GENERAL:--I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac.
Of course, I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons; and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which of course I like. I also believe that 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 with your ambition, 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 recently saying that both 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 the command. Only those generals who gain success can be dictators.
What I now ask from 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 commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticizing their commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall a.s.sist you, as far as I can, to pull 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.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
In all Lincoln"s writings there are few things finer than this letter.
In its candor and friendliness, its simplicity and deep wisdom, and its clearness of expression, it is almost perfect; and the President"s deep solicitude for the safety of the army and anxiety for its success give a pathetic touch to the closing sentences. This solicitude found partial relief in a personal inspection of the Army of the Potomac, which was made in April, just before the battle of Chancellorsville, and occupied five or six days. The President was accompanied by Attorney-General Bates, Mrs. Lincoln, his son Tad, and Mr. Noah P. Brooks. The first night out was spent on the little steamer which conveyed the party to their destination. After all had retired to rest except the anxious President and one or two others, Lincoln gave utterance to his deep-seated apprehensions in the whispered query to his friend, "How many of our monitors will you wager are at the bottom of Charleston Harbor?" "I essayed," writes Mr. Brooks, "to give a cheerful view of the Charleston situation. But he would not be encouraged. He then went on to say that he did not believe that an attack by water on Charleston could ever possibly succeed. He talked a long time about his "notions," as he called them; and at General Halleck"s headquarters next day, the first inquiries were for "rebel papers," which were usually brought in from the picket lines. These he examined with great anxiety, hoping that he might find an item of news from Charleston. One day, having looked all over a Richmond paper several times without finding a paragraph which he had been told was in it, he was mightily pleased to have it pointed out to him, and said, "It is plain that newspapers are made for newspaper men; being only a layman, it was impossible for me to find that.""
The out-door life, the constant riding, and the respite from the monstrous burdens at the capital, appeared to afford mental and physical benefit to the worn President. But in answer to a remark expressing this conviction, he replied sadly, "I don"t know about "the rest" as you call it. I suppose it is good for the body. But the tired part of me is _inside_ and out of reach." "He rode a great deal," says Mr. Brooks, "while with the army, always preferring the saddle to the elegant ambulance which had been provided for him. He sat his horse well, but he rode hard, and during his stay I think he regularly used up at least one horse each day. Little Tad invariably followed in his father"s train; and, mounted on a smaller horse, accompanied by an orderly, the youngster was a conspicuous figure, as his gray cloak flew in the wind while we hung on the flanks of Hooker and his generals."
General Hooker was now planning his great movement against Richmond, and talked freely of the matter with the President, In the course of a conversation, Lincoln casually remarked, "If you get to Richmond, General." But Hooker interrupted him with--"Excuse me, Mr. President, but there is no "if" in the case. _I am going straight to Richmond, if I live_!" Later in the day, Lincoln, privately referring to this self-confidence of the General, said to Mr. Brooks, rather mournfully, "It is about the worst thing I have seen since I have been down here."
In further ill.u.s.tration of Hooker"s confidence in himself, Mr. Brooks says: "One night, Hooker and I being alone in his hut, the General standing with his back to the fireplace, alert, handsome, full of courage and confidence, said laughingly, "The President says you know about that letter he wrote me on taking command." I acknowledged that the President had read it to me. The General seemed to think that the advice was well-meant, but unnecessary. Then he added, with that charming a.s.surance which became him so well, "After I have been to Richmond, I am going to have that letter printed."" But all that came of Hooker"s confidence, after three months of elaborate preparation, was a grand forward movement into Virginia and another b.l.o.o.d.y and humiliating defeat for the heroic but unfortunate army under his command.
The first of May, 1863, the Army of the Potomac under Hooker met the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee and Jackson, near Chancellorsville, Virginia. It was here that Jackson executed his brilliant and successful flank movement around the Union right, ensuring a victory for his side but losing his own life. After a contest of several days, involving the fruitless sacrifice of thousands of gallant soldiers, Hooker"s army fell back and recrossed the Rappahannock.[G]
The news of this fresh disaster was an almost stunning shock to President Lincoln. During the progress of the battle he was under a cruel strain of anxiety and suspense. Secretary Welles, who was with him a part of the time, says: "He had a feverish eagerness for facts; was constantly up and down, for nothing reliable came from the front."
