Bates"s decision did not cover the status of slaves, nor did it suggest that citizenship implied the right of suffrage or the right to sit on juries. Nonetheless, as a local Washington paper noted at the time of his resignation: "Though esteemed by many as more conservative than the majority of his countrymen at the present day, Mr. Bates has given opinions involving the rights of the colored race which have been quite abreast with the times, and which will henceforth stand as landmarks of const.i.tutional interpretation."
From their first acquaintance, the relationship between Bates and Lincoln had been marked by warmth and cordiality. On occasion, Bates"s diary reveals frustration with Lincoln"s loose management style, which left the administration with "no system-no unity-no accountability-no subordination." He believed Lincoln relied too heavily on Seward and Stanton. He could not fathom why the disloyal Chase had been kept in place for so long or why General Butler was not fired when complaints arose about his arbitrary arrests in Norfolk. In fact, Bates confided in his diary, his "chief fear" was "the President"s easy good nature."
Nonetheless, by the end of his tenure as Attorney General, Bates had formed a more s.p.a.cious understanding of the president"s unique leadership style. While troubled at the start by Lincoln"s "never-failing fund of anecdote," he had come to realize that storytelling played a central role in the president"s ability to communicate with the public. "The character of the President"s mind is such," Bates remarked, "that his thought habitually takes on this form of ill.u.s.tration, by which the point he wishes to enforce is invariably brought home with a strength and clearness impossible in hours of abstract argument.
"Mr. Lincoln," Bates told Francis Carpenter, "comes very near being a perfect man, according to my ideal of manhood. He lacks but one thing...the element of will. I have sometimes told him, for instance, that he was unfit to be intrusted with the pardoning power. Why, if a man comes to him with a touching story, his judgment is almost certain to be affected by it. Should the applicant be a woman, a wife, a mother, or a sister,-in nine cases out of ten, her tears, if nothing else, are sure to prevail."
As Bates prepared to leave Washington, each of his colleagues stopped to say goodbye, in contrast to the lonely leave-taking endured by Salmon Chase. Stanton was "especially civil," Bates noted. "Told me to write to my sons, in the army and a.s.sure them that he would [do] any thing for them that they would expect me to do." Bates joined Seward, Welles, and Usher in the president"s office for a "pleasant" farewell. The departing Attorney General was once again touched by the president"s "affable and kind" manner.
Bates left his colleagues and staff "with regret," but with the knowledge that his life was forever connected with the history of his country. Because Lincoln had chosen him as his Attorney General, Edward Bates had been able to "leave a trail which might make known/That I once lived-when I am gone."
To replace Bates, Lincoln felt he had to find a man from one of the border states. "My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man," he explained to a colleague. "I suppose if the twelve Apostles were to be chosen nowadays the shrieks of locality would have to be heeded." His first choice was Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt. The native Kentuckian had been one of the trio of cabinet members, together with Edwin Stanton and Jeremiah Black, who had stiffened Buchanan"s will to resist secession. Lincoln liked and respected Judge Holt, having worked closely with him on court-martial cases. Holt declined the offer, however, recommending instead his fellow Kentuckian James Speed, the older brother of Lincoln"s great friend Joshua. "I can recall no public man in the State of uncompromising loyalty," Holt told Lincoln, "who unites in the same degree, the qualifications of professional attainments, fervent devotion to the union, & to the principles of your administration, & spotless points of personal character."
Lincoln followed Holt"s recommendation that very day, sending a telegram to Speed. "I appoint you to be Attorney General. Please come on at once." Though taken by surprise, Speed was honored to accept: "Will leave tomorrow for Washington."
James Speed would prove to be an excellent choice. Over the years, he had arrived at a radical position on slavery. The previous spring, he and his brother, Joshua, had been instrumental in forming a new liberal party in conservative Kentucky, the Unconditional Union Party, which supported Lincoln"s reelection and emanc.i.p.ation. "I am a thorough Const.i.tutional Abolitionist," James Speed had declared during the fall campaign, meaning he, like Lincoln, was "for abolishing Slavery under the War Power of the National Const.i.tution, and then clinching it by a Const.i.tutional amendment prohibiting it everywhere forever." Though unable to swing the state for Lincoln, the Unconditionalists remained hopeful that they might eventually direct Kentucky"s future. "We are less now but true," James Speed had written Lincoln after the election.
