HIS UNSWERVING FIDELITY TO PURPOSE.
During the long series of defeats and disasters which culminated in the
battles of Fredericksburg and of Chancellorsville, there arose in
certain circles of the army and of the National Legislature a feeling of
distrust and dissatisfaction, that reached its climax in an intrigue to
displace Mr. Lincoln, if not from his position at least from the
exercise of his prerogatives, by the appointment of a dictator. Such a
measure would have been scarcely less revolutionary than many others
which were openly avowed and advocated.
In this cabal were naturally included all those self-constituted
advisers whose counsels had not been adopted in the conduct of the war;
all those malcontents and grumblers who, conscious of their incapacity
to become makers of pots and pitchers, are always so eager to exhibit
their skill and ingenuity as menders of them. In this coalition of
non-combatant guardian angels of the country and civilian warriors were
to be found patriots of every shade and of every degree.
First, the political patriot, who recognized in a brilliant succession
of Federal victories the only probable prospect of preserving the
ascendency of his party and promoting his own personal fortunes.
Second, the commercial patriot, whose dominant passion was a love
of--self; to whom the spoliation of the South and the swindling of his
own government afforded the most fruitful expedient for feathering his
nest.
Third, the religious patriot, whose love of country was subordinate to
his hatred of slavery and of slaveholders; who having recanted his
dictum that the Constitution of the United States was a "covenant with
death and an agreement with hell," was now one of the most vindictive
and unscrupulous advocates of a war of extermination. As is frequently
the case where one class of persons is severely exercised over the
iniquities of another, to a sentiment of philanthropy had succeeded the
most violent animosity and intolerance, until sympathy for the slave
degenerated into the most envenomed hostility toward his owner.
Among the most aggressive assailants of the President were thus
comprised all those elements in his party, with whom the logic of the
war might be summed up in the comprehensive formula, "Power, plunder,
and extended rule." The evolution of events and his consistent policy,
as foreshadowed and indicated on the close of hostilities, have clearly
demonstrated that with such minds Mr. Lincoln could have little sympathy
or fellowship. Conscientiously observant of his solemn oath to maintain
the Constitution, he could not be persuaded to evade the obligations of
his high trust by lending his authority to the accomplishment of their
revolutionary and nefarious designs. _Hinc illae lachrymae_; hence,
disappointed at the failure of their endeavor to shape his policy in
obedience to the suggestions of their own ignoble designs, their open
revolt.
No member of the cabal was better advised of its progress or of the
parties concerned in it than Mr. Lincoln himself. He often talked with
me on the subject. He did not fear it; he feared nothing except to
commit an involuntary wrong or mistake of judgment in the administration
of his high and responsible trust. He would willingly have resigned
office and retired to the unobtrusive life and simple duties of a
private citizen, if by so doing he could have restored the integrity of
the Union, or in anywise have promoted the success of the Union cause.
In this connection he would often say to me: "In God's name! if any one
can do better in my place than I have done, or am endeavoring to do, let
him try his hand at it, and no one will be better contented than
myself."
One time I went to Mr. Lincoln's office at the White House and found the
door locked. I went through a private room and through a side entrance
into the office, where I found the President lying on a sofa, evidently
greatly disturbed and much excited, manifestly displeased with the
outlook. Jumping up from his reclining position he advanced, saying:
"You know better than any man living that from my boyhood up my ambition
was to be President. I am President of one part of this divided country
at least; but look at me! I wish I had never been born! It is a white
elephant on my hands, and hard to manage. With a fire in my front and
rear; having to contend with the jealousies of the military commanders,
and not receiving that cordial co-operation and support from Congress
which could reasonably be expected; with an active and formidable enemy
in the field threatening the very life-blood of the government,--my
position is anything but a bed of roses."
I remarked to him: "It strikes me that you are somewhat in the position
of the great Richelieu, of whom it was said that he was the first man in
Europe but the second only in his own country."
"Oh, no! very far from it," he replied. "Richelieu never had a fire in
his front and rear at the same time, but a united constituency, which it
has never been my good fortune to have." Then brightening up, his whole
nature seemed all at once to change. I could see a merry twinkle in his
eye as he said: "If I can only keep my end of the animal pointed in the
right direction, I will yet get him through this infernal jungle and get
my end of him and his tail placed in their proper relative positions. I
have never faltered in my faith of being ultimately able to suppress
this rebellion and of reuniting this divided country; but this
improvised vigilant committee to watch my movements and keep me
straight, appointed by Congress and called the 'committee on the conduct
of the war,' is a marplot, and its greatest purpose seems to be to
hamper my action and obstruct the military operations."
