The letter of General Fremont withdrawing from the presidential
canvass of 1864, after having accepted the nomination of the Cleveland
Convention, was an unfortunate one for his political reputation,
whatever may have been thought of the military career of that once
popular leader. Without attempting any discussion of the merits of
the controversy between him and the Government, I think it cannot be
denied that Mr. Lincoln ever bore toward General Fremont the sincerest
good will, though for reasons perhaps not yet fairly estimated, as a
commander he had failed to realize the public expectation.
Some months subsequent to Fremont’s removal from the Western
Department, one of his personal friends, Mr. Henry C. Bowen, of
Brooklyn, happened to be in Washington. Passing the Executive Chamber,
on his way to the private secretary’s office one day, he observed
the door ajar, and the President standing near it, in the act of
taking down a book from the bookcase. Catching a glimpse of him, Mr.
Lincoln said, “Come in; you are the very man I want to see.” Mr. Bowen
entered the office, and the President, laying aside other business,
said: “I have been thinking a great deal lately about Fremont; and I
want to ask you, as an old friend of his, what is thought about his
continuing inactive?” “Mr. President,” returned Mr. Bowen, “I will say
to you frankly, that a large class of people feel that General Fremont
has been badly treated, and nothing would give more satisfaction,
both to him and to his friends, than his reappointment to a command
commensurate, in some degree, with his rank and ability.” “Do you think
he would accept an inferior position to that he occupied in Missouri?”
asked the President. “I have that confidence in General Fremont’s
patriotism, that I venture to promise for him in advance,” was the
earnest reply. “Well,” rejoined Mr. Lincoln, thoughtfully, “I have had
it on my mind for some time that Fremont should be given a chance to
redeem himself. The great hue and cry about him has been concerning
his expenditure of the public money. I have looked into the matter a
little, and I can’t see as he has done any worse or any more, in that
line, than our _Eastern_ commanders. At any rate, he shall have another
trial!” The result, close upon this interview, was the appointment of
Fremont to the “Mountain Department of Western Virginia.”
While Mr. Bowen was in Washington, he drove out, by invitation one
evening, with one or two friends, to the Soldier’s Home, where the
President spent the nights of midsummer. More at leisure there
than at the “shop,” as he was in the habit of calling his official
chamber at the White House, Mr. Lincoln sat down with the party for a
leisurely conversation. “I know,” he said to Mr. Bowen, “that you are
a great admirer of Mr. Chase and Mr. Seward. Now, I will tell you a
circumstance that may please you. Before sunset of election-day, in
1860, I was pretty sure, from the despatches I received, that I was
elected. The very first thing that I settled in my mind, after reaching
this conclusion, was that these two great leaders of the party should
occupy the two first places in my cabinet.”