To those unfamiliar with the Louisville lawyer, Lincoln explained that Speed was "a man I know well, though not so well as I know his brother Joshua. That, however, is not strange, for I slept with Joshua for four years, and I suppose I ought to know him well." Lincoln"s ease in referring to his sleeping arrangement with Joshua Speed is further evidence that theirs was not a s.e.xual relationship. Had it been, historian David Donald suggests, the president would not have spoken of it "so freely and publicly."
"You will find," Lincoln predicted as James Speed set out for Washington, "he is one of those well-poised men, not too common here, who are not spoiled by a big office."
THE EASE WITH WHICH LINCOLN filled the post of Attorney General was not replicated when Roger Taney"s death in mid-October left vacant the seat of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Though Lincoln had initially planned to offer Salmon Chase the position, he discovered that three of his most loyal cabinet members-Edwin Stanton, Edward Bates, and Montgomery Blair-desired the honored post for themselves. He decided to postpone his choice until after the election.
Stanton"s claim seemed the most compelling. The Chief Justiceship was the only position, observed a longtime friend, "Stanton ever desired." His brilliant legal career had brought him to argue numerous cases before the Supreme Court. Lifetime tenure would secure his family"s finances, which had diminished seriously during the war. His unstable health might be restored with the pressures of the war office removed. "You have been wearing out your life in the service of your country & have fulfilled the duties of your very responsible & laborious office with unexampled ability," wrote his friend the Supreme Court justice Robert Grier. Though Grier himself was an obvious choice to fill Taney"s position, he believed Stanton deserved the honor. "It would give me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction," he wrote Stanton, "to have you preside on our bench.... I think the Presowes it to you."
Ellen Stanton, doubtless acting at her husband"s behest, invited Orville Browning to their house one Sunday night when Stanton was at City Point. "She expressed to me a great desire to have her husband appointed Chief Justice," Browning recorded in his diary, "and wished me to see the President upon the subject. I fear Mr Chase"s appointment, and am anxious to prevent it. Mr Stanton is an able lawyer, learned in his profession, and fond of it, of great application, and capacity of endurance in labor-I think a just man-honest and upright, and incapable of corruption, and I, therefore, think would be an appointment most fit to be made. I will see the President upon the subject tomorrow."
Methodist bishop Matthew Simpson also called on Lincoln to urge Stanton"s appointment "on the grounds of his fitness, and as a reward for his services and labors." Lincoln "listened attentively" and then, "throwing his leg over a chair, and running his hands through his hair," responded with heartfelt emotion: "Bishop, I believe every word you have said. But where can I get a man to take Secretary Stanton"s place? Tell me that, and I will do it."
Like Lincoln, General Grant worried about losing Stanton"s indispensable talents in the War Department. At City Point, he urged the secretary to stay at his post. The strain of the situation likely contributed to Stanton"s ongoing illness that fall. In the end, Stanton informed Lincoln through a friend that he should no longer be considered "among candidates." He "felt that the completion of the work he had in hand," his sister Pamphila recalled, "was nearer to his heart, and a far higher ambition."
A heartfelt note from Henry Ward Beecher helped to dispel Stanton"s disappointment at relinquishing his ambition. "The country cannot spare your services from your present place," wrote the celebrated minister, "or I could wish that you might redeem Taney"s place and restore to that Court, the honor and trust of Marshall"s day.... I regard your administration of the War Department, from whatever point it is viewed, as one of the greatest features of this grand time. Your energy vitalizing industry, and fidelity, but above all, Your moral vision... are just as sure to give your name honor and fame.... If you were to die to-morrow you have done enough for your own fame already."
In an emotional reply, Stanton told Beecher that he was deeply moved by his generous remarks. "Often, in dark hours, you have come before me, and I have longed to hear your voice, feeling that above all other men you could cheer, strengthen, guide, and uphold me in this great battle, where, by G.o.d"s providence, it has fallen upon me to hold a post and perform a duty beyond my own strength. But being a stranger I had no right to claim your confidence or ask for help.... Now, my dear Sir, your voice has reached me, and your hand is stretched forth as to a friend.... Already my heart feels renewed strength and is inspired with fresh hope."