Earnestly desirous of conciliating and harmonizing every element, with
a view to the accomplishment of the one--the dearest--aspiration of his
heart, a restoration of the Union, Mr. Lincoln had yielded until further
concessions would have implied ductility or imbecility, until every
sentiment of dignity and of self-respect would have uttered an indignant
protest. He then well knew that he must assert himself, or be an
unimportant factor in the body-politic in the struggle for the life and
preservation of the nation; and rising at length to the full height of
his matchless self-reliance and independence, he exclaimed: "This state
of things shall continue no longer. I will show them at the other end of
the Avenue whether I am President or not!"
From this moment he never again hesitated or wavered as to his course.
From this moment he was recognized as the Executive Chief and
Constitutional Commander of the Armies and Navy of the United States.
His opponents and would-be masters were now, for the most part,
silenced; but they hated him all the more cordially.
A short time before the fall of Vicksburg, great dissatisfaction became
rife at General Grant's tardiness in moving on the enemy's works. There
was a pretty general feeling in favor of relieving Grant from his
command, and appointing some one who would make short work of that
formidable stronghold of the enemy and relieve the people from their
state of anxiety. Mr. Lincoln had great faith in General Grant. He was
being constantly importuned and beset by the leading politicians to
turn Grant out of the command. One day about this time he said to me, "I
fear I have made Senator Wade, of Ohio, my enemy for life." "How?" I
asked. "Wade was here just now urging me to dismiss Grant, and in
response to something he said I remarked, 'Senator, that reminds me of a
story.' 'Yes, yes!' Wade petulantly replied, 'it is with you, sir, all
story, story! You are the father of every military blunder that has been
made during the war. You are on your road to hell, sir, with this
government, by your obstinacy; and you are not a mile off this minute.'
I good-naturedly said to him: 'Senator, that is just about the distance
from here to the Capitol, is it not?' He was very angry, and grabbed up
his hat and cane and went away."
Lincoln then continued to say: "To show to what extent this sentiment
prevails, even Washburne, who has always claimed Grant as his by right
of discovery, has deserted him, and demands his removal; and I really
believe I am the only friend Grant has left. Grant advises me [Mr.
Lincoln had never seen General Grant up to that time] that he will take
Vicksburg by the Fourth of July, and I believe he will do it; and he
shall have the chance."
Had it not been for the stoic firmness of Mr. Lincoln in standing by
Grant, which resulted in the speedy capture of Vicksburg, it is hard to
predict what would have been the consequences. If nothing worse, certain
it is that President Lincoln would have been deposed, and a dictator
would have been placed in his stead as chief executive until peace could
be restored to the nation by separation or otherwise. Mr. Lincoln thus
expressed himself shortly before his death: "If I had done as my
Washington friends, who fight battles with their tongues at a safe
distance from the enemy, would have had me do, Grant, who proved himself
so great a captain, would never have been heard of again."
That Mr. Lincoln sought to interfere as little as possible with the
military affairs after General Grant took charge of the army will be
shown by the following letter:--
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, April 30, 1864.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT,--Not expecting to see you before the
spring campaign opens, I wish to express in this way my entire
satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, so far as I
understand it. The particulars of your plan I neither know nor seek
to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and [I put no]
restraints or constraints upon you. While I am very anxious that
any great disaster or capture of any of our men in great numbers
shall be avoided, I know that these points are less likely to
escape your attention than they would be mine. If there be anything
wanting which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me
know it. And now with a brave army and a just cause, may God
sustain you!
Yours very truly,
(Signed) A. LINCOLN.
I am not aware that there was ever a serious discord or misunderstanding
between Mr. Lincoln and General Grant except on a single occasion. From
the commencement of the struggle, Lincoln's policy was to break the
back-bone of the Confederacy by depriving it of its principal means of
subsistence. Cotton was its vital aliment; deprive it of this, and the
rebellion must necessarily collapse. The Hon. Elihu B. Washburne from
the outset was opposed to any contraband traffic with the Confederates.
Lincoln had given permits and passes through the lines to two
persons,--Mr. Joseph Mattox, of Maryland, and General Singleton, of
Illinois,--to enable them to bring cotton and other Southern products
from Virginia. Washburne heard of it, called immediately on Mr. Lincoln,
and after remonstrating with him on the impropriety of such a
_demarche_, threatened to have General Grant countermand the permits if
they were not revoked. Naturally, both became excited. Lincoln declared
that he did not believe General Grant would take upon himself the
responsibility of such an act. "I will show you, sir, I will show you
whether Grant will do it or not," responded Mr. Washburne as he abruptly
withdrew.