Mr. Noah Brooks relates that in company with an old friend of Lincoln"s he was waiting in one of the family rooms of the White House. "A door opened and Lincoln appeared, holding an open telegram in his hand. The sight of his face and figure was frightful. He seemed stricken with death. Almost tottering to a chair, he sat down; and then I mechanically noticed that his face was of the same color as the wall behind him--not pale, not even sallow, but gray, like ashes. Extending the despatch to me, he said, with a hollow, far-off voice, "Read it--news from the army." The telegram was from General b.u.t.terfield, I think, then chief of staff to Hooker. It was very brief, simply saying that the Army of the Potomac had "safely recrossed the Rappahannock," and was now at its old position on the north bank of that stream. The President"s friend, Dr.
Henry, an old man and somewhat impressionable, burst into tears,--not so much, probably, at the news as on account of its effect upon Lincoln.
The President regarded the old man for an instant with dry eyes, and said, "_What will the country say? Oh, what will the country say_?" He seemed hungry for consolation and cheer, and sat a little while talking about the failure. Yet it did not seem that he was disappointed so much for himself, but that he thought the country would be."
Lincoln"s anxiety regarding the effect at the North of these repeated reverses was not without sufficient cause. Aside from those who were positively opposed to the war, the loyal people were wearying of the useless slaughter, the unavailing struggles, of the gallant soldiers.
The growing distrust of the capacity of their military leaders was also keenly felt. The feeling of that time is so well expressed in a stirring poem ent.i.tled "Wanted, a Man," written by Mr. E.C. Stedman, that it is given place here. It has an additional personal interest connected with President Lincoln in the fact that he was so impressed with the piece that he read it aloud to his a.s.sembled Cabinet.
Back from the trebly crimsoned field Terrible words are thunder-tost; Full of the wrath that will not yield, Full of revenge for battles lost!
Hark to their echo, as it crost The Capital, making faces wan: End this murderous holocaust; Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN!
Give us a man of G.o.d"s own mould, Born to marshal his fellow-men; One whose fame is not bought and sold At the stroke of a politician"s pen; Give us the 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!
No leader to shirk the boasting foe, And to march and countermarch our brave Till they fall like ghosts in the marshes low, And swamp-gra.s.s covers each nameless grave; Nor another, whose fatal banners wave Aye in Disaster"s shameful van; Nor another, to bl.u.s.ter, and lie, and rave,-- Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN!
Hearts are mourning in the North, While the sister rivers seek the main, Red with our life-blood flowing forth-- Who shall gather it up again?
Though we march to the battle-plain Firmly as when the strife began, Shall all our offerings be in vain?-- Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN!
Is there never one in all the land, One on whose might the Cause may lean?
Are all the common ones so grand, And all the t.i.tled ones so mean?
What if your failure may have been In trying to make good bread from bran, From worthless metal a weapon keen?-- Abraham Lincoln, find us a MAN!
O, we will follow him to the death, Where the foeman"s fiercest columns are!
O, we will use our latest breath, Cheering for every sacred star!
His to marshal us high and far; Ours to battle, as patriots can When a Hero leads the Holy War!-- Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN!
CHAPTER XXV
The Battle-summer of 1863--A Turn of the Tide--Lee"s Invasion of Pennsylvania--A Threatening Crisis--Change of Union Commanders--Meade succeeds Hooker--The Battle of Gettysburg--Lincoln"s Anxiety during the Fight--The Retreat of Lee--Union Victories in the Southwest--The Capture of Vicksburg--Lincoln"s Thanks to Grant--Returning Cheerfulness--Congratulations to the Country--Improved State of Peeling at the North--State Elections of 1863--The Administration Sustained--Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg--Lincoln"s Address--Scenes and Incidents at the Dedication--Meeting with Old John Burns--Edward Everett"s Impressions of Lincoln.