Montgomery Blair desired the post of Chief Justice even more fervently than Stanton. He had gracefully acceded to Lincoln"s request for his resignation, but the high appointment would certainly compensate for the remnant wound. His distinguished career as a lawyer had been defined by his eloquent representation of the slave Dred Scott in the case that had forever cast a blight on Justice Taney"s name. Monty had powerful backers, including Seward, Weed, and Welles, all of whom vastly preferred him to Chase. Welles told Lincoln that, of all the candidates, Blair "best conformed to these requirements-that the President knew the man, his ability, his truthfulness, honesty and courage." Lincoln "expressed his concurrence...and spoke kindly and complimentarily of Mr. Blair but did not in any way commit himself, nor did I expect or suppose he would."
Lincoln understood that the appointment mattered greatly, not only to Monty but to his father, who had taken his son"s forced resignation as a personal blow. A week after Taney died, the elder Blair wrote Lincoln an impa.s.sioned plea: "I beg you to indulge me with a little conference with you on paper about a thing which as involving a good deal of egotism, I am ashamed to talk about face to face." He went on to describe the Blairs" enduring loyalty to both the Union and the president. "Now I come," he pressed, "to what I hope you will consider another & higher opportunity of serving you & the Republic by carrying your political principles & the support of your policy expressed in relation to the reconstruction of the Union & the support of the freedman"s proclamation, into the Supreme Court. I think Montgomery"s unswerving support of your administration in all its aspects coupled with his unfaltering attachment to you personally fits him to be your representative man at the head of that Bench."
When Mary Lincoln warned Old Man Blair that "Chase and his friends are besieging my Husband for the Chief-Justiceship," Blair discarded his embarra.s.sment and requested a personal interview. Lincoln listened graciously as Monty"s father suggested that his son "had been tried as a Judge and not found wanting, that his practice in the West had made him conversant with our land law, Spanish law, as well as the common and civil law in which his university studies had grounded him, that his practice in the Supreme Court brought him into the circle of commercial and const.i.tutional questions. That, besides on political issues he sustained him [the President] in every thing," and "when Chase and every other member of [the] Cabinet declined to make war for Sumter, Montgomery stood by him."
Lincoln agreed that Monty would admirably acquit himself as Chief Justice, but he was also aware that the nomination would produce a storm of criticism from his many enemies in the Congress. He had no desire to provoke unnecessary animosity among the radicals, who probably held sufficient power to deny confirmation. Nor did Lincoln trust where Monty Blair"s conservative philosophy would lead on issues surrounding Reconstruction and the integration of the country"s new black citizens.
The same objections most likely applied to Edward Bates. Believing the post would be "a crowning and retiring honor," Bates had "personally solicited" Lincoln to consider his name. "If not overborne by others," Lincoln told Bates, he would happily consider him for the post, but "Chase was turning every stone, to get it, and several others were urged, from different quarters." Hearing this, Bates declared himself "happy in the feeling that the failure to get the place, will be no painful disappointment for my mind is made up to private life."
In the end, Lincoln returned to his first impulse upon learning of Roger Taney"s illness-Salmon P. Chase. "Of Mr. Chase"s ability and of his soundness on the general issues of the war there is, of course, no question," he told Chase"s friend Henry Wilson. "I have only one doubt about his appointment. He is a man of unbounded ambition, and has been working all his life to become President. That he can never be; and I fear that if I make him chief-justice he will simply become more restless and uneasy and neglect the place in his strife and intrigue to make himself President. If I were sure that he would go on the bench and give up his aspirations and do nothing but make himself a great judge, I would not hesitate a moment." He made a similar comment when Schuyler Colfax gave his word that Chase "would dedicate the remainder of his life to the Bench."
When supporters of other candidates reminded the president of Chase"s myriad intrigues against him, Lincoln responded, "Now, I know meaner things about Governor Chase than any of those men can tell me," but "we have stood together in the time of trial, and I should despise myself if I allowed personal differences to affect my judgment of his fitness for the office."
Chase remained in Ohio throughout this tumult, confident that the nomination would be his. Oblivious to Stanton"s own hopes, he told the war secretary two days after Taney"s death that "within the last three or four months I have been a.s.sured that it was the Presidents intention, to offer the place to me in case of a vacancy. I think I should accept it if offered: for I am weary of political life & work." However, when weeks pa.s.sed with no word from the president, Chase anxiously decided to come to Washington. Fessenden and Sumner a.s.sured him that the appointment would be made as soon as the elections were over, but Lincoln waited until December 6 to announce his choice.
That morning, Chase"s friend John Alley of Ma.s.sachusetts had called on the president. "I have something to tell you that will make you happy," Lincoln announced. "I have just sent Mr. Chase word that he is to be appointed Chief-Justice, and you are the first man I have told of it." Alley enthusiastically replied, "Mr. President, this is an exhibition of magnanimity and patriotism that could hardly be expected of any one. After what he has said against your administration, which has undoubtedly been reported to you, it was hardly to be expected that you would bestow the most important office within your gift on such a man."
"To have done otherwise I should have been recreant to my convictions of duty to the Republican party and to the country," Lincoln answered. "As to his talk about me, I do not mind that. Chase is, on the whole, a pretty good fellow and a very able man. His only trouble is that he has "the White House fever" a little too bad, but I hope this may cure him and that he will be satisfied."
Lincoln later told Senator Chandler that personally he "would rather have swallowed his buckhorn chair than to have nominated Chase," but the decision was right for the country. "Probably no other man than Lincoln," Nicolay wrote to Therena, "would have had, in this age of the world, the degree of magnanimity to thus forgive and exalt a rival who had so deeply and so unjustifiably intrigued against him. It is however only another most marked ill.u.s.tration of the greatness of the President."
Chase got the official word from Kate when he arrived home that night. He immediately sat down to write the president. "I cannot sleep before I thank [you] for this mark of your confidence.... Be a.s.sured that I prize your confidence & good will more than nomination or office."
On December 15, the Supreme Court was "overflowing with an immense throng of dignitaries of various degrees, ladies, congressmen, foreign ministers, and others who wished to view the simple but impressive ceremony of swearing in the chief judicial officer of the republic." Kate Sprague and her sister, Nettie, were there, "gorgeously dressed," according to Noah Brooks. Secretary Seward was also present, along with Nathaniel Banks, Ben Wade, Reverdy Johnson, and Charles Sumner, whose "handsome features plainly showed his inward glow of gratification." At the usher"s solemn announcement, everyone stood as the robed justices entered the room. The senior justice, James W. Wayne, administered the oath, which Chase "read in a clear but tremulous voice." When he finished, Chase "lifted his right hand, looked upward to the beautiful dome of the court-room, and with deep feeling added, "So help me G.o.d.""
"I hope the President may have no occasion to regret his selection," Gideon Welles confided in his diary, sharing Lincoln"s apprehension that Chase would "use the place for political advancement and thereby endanger confidence in the court." Still, Lincoln believed the risk worth taking. He trusted that Chase would help secure the rights of the black man, for which he had fought throughout his career, a belief that outweighed concerns about Chase"s restless temperament.
Chase quickly justified Lincoln"s confidence in this regard. Within hours of Chase"s accession to the Court, John Rock, a black lawyer from Ma.s.sachusetts, wrote a hopeful letter to Charles Sumner. Rock had been seeking to practice before the Supreme Court for over a year, but his efforts had been denied on the basis of his race. "We now have a great and good man for our Chief Justice, and with him I think my color will not be a bar to my admission," he wrote. Sumner immediately contacted Chase, who was delighted to pursue the cause of opening the Court to its first black barrister.
Six weeks later, Sumner stood before the Supreme Court as Rock"s sponsor: "May it please the Court, I move that John S. Rock, a member of the Supreme Court of the State of Ma.s.sachusetts, be admitted to practice as a member of this Court." Then, with Chase"s a.s.sent, Rock stepped forward for the oath that would allow him to practice before the highest court in the land. "This event," Harper"s Weekly observed, represented an "extraordinary reversal" of the decision in the Dred Scott case. Rock"s admission, Harper"s predicted, would "be regarded by the future historian as a remarkable indication of the revolution which is going on in the sentiment of a great people."
MARY LINCOLN TOOK special satisfaction in her husband"s reelection. The White House "has been quite a Mecca of late," she wrote to her friend Mercy Conkling. "We are surrounded, at all times, by a great deal of company," and "it has been gratifying, from all quarters, to receive so many kind & congratulatory letters, so fraught, with good feeling."