By the next boat, subsequent to this interview, the Congressman left
Washington for the headquarters of General Grant. He returned shortly
afterward to the city, and so likewise did Mattox and Singleton. Grant
had countermanded the permits.
The following important order relative to trade-permits was issued by
Lieutenant-General Grant about this time:--
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE U. S.
CITY POINT, VA., March 10, 1865.
_Special Orders, No. 48._
1. The operations on all Treasury trade-permits, and all other
trade-permits and licenses to trade, by whomsoever granted, within
the State of Virginia, except that portion known as the Eastern
Shore, and the States of North Carolina and South Carolina, and
that portion of the State of Georgia immediately bordering on the
Atlantic, including the City of Savannah, are hereby suspended
until further orders. All contracts and agreements made under or by
virtue of any trade-permit or license within any of said States or
parts of States, during the existence of this order, will be deemed
void, and the subject of such contracts or agreements will be
seized by the military authorities for the benefit of the
government, whether the same is at the time of such contracts or
agreements within their reach or at any time thereafter comes
within their reach, either by the operations of war or the acts of
the contracting parties or their agents. The delivery of all goods
contracted for and not delivered before the publication of this
order is prohibited.
Supplies of all kinds are prohibited from passing into any of said
States or parts of States, except such as are absolutely necessary
for the wants of those living within the lines of actual military
occupation, and under no circumstances will military commanders
allow them to pass beyond the lines they actually hold.
By command of Lieutenant-General Grant.
T. S. BOWERS,
_Assistant Adjutant-General_.
Under all the circumstances it was a source of exultation to Mr.
Washburne and his friends, and of corresponding surprise and
mortification to the President. But he suppressed the resentment to
which General Grant's conduct might naturally have given rise, and, with
the equanimity and self-control that was habitual with him, merely
remarked: "I wonder when General Grant changed his mind on this subject.
He was the first man, after the commencement of the war, to grant a
permit for the passage of cotton through the lines, and that to his own
father." In referring afterwards to the subject, he said: "It made me
feel my insignificance keenly at the moment; but if my friends
Washburne, Henry Wilson, and others derive pleasure from so unworthy a
victory over me, I leave them to its full enjoyment." This ripple on the
otherwise unruffled current of their intercourse did not disturb the
personal relations between Lincoln and Grant; but there was little
cordiality between the President and Messrs. Washburne and Wilson
afterwards.
Mr. Lincoln, when asked if he had seen the Wade-Davis manifesto, the
Phillips speech[I] etc., replied: "No, I have not seen them, nor do I
care to see them. I have seen enough to satisfy me that I am a failure,
not only in the opinion of the people in rebellion, but of many
distinguished politicians of my own party. But time will show whether I
am right or they are right, and I am content to abide its decision. I
have enough to look after without giving much of my time to the
consideration of the subject of who shall be my successor in office. The
position is not an easy one; and the occupant, whoever he may be, for
the next four years, will have little leisure to pluck a thorn or plant
a rose in his own pathway." It was urged that this opposition must be
embarrassing to his Administration, as well as damaging to the party. He
replied: "Yes, that is true; but our friends Wade, Davis, Phillips, and
others are hard to please. I am not capable of doing so. I cannot please
them without wantonly violating not only my oath, but the most vital
principles upon which our government was founded. As to those who, like
Wade and the rest, see fit to depreciate my policy and cavil at my
official acts, I shall not complain of them. I accord them the utmost
freedom of speech and liberty of the press, but shall not change the
policy I have adopted in the full belief that I am right. I feel on this
subject as an old Illinois farmer once expressed himself while eating
cheese. He was interrupted in the midst of his repast by the entrance of
his son, who exclaimed, 'Hold on, dad! there's skippers in that cheese
you're eating!' 'Never mind, Tom,' said he, as he kept on munching his
cheese, 'if they can stand it I can.'"
[I] In a speech at Cooper Institute in New York City, on the
Presidential election (1864), Wendell Phillips said that for thirty
years he had labored to break up the Union in the interest of justice,
and now he labored to save it in the same interest. The same curse that
he invoked on the old Union he would invoke on a new Union if it is not
founded on justice to the negro. "Science must either demonstrate that
the negro is not a man, or politics must accord to him equality at the
ballot-box and in offices of trust." He judged Mr. Lincoln by his words
and deeds, and so judging he was "unwilling to trust Abraham Lincoln
with the future of the country. Let it be granted that Mr. Lincoln is
pledged to Liberty and Union; but this pledge was wrung out of him by
the Cleveland movement, and was a mere electioneering pledge. Mr.
Lincoln is a politician. Politicians are like the bones of a horse's
fore-shoulder,--not a straight one in it. A reformer is like a Doric
column of iron,--straight, strong, and immovable. It is a momentous
responsibility to trust Mr. Lincoln where we want a Doric column to
stand stern and strong for the Nation.... I am an Abolitionist, but I am
also a citizen watchful of constitutional Liberty; and I say if
President Lincoln is inaugurated on the votes of Tennessee, Louisiana,
and Arkansas, every citizen is bound to resist him. Are you willing to
sacrifice the constitutional rights of seventy years for your fondness
for an individual?"
Mr. Phillips then quoted some opinions from prominent men in the
Republican party. "A man in the field said, 'The re-election of Abraham
Lincoln will be a disaster.' Another said, 'The re-election of Abraham
Lincoln will be national destruction.' Said another, 'There is no
government at Washington,--nothing there.' Winter Davis of Maryland
testifies to his [Lincoln's] inability. Said another, 'That proclamation
will not stand a week before the Supreme Court; but I had rather trust
it there than Abraham Lincoln to make the judges.' Mr. Lincoln has
secured his success just as the South used to secure its success. He
says to the radicals of the Republican party, 'I am going to nominate
myself at Baltimore: risk a division of the party if you dare!' and the
radicals submitted. Political Massachusetts submitted, and is silent;
but Antislavery Massachusetts calls to the people to save their own
cause." Mr. Phillips said he "wanted by free speech to let Abraham
Lincoln know that we are stronger than Abraham Lincoln, and that he is a
servant to obey us. I distrust the man who uses whole despotism in
Massachusetts and half despotism in South Carolina, and that man is
Abraham Lincoln."
On another occasion Mr. Lincoln said to me: "If the unworthy ambition of
politicians and the jealousy that exists in the army could be repressed,
and all unite in a common aim and a common endeavor, the rebellion would
soon be crushed." He conversed with me freely and repeatedly on the
subject of the unfairness and intemperance of his opponents in Congress,
of the project of a dictatorship, etc. The reverses at Fredericksburg
and Chancellorsville Mr. Lincoln fully comprehended; and he believed
them to have been caused by the absence of a proper support of Burnside
and Hooker, prompted by the jealousies of other superior officers.
The appointment of a general to the supreme command of the Army of the
Potomac, made vacant by the resignation of General Burnside, became a
question of urgent import. General Rosecrans was the choice of the
Secretary of War. The President regarded it as inexpedient to make the
appointment outside the general officers serving in the Army of the
Potomac. Having little preference in the selection of a successor to
General Burnside, Mr. Lincoln, after advisement, adopted the views of
the military department of the government, and offered the chief command
to General Reynolds. The latter, however, declined to accept the trust,
unless a wider latitude of action were granted him than had hitherto
been accorded to officers occupying this high post.
The reverses in the field already referred to having occurred since
General McClellan was relieved from the chief command of the Union
forces, there now arose among his old companions-in-arms, and in the
army generally, a clamor for his reinstatement as Commander of the Army
of the Potomac. The propriety of such action was made the subject of a
Cabinet consultation, which resulted in the rejection of an expedient
so manifestly looking towards a dictatorship.
A strong influence was now exerted by the immediate friends of General
Hooker in behalf of his appointment as Commander-in-Chief,--some of them
being prompted by personal ambition, others by even less worthy motives.
These partisans of a worthy and deserving officer, whose aspirations
were known to be entirely within the sphere of military preferment,
united their forces with a powerful political coterie, having for their
chief object the elevation of Mr. Chase to the Presidency upon the
expiration of Mr. Lincoln's first term. It was believed by this faction
that Hooker, in the event of his bringing the war to a successful
conclusion, being himself unambitious of office, might not be unwilling
to lend his prestige and influence to a movement in favor of that
distinguished statesman as the successor of Mr. Lincoln in the
Presidency. Up to the present time the war had been conducted rather at
the dictation of a political bureaucracy than in accordance purely with
considerations of military strategy. Hooker was appointed by the
President under a full knowledge of his political affinities.
