckinridge,
of Kentucky, renowned
as preacher
and scholar, was appointed temporary chairman. (' )
He was uncle
to
John C.
Breckinridge, Yice-president under Buchanan,
for whom the
slave-holders had voted
in
1860, and who was a lieutenant-general
in
the Confederate army.
Though many of his friends and relatives had
given their sympathies to the Confederac}^, and were
fighting against
the Government, Eobert
J. Breckinridge was true to the Union.
He
believed President Lincoln had been chosen by Almighty God to save
the nation from ruin.
" This nation," he
said to the delegates
in con-
vention, " shall not be destroyed.
The only enduring and imperishable
cement of
all free
institutions has been the blood of
traitors.
.
.
. We
must use all power to exterminate the institution of slavery, which has
raised the sword against the Union."
The convention adopted a resolution demanding an amendment
to
the Constitution prohibiting
slavery, as had been suggested by Presi-
dent Lincoln and announced by Mr. Morgan.
Again the hall rang with
loud and prolonged cheers.
Mr. Lincoln was renominated by acclama-
tion.
Andrew Johnson,
of
Tennessee, was
selected
as
candidate
for
Vice-president.
The committee chosen
to inform Mr. Lincoln of
his renomination
visited the White House.
" I cannot," said the
President,
" conceal my gratification nor
re-
strain the expression
of my gratitude that the Union people, through
their convention, in their continued effort to save and advance the na-
tion, have deemed me not unworthy to remain in my present position.
... I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the Constitution
as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation.
Such an amendment is a
necessarv conclusion to the final success of the Union cause."
414
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Baltimore being so near the capital, many delegations called upon
the
President— among
others, members
of
the
Philadelphia Union
League.
" I do not allow myself," said Mr. Lincoln, in response to
the ad-
dress of
its president, "to suppose that
either the convention or the
league have concluded that I am the greatest or best man in America,
but rather that it is not best to swap horses while crossing the
river.
SUMMER OF
1864.
415
and that
I am not so poor a horse but that they might make a botch
of it in trying to swap-''^)
"Allow me," said a gentleman, "to introduce my friend.
He
is an
artist, and has
painted a beautiful portrait of yourself and presented
it to the league."
" A
beautiful portrait, did you say ?
I think,
sir," said the
Presi-
dent, addressing the
artist, " that you must have taken your idea not
from my person, but from my principles." ('
)
"William Lloyd Garrison, who had severely criticised Mr. Lincoln for
setting aside Fremont's and Hunter's proclamations, visited the White
House, and was warmly welcomed.
" I have
just come from Baltimore,"
said Mr. Garrison.
" I have
been searching for the old jail which I once had the honor of occupy-
ing, but have not been able to find it."
" Well," said Mr. Lincoln, " times have changed.
Then you couldn^t
get out, now you can't get in."(')
The National Democratic Convention was to meet in Chicago, July
4:th,
The committee having matters
in charge
selected
the anniver-
sary of national independence, hoping that the choice
of
such a day
would awaken
the enthusiasm of those who
believed
the war was a
failure, who
said
the South
never could
be
conquered, and who
de-
manded
peace,
no
matter what
terms
Jefferson
Davis
might
de-
mand.
As narrated, Mr. Yallandigham, of Ohio, had been sent to the Con-
federate
lines by President Lincoln.
After a brief stay in Eichmond,
he made his way to Canada. (')
He located himself near Windsor, op-
posite Detroit, and was
in constant communication with his friends in
Ohio.
He was counselling with Jacob Thompson and Clement C. Clay,
Confederate agents at Toronto and Montreal.
At
an
early period
of
the
Kebellion
a
secret
society had
been
formed
in
Southern Indiana by men who
favored
the
Confederacy.
The organization
at
first was known as the " Knights of the Golden
Circle."
In 1863
it became the " Sons of Liberty."
Its members were
bitterly opposed to the war.
The calls
of President Lincoln for more
troops and the ordering of the draft intensified their opposition.
They
were in communication with the Confederates.
If the L^nion were to
be restored at
all, they desired
it to be as
it was before the war, with
slavery unharmed.