Mary"s pleasure in her husband"s victory reflected more than simple pride. During the fall election, she had been terrified that his defeat might signal merchants in New York and Philadelphia-to whom she still owed substantial sums-to call in her debt. "I owe altogether about twenty-seven thousand dollars," she confided in Elizabeth Keckley. "Mr. Lincoln has but little idea of the expense of a woman"s wardrobe. He glances at my rich dresses, and is happy in the belief that the few hundred dollars that I obtain from him supply all my wants. I must dress in costly materials. The people scrutinize every article that I wear with critical curiosity. The very fact of having grown up in the West, subjects me to more searching observation. To keep up appearances, I must have money-more than Mr. Lincoln can spare for me. He is too honest to make a penny outside of his salary; consequently I had, and still have, no alternative but to run in debt."
Although padded bills and attempts to trade upon her White House influence exposed her to serious scandal, Mary could not curtail her excessive spending habits. "Here is the carriage of Mrs Lincoln before a dry goods Store," Judge Taft noted four weeks after the election, "her footman has gone into the Store. The Clerk is just going out to the carriage (where Mrs L is waiting) with some pieces of goods for her to choose from. I should rather think that she would have a better chance at the goods if she was to go into the Store but then she might get jostled and gazed at and that too would be doing just as the common people do. The footman holds the carriage door open. The driver sits on the box and hold[s] the horses. Mrs L. thumbs the goods and asks a great many questions."
A week later, Mary journeyed to Philadelphia for another shopping trip. Not long afterward, she visited New York, where she purchased a new dress, expensive furs, and "300 pairs of kid gloves." When the items she purchased did not measure up to her expectations, her manic sprees quickly gave way to depression and anger. "I can neither wear, or settle with you, for my bonnet without different inside flowers," she threatened a milliner in New York. "I cannot retain or wear the bonnet, as it is-I am certainly taught a lesson, by your acting thus."
Mary"s self-conscious attention to the details of her bonnet was not entirely misplaced. Newspaper reports of her evening receptions invariably commented on every piece of her apparel. At the first White House levee of the new winter season, the National Republican noted that she "was charmingly and elegantly attired...dressed in a rich, plain white silk, with heavy black lace flounce and black lace shawl, and upon her head was a coronet of white and purple flowers-a most tasteful decoration." Her outfit at a state dinner a few weeks later drew equal praise. "Mrs. Lincoln was tastefully attired in a heavy black and white spotted silk, elegantly trimmed with black lace, her headdress and rich set of jewelry harmonizing throughout."
The new season brought new rules of etiquette for visitors at public receptions at the White House: "Overcoats, hats, caps, bonnets, shawls, cloaks &c. should be deposited in the several ante-rooms provided for that purpose, and where they will be in charge of proper persons for safekeeping." The new arrangement pleased the Washington social elite, who began returning to the open receptions they had shunned. A reporter for the National Republican noted on the part of all the guests "a more general observance of the proprieties of dress and demeanor," which seemed to suggest "increasing respect for the President, his family and themselves."
Mary also took great pride in her informal Blue Room receptions, which continued to draw distinguished visitors. She was particularly gratified by the regular appearance of Charles Sumner. The handsome senator, though in his early fifties, was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Washington. "I was pleased," Mary later recalled, "knowing he visited no other lady-His time was so immersed in his business-and that cold & haughty looking man to the world-would insist upon my telling him all the news, & we would have such frequent and delightful conversations & often late in the evening-My darling husband would join us & they would laugh together, like two school boys."
However, the prestige and pleasure of her second term as first lady could not a.s.suage Mary"s lingering grief over the loss of Willie. Over two years after her son"s death, it was still difficult for her to enter the library, which had been one of his favorite rooms. Her "darling Boy!"-"the idolized child, of the household"-was never far from her mind. "I have sometimes feared," she admitted to a friend, "that the deep waters, through which we have pa.s.sed would overwhelm me." In the absence of her gentle son, "The World, has lost so much, of its charm. My position, requires my presence, where my heart is so far from being."
After Willie"s death, Mary had been determined not to allow her oldest son, Robert, to risk his life in the army. But after his graduation from Harvard, she could no longer detain him. In January 1865, Lincoln wrote to General Grant: "Please read and answer this letter as though I was not President, but only a friend. My son, now in his twenty second year, having graduated at Harvard, wishes to see something of the war before it ends. I do not wish to put him in the ranks, nor yet to give him a commission, to which those who have already served long, are better ent.i.tled, and better qualified to hold. Could he, without embarra.s.sment to you, or detriment to the service, go into your Military family with some nominal rank, I, and not the public, furnishing his necessary means? If no, say so without the least hesitation, because I am as anxious, and as deeply interested, that you shall not be enc.u.mbered."
Grant replied two days later. "I will be most happy to have him in my Military family," he wrote. He suggested that the rank of captain would be most appropriate. So Robert"s wish to join the army was granted. Stationed at Grant"s headquarters, Robert "soon became exceedingly popular," Horace Porter recalled. "He was always ready to perform his share of hard work, and never expected to be treated differently from any other officer on account of his being the son of the Chief Executive of the nation."
IN THE FIRST DAYS OF 1865, Gideon Welles was preoccupied with thoughts of "pa.s.sing time and acc.u.mulating years." His wistful contemplation was shared by Salmon Chase. On the first of January, the Chief Justice"s last surviving sister, Helen, was buried in Ohio. Of ten siblings, only Chase and his brother Edward, both in their mid-fifties, remained alive. Chase wrote to Lincoln explaining that the death of his sister precluded his attendance at the traditional New Year"s reception. "Without your note of to-day," Lincoln promptly replied, "I should have felt a.s.sured that some sufficient reason had detained you. Allow me to condole with you in the sad bereavement."
One of the guests at the White House reception noted "a great contrast between this "New Years" and any previous one for the past three years, four years ago there was a solemn stillness, a burthensome weight hanging upon the minds of all, a fearful foreboding of Evil, a dread of the future. It was but little better three years or two years ago.... Even one year ago we could scarcely see any light. Today all are in good spirits."
The stunning success of Sherman"s March to the Sea, which had ended with the capture of Savannah on Christmas Day, was largely responsible for the ebullience that prevailed in Washington. "Our joy was irrepressible," recalled a.s.sistant Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch, "because it was an a.s.surance that the days of the Confederacy were numbered." The president had initially been "anxious, if not fearful," about Sherman"s plan to abandon his supply lines and trust that his men could forage for necessary food and provisions along the way. The day after Savannah fell, Lincoln recalled his skepticism in a gracious note to Sherman: "The honor is all yours; for I believe none of us went farther than to acquiesce."
Sherman"s March to the Sea proved devastating to Southern property and countryside. Frank Blair, whose troops played a major role in the historic march, rationalized the indiscriminate destruction in a letter to his father: "We have destroyed nearly four hundred miles of Railroad, severing the western from the Eastern part of the Confederacy, and we have burned millions of dollars worth of cotton which is the only thing that enables them to maintain credit abroad & to purchase arms & munitions of war & we have actually "gobbled" up enough provisions to have fed Lee"s army for six months." Though the military gains justified the march in the minds of Union soldiers, the memory of its terrible impact on civilian lives haunts the South to this day.
In his congratulatory note to Sherman, Lincoln also paid tribute to General George Thomas, who had defeated Hood"s forces at Nashville ten days earlier. News of the two victories, Lincoln wrote, brought "those who sat in darkness, to see a great light." The telegram announcing Thomas"s victory had been carried to Stanton in the middle of the night. "Hurrah," Stanton cried as he hurriedly dressed and rushed to the White House with Thomas Eckert, the chief of the telegraph office. Eckert would long remember the delight on Lincoln"s face when he heard the news. Standing at the top of the stairs "in his night-dress, with a lighted candle in his hand," the tall president created an arresting tableau.
The fall of Fort Fisher, which guarded the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, followed in mid-January. Headlines trumpeted the "Combined Work of the Army and Navy!," which had gained the capture of the fort and its seventy-two large-caliber guns. "This glorious work," hailed the National Republican, "closes the port of Wilmington, and shuts off supplies to the rebels from abroad." Gideon Welles was ecstatic, recording that at the cabinet meeting that morning, "there was a very pleasant feeling. Seward thought there was little now for the Navy to do.... The President was happy." The defeat was shattering to Southern logistics and morale. Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens considered the fall of Fort Fisher "one of the greatest disasters which had befallen our Cause from the beginning of the war-not excepting the loss of Vicksburg or Atlanta." With nearly every other port closed by the naval blockade, the closing of Wilmington signaled "the complete shutting out of the Confederate States from all intercourse by sea with Foreign Countries," bringing an end to the exchange of cotton for vitally needed munitions and supplies.