In conversation with Mr. Lincoln one night about the time General
Burnside was relieved, I was urging upon him the necessity of looking
well to the fact that there was a scheme on foot to depose him, and to
appoint a military dictator in his stead. He laughed, and said: "I
think, for a man of accredited courage, you are the most panicky person
I ever knew; you can see more dangers to me than all the other friends I
have. You are all the time exercised about somebody taking my
life,--murdering me; and now you have discovered a new danger: now you
think the people of this great government are likely to turn me out of
office. I do not fear this from the people any more than I fear
assassination from an individual. Now, to show you my appreciation of
what my French friends would call a _coup d'etat_, let me read you a
letter I have written to General Hooker, whom I have just appointed to
the command of the Army of the Potomac." He then opened the drawer of
his table and took out and read the letter to General Hooker, which
accompanied his commission as Commander of the Army of the Potomac, of
which letter the following is a copy:--
(PRIVATE.)
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 26, 1863.
_Major-General Hooker_:
GENERAL,--I have placed you at the head of the Army of the
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appears to me
sufficient 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 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 ambition solely, and thwarted him as much as you
could; in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most
meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a
way as to believe it, of your saying that both the country and the
army needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite
of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who
gain success can set themselves 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 its
commanders.
I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the
army, of criticising their commander and withholding confidence
from him, will now turn upon you; and 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, but with energy and sleepless
vigilance go forward and give us victories.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
Some little time afterwards, in referring with much feeling to this
letter, General Hooker declared: "It was just such a letter as a father
might have addressed to his son. It was a great rebuke, however, to me
at the time."
The question of a dictatorship had been everywhere ventilated. The
President had heard a great deal about it; but he treated the whole
subject as a pure vagary, not apprehending any serious danger from it.
At first it may have given him some annoyance; but it soon ceased to
disturb him, and ultimately it became the source of no little mirth and
amusement to him. I was present upon one occasion when a party of the
intimate friends of Mr. Lincoln were assembled at the White House, and
the project of a dictatorship was the topic of conversation. The
President gave full play to the exuberance of his humor and his sense of
the ridiculous, entirely banishing the anxieties and apprehensions of
such of his friends as were inclined to regard the question from a more
serious point of view. "I will tell you," said he, "a story which I
think illustrates the situation.
"Some years ago a couple of emigrants from the Emerald Isle were wending
their way westward in search of employment as a means of subsistence.
The shades of night had already closed in upon them as they found
themselves in the vicinity of a large sheet of standing water, more
vulgarly called a big pond. They were greeted upon their approach by a
symphony of bull-frogs, which was the only manifestation of life in the
darkness that surrounded them, literally 'making night hideous' with
noise. This sort of harmony was altogether new to them, and for a moment
they were greatly terrified at the diabolic din. Instinctively and
resolutely grasping their shillalahs, under the impression that
Beelzebub or some of his deputies was about to dispute their farther
progress, they cautiously advanced toward the spot from whence the
strange concert proceeded. The frogs, however, alarmed at their
approaching footsteps, had beat a precipitate retreat, and taken refuge
in their watery hiding-places, and all was as silent as the grave. After
waiting for some seconds in breathless suspense for the appearance of
the enemy, not a sound being audible, in great disappointment and
disgust at the loss of so favorable an opportunity for a free fight, one
of our heroes, seizing his companion by the coat-sleeve, whispered
confidentially in his ear: 'Faith, Pat, and it's my deliberate opinion
that it was nothing but a blasted noise!'"
Pursuing the topic in the same humorous vein, Mr. Lincoln again
convulsed his auditors by relating the following story:--
"A benighted wayfarer having lost his way somewhere amidst the wilds of
our Northwestern frontiers, the embarrassments of his position were
increased by a furious tempest which suddenly burst upon him. To add to
the discomforts of the situation his horse had given out, leaving him
exposed to all the dangers of the pitiless storm. The peals of thunder
were terrific, the frequent flashes of lightning affording the only
guide to the route he was pursuing as he resolutely trudged onward
leading his jaded steed. The earth seemed fairly to tremble beneath him
in the war of elements. One bolt threw him suddenly upon his knees. Our
traveller was not a prayerful man, but finding himself involuntarily
brought to an attitude of devotion, he addressed himself to the Throne
of Grace in the following prayer for his deliverance: O God! hear my
prayer this time, for Thou knowest it is not often that I call upon
Thee. And, O Lord! if it is all the same to Thee, give us a little more
light and a little less noise!' I hope," said Mr. Lincoln, pointing the
moral of the anecdote, "that we may have a much stronger disposition
manifested hereafter, on the part of our civilian warriors, to unite in
suppressing the rebellion, and a little less noise as to how and by whom
the chief executive office shall be administered."