They did not comprehend that slavery was being
swept from the land by the victories of the L^nion armies.
The mem-
bers of the
society wxre most numerous
in Indiana,
Illinois, Missouri,
416
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and
Ohio.
The organization
gradually
extended
eastward
to New
York.
Its meetings were held secretly.
On Washington's birthday, in
February, 1864, a grand council of delegates assembled in 'New York
and elected Yallandigham as grand commander.
The members of the
order judged, from the discontent
in the Western States,
it would be
easy to bring about an uprising against
the Government.
The Con-
federate commission in Canada had received a large amount of money
in gold coin from Kichmond, and were supplying arms to the " Sons
of Liberty."
Captain Hines, an officer in the Confederate service, was
commissioned to make his way to Canada and collect the soldiers who
had escaped from Union military prisons.
He put himself in connection
with the secret society.
The Peace Democrats of south-western Ohio while
in
session were
surprised when
Mr. Yallandigham, general commander
of
the " Sons
of Liberty," appeared.
It was an unlooked-for event.
He had
'^'Jgg^^'come in the night from Canada.
He was greeted with a yell of
deliofht.
President Lincoln was informed of his arrival, but had
no intention of
having him again arrested.
Just what induced Yal-
landigham to suddenly leave Canada and appear in Ohio
is not known.
The " Sons of Liberty " were not ready for an uprising.
Probably
it
was to make his influence felt
in the approaching Democratic Conven-
tion, to which he was at once elected a delegate.
The managers were
greatly disturbed.
They feared Yallandigham would be a ruhng spirit.
The National Committee hastily assembled in New York and voted to
adjourn the meeting of the convention to August 29th.
They gave as a
reason that
it would be well for the party to wait for probable events.
General Grant had fought his way from the Wilderness to Petersburg,
and had announced his determination to fight on that line if it took all
summer.
General Sherman was moving towards Atlanta.
Every vic-
tory won, every advance of the armies, made the cause
of
the Union
stronger and brought discouragement to the Democratic Party.
One
newspaper frankly stated that the meeting of the convention was post-
poned that advantage might be taken of any military blunder.
The
Kepublican newspapers said it was the first time in history that a politi-
cal party pretending to be loyal to the Constitution could only hope for
success from disaster to the armies of the Union.
Mr.
Chase had
conducted
the
Treasury Department
with
great
ability, but he differed from Mr. Lincoln on many questions.
It was
very natural that he should want his own way.
Once he resigned, but
the
President
declined
to
receive his
resignation.
Accusations were
SUMMER OF
1864.
417
coming to Mr, Lincoln against a collector of customs in Oregon—that
he was not a fit person to hold so important an oifice.
" My mind
is made up,'' wrote the President to Mr. Chase, " to
re-
mov(> hiin.
I do not decide
tliat the charges against him are true.
I
only declare that the degree of dissatisfaction with him
is too great for
him to be retained.
But I believe he is your personal acquaintance and
friend, and, if you desire
it, I will try and find some other place foi* him."
Mr. Chase thought the President ought to have consulted with him,
CLESrENT
L. VALLANDIGHAM.
418
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and was
so
displeased
that he
again
tendered
his
resignation.
Mr.
Lincoln called upon him, put his arm around the neck of the Secretary
and
said, " Chase, here
is a paper with which
I have nothing
to
do.
Take it back and be reasonable."
Mr. Chase did so, and things went on once more as
if nothing had
happened.
When the Republican Party came
into power there was
a
great
scramble for
offices, especially in New York.
The
strife between the
different factions gave Mr. Lincoln a great deal of trouble.
Mr. Cisco,
collector of customs, desired to resign the office.
A contest arose as to
who should succeed him.
Mr. Chase desired the aj)pointment of Mr.
Field.
Senator Morgan opposed it.
" Strained as I am," wrote Mr. Lincoln to the
Secretary, " I do not
think that I can make this appointment in the direction of a still greater
strain."
Twice had Mr. Chase tendered his resignation, and he was so
dis-
pleased that he once more asked to be relieved
of the Secretaryship.
Abraham Lincoln was not the man to go again to the residence of Mr.
Chase and ask him to remain in office.
The resignation was accepted, and David Tod, of Ohio, appointed
;
but a telegram came from him, declining the appointment on account
of his health.
Through the night the President had been thinking over the situa-
tion.
The Secretary of the Treasury must be a man of marked ability
—one who would command the confidence of the people.
The
iseV'
Gro^^ei'iiiiient must have money.
Unless it was obtained the ar-
mies
could
not
be
kept
in
the
field.
William P. Fessenden,
Senator from Maine, chairman of the Finance Committee, commanded
the confidence of the country. (')
He would appoint him,
" Mr. Fessenden
is in the anteroom and would like to see you," said
one of the secretaries in the morning.
" Here, take this to the Senate.
Mr. Fessenden is not to come in till
after you have started," said Mr. Lincoln.
After the departure of the secretar}^, Mr. Fessenden entered the ex-
ecutive chamber.
He did not know what the President had done.
" Mr.
President,"
said Mr.
Fessenden,
" allow me
to
suggest Mr.
McCulloch as a suitable person for the Treasury Department.''
He sees a smile upon Mr. Lincoln's face, and soon learns its meaning.
" Mr. Senator, I have just sent your name to the Senate."
Mr. Fessenden springs from his chair.
SUMMER OF
1864.
41 'J
WTLT-IAM
P. FESSENDEN.
" Mr. President, you must witb(lra\r
it.
I cannot, I cannot acce|)t it."
" No, Mr. Fessenden, I cannot withdraw
it.
I want you.
You must
decline
it before tlie public if you really cannot take it."
The nomination was confirmed without a dissenting voice
in
the
Senate.
Republicans and Democrats alike knew, esteemed, and honored
Mr. Fessenden.
420
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" It
is very singular," Mr. Lincoln
said, " considering
that
this
ap-
pointment
is so popular when made, that no one ever mentioned
his
name to me for that
place.
Thinking over the matter, two or three
points occurred to me
:
his thorough acquaintance with the business
—as chairman of the Senate Committee of Finance he knows as much
of
this
special
subject as Mr. Chase
; he possesses a national
reputa-
tion and the confidence of the country
; he
is a
radical, without the
petulant and vicious fretfulness of many
radicals.
There are reasons
why this appointment ought
to be very agreeable to him.
For some
time past he has been running in rather a pocket of bad luck; the failure
to renominate Mr. Hamlin makes possible a contest between him and
the
Vice-president, the most
popular man
in Maine, for
the
election
w^hich
is now imminent.
A
little while ago, in the
Senate, you know
Trumbull told him
his
ill -temper had
left him no
friends, but
this
sudden and most gratifying manifestation of good feeling over his
ap-
pointment,
his
instantaneous
confirmation,
the
earnest
entreaties
of
everybody that he should accept, cannot but be grateful to his feelings."
Congress was to adjourn at noon on the anniversary of the birth of
the nation.
Early in the forenoon the President rode to the Capitol to
examine and sign the bills which had been passed.
A bill providing for
the readmission of the seceded States to the Union did not meet his
approval.
It had been drawm by Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland,
and vehemently advocated by Senator AVade, of Ohio
;
Senator Sumner,
of Massachusetts
; Senator Chandler, of Michigan, and others.
" Are you not going to sign it ?" Chandler asked. (')
" This bill," Mr. Lincoln replied, " has just come to me.
Congress is
about to adjourn.
It
is a matter of too great importance to be swal-
lowed that way."
" If
it
is vetoed, Mr.
President,
it
will damage us fearfully in the
coming elections.
The bill prohibits slavery in the reconstructed States.
It is a ver}^ important point."
" I am aware of it," the President replied.
" It is a very important
point.
I doubt if Congress has authority under the Constitution to act
on that point."
" Mr. President,
it is no more than you yourself have done."
" I conceive," said the President, " that in an emergency
I may do
things on military grounds
w^hich Congress cannot do under the Con-
stitution."
Senators and representatives who had earnestly advocated the pas-
sage of the bill were angry.