Year: 1864

commentary upon his fitness for the position into
which he was tossed by the whirligig action of
| political convention.


| All things must have an end, however, anC
Mr.. Lincoln's sweet dream of enjoyment, in
which fauering hoDors aud unaccustomed de-
lights. new scenes and novel sensations. seemed
| TO bind his soul in siiken fetters, suddenly
and harshly dispeed by the fierce note Of actual
war Fort Sumter hsd been attacked by rebel
batteries, and the country was afame.


Whatever NAV be said to the contrary, Mr. Lin
| coin certainly can not be held chargeable with
having brought on or even fastening the war; for
that grave act the South alone responsible; we
do blame him for frittering away on the hungry
crowd that besieged him at his home in Spring
field. the valuable time which belonged to the
Government, and coming TO Washington with no
preparation whatever for events which he must
have known would occur, and We blame him
still more for wasting the time which ntervened
between his Inauguration and the firing on Fort
Sumter on the petty claims of individuals and
not desotng il TO a thorough preparation for
any emergency which the anomalous actisn of the
South might present.


All these grave and startling facts the Admins
tration had plainly before it when they occurred
as We have tonight, with many Others OF A simi-
lar character. Ii was easy for them to deter
mine what 10 do at that time as il is for Us 10 de
~ UOW. Ne VI WuOle Country on a
war footing. ordering ont half million of volun-
teera, contracting for arms iu every market in
Europe. equipping and manning every ship in the
service, and contracting for a large number of
new ones, thus saving 10 the South: "lf you
choose the arbitrament of the sword in this ms
ter, the sword shall settle it,. Who is there can
believe if this policy had been adopted the war
would ever have seen six months duratiOni But
it will be urged. this would have given the South
a pretext and divided the North | deny il; il
would have been offsetting preparation for war
with the same kind of preparation, and il would
still have been left to the South to strike the first
blow. From this strong. healthy view of what
could and should have been DONE it is painful
TO turn to the imbecile nothing that was done.


On the 10Th dav of April, 1861, the rebel bat
teres at Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter,
armed and gsrrisoned by United States troops
On the 18th day of April the President issued
call for 10 600 men for ninety days, to suppress
rebellion involving eleven States, with nine mil
lions of inhabitants, and having had period of
six months afforded il to uninIerruptedly marshal
its forces and prepare for the actual conflict of
battle In the three days of intense excitement
that elapsed after the first gun was fired at
Charleston, aud the Presidents call for troops,
immense war meetings were held in every city
and town 10 the country, and the widest enthu-
sasm prevailed at them all. Men. money and
material of offered the Government
without stint; party distinctions were all forgot
ten, and determination to avenge the insult Of
fered our good old flag and wipe out rebellion,
and South Carolina with it If need be- animated
every heart throughout the entire country. What
a grand opportunity was here afforded the Presi-
dent to win for himself by simply making use OF
the proffered patriotism of the people, fame as
deatbless as eternity, to 90 down to posterity n
company with that goodIy thropg who have
proven saviors to their race It may not be the
fault of Mr. Lincoln that he could not bring him
self up to the lofty and stern requirements of the
hour; that he did no. do 20 we have learned at
fearful cost. How many cheerful voices might
be rejoicing the dear home circle tonight whose
last sound went out in mingled shrek and curse
above the fierce clamor of battle on some far off
field, bad he been able to realize and meet the
true difficulties of the position, God alone will
ever know; that he did not possess the great
powers necessary to meet and successfully grap-
pie national emergency of such vast proper
tons as confronted him on the very threshold of
his new position. was apparent TO the whole
country. The clear perception and broad com
preheDsi0n that could sweep the whole field, take
in at glance its various features and the fertil-
ity of resource to prepare for every change of
character or feature it might assume the deci-
sion, force and energy of character that could





Of action; the firm, unyielding will which, con
vinced of the correctness Of its position. could
with conscious strength and dignity say "no" to
all the world; and finally the greatness Of soul
that could lift itself far above all considerations
of mere self. disregarding the praise of friends
or censure of foes, trusting calmly TO the unerr
ing justice OF time to clear away all doubts aud
render its truthful verdict holding itself n the
sublimity of grand individuality answerabe
only to God for all actions, were all wanting in
Mr. Lincoln. giving US 10 their stead shallow
antithesis of them all


The three months campaign aided to elicit
facts and develop phases of the rebellion. which
by strange obliouity of judgement Mr. Lincoln
had perslsently refused TO admit into his theory
of the uprising OF the South; and right here it
will be proper for me to remark that from the
beginning Of this war to the present hour, the
War Department at Washington, whether under
the management of the immaculate aud honest
Cameron, the astute and indefatigable Stanton,
or the more matronly and prolific Halieck has
in its superabundant kindness and military sagac-
ity, steadily insisted on the constructing and
adopting all plans of campaign and battle for the
Southern COnfederacy, and compelling our own
Generals to indorse its wisdom by adhering TO
these plans and managing their armies according
to them without any regard whatever to what
was actually occurring in their immediate trout
The theoretical benefits of this exceedingly wise
plan are numerous and obvious; its practical
workings, strange to relate, have in every in
stance most conscientiously contrajicted the the
ory and overriden it; indeed, instances have oc-
CURED where rebel Generals. refusing to q :ognize
the plan furnished them by the magnanimity of
the Federal War Department, have moved their
armies in direct opposition to the plan. putting
our Generals to serious Inconvenience and trou
bic, compelling them at times to the choice of
fighting battles contrary TO orders abandoning
excellent positions and falling back to await a
new plan for the rebel army from headquarters
Frequent recurrences of a similar character would
seem to suggest to the War Department the ne
cessity of better understanding with the rebel
authorities or d closer attention to its own ar
mics.


But to return. The campaign, including the
brilliant series OF movements by which the rebel
army in Western Virginia was DESTROYED aud
that part of the country restored to tranquility.
the affair at Big Bethel and the serious disasterrt
Bull Run, in which the novel spectacle of two af>
nie. panic stricken fleeing 10 opposite directions
d esented. showed concusively that the reLe.
lio, I was no mere iisco or temporary ebulilioa
Of +, rath. but a movement OF the masses or ma
ioriti, of the States in which they were prepared
and OF oecting to do or die, and for which they
had bee armng and orgsniz ng for years, snd
that 70 81 'bdue it would require every energy Of
the nation wisely aud prudently directed The
disaster at Manassas conveyed TO the Executive
another lesso which il would have been we'll for
the country n. he heeded; there can be no doubt
today that the loss of that battle was owing en-
tirely to the larg,, number of officers in our ar