Midsummer of 1863 brought a turn in the tide of military affairs. It came none too soon for the safety of the nation. The repeated reverses to the Union arms ending with the shocking disasters at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville--although slightly relieved by the costly success of Stone River--had seemed to throw the chances of war in favor of the South; and the Union cause was at the crisis of its fate. But now fortune smiled upon the North, and its lost hope and lost ground were regained at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. These great battles are justly regarded as marking the turning-point of the war. It was yet far from finished; there remained nearly two years of desperate fighting, with heroic struggles and terrible sacrifice of life, before the end should come. But from this time the character of the struggle seemed to change.
The armies of the South fought, not less desperately, but more on the defensive; and their final overthrow was in all human probability chiefly a question of time.
Emboldened by his success at Chancellorsville in May, General Lee again a.s.sumed the offensive, and recrossed the Potomac river into Maryland.
Late in June he invaded Pennsylvania, and occupied a position threatening Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. The situation was most critical. If Lee could once more beat the Army of the Potomac, as he had done so many times, these three great cities, and even New York, might be at his mercy. The feeling in Washington is reflected in entries made at the time in Mr. Welles"s Diary. "Something of a panic pervades the city," says Mr. Welles. "Singular rumors reach us of Rebel advances into Maryland. It is said they have reached Hagerstown, and some of them have penetrated as far as Chambersburg in Pennsylvania.... The city is full of strange, wild rumors of Rebel raids in the vicinity and of trains seized in sight of the Capital. The War Department is wholly unprepared for an irruption here, and J.E.B. Stuart might have dashed into the city to-day [June 28] with impunity.... I have a panic telegraph from Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania, who is excitable and easily alarmed, entreating that guns and gunners may be sent from the Navy Yard at Philadelphia to Harrisburg without delay.... I went again, at a late hour, to the War Department, but could get no facts or intelligence from the Secretary. All was vague, opaque, thick darkness.
I really think Stanton is no better posted than myself, and from what Stanton says am afraid Hooker does not comprehend Lee"s intentions nor know how to counteract them. It looks to me as if Lee was putting forth his whole energy and force in one great and desperate struggle which shall be decisive."
Following Lee, the Army of the Potomac, under General Hooker, also recrossed the Potomac, and pursued the enemy by a somewhat parallel route, but keeping carefully between him and Washington. The occasion was one calling for the best resources of a great military commander; and General Hooker, realizing his unfitness for the responsibility, asked to be relieved of the command. Thus was thrown upon the President the hazardous necessity of changing commanders upon the very eve of a great battle. It was a terrible emergency. Even the stout-hearted Stanton was appalled. He afterward stated that when he received the despatch from Hooker, asking to be relieved, his heart sank within him, and he was more depressed than at any other moment of the war. "I could not say," said Mr. Stanton, "that any other officer knew General Hooker"s plans, or the position even of the various divisions of the army. I sent for the President to come at once to the War Office. It was in the evening, but the President soon appeared. I handed him the despatch. As he read it his face became like lead, and I said, "What shall be done?" He replied instantly, "_Accept his resignation._""
Immediately an order was sent to Major-General George G. Meade, one of the most efficient of the corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac, appointing him to the chief command. Meade was a quiet, una.s.suming man, very unlike Hooker. Three days after a.s.suming command, he led his army against the Southern host at Gettysburg, where, after a most b.l.o.o.d.y and memorable battle of three days" duration (July 1, 2, and 3, 1863), was won the first decisive victory in the history of the gallant Army of the Potomac. Lee retired, with disastrous losses, across the Potomac to Virginia; and Washington and the North breathed free again.
Senator Chandler of Michigan, speaking of the terrible strain on Lincoln during the progress of the battle of Gettysburg, said: "I shall never forget the painful anxiety of those few days when the fate of the nation seemed to hang in the balance; nor the restless solicitude of Mr.
Lincoln, as he paced up and down the room, reading despatches, soliloquizing, and often stopping to trace the position of the contending armies on the map which hung on the wall; nor the relief we all felt when the fact was established that victory, though gained at such fearful cost, was indeed on the side of the Union."
Amidst the murk and gloom of those dark days in Washington, when the suspense was breathless and the heart of the nation responded in m.u.f.fled beats to the dull booming of the cannon of Meade and Lee at Gettysburg, an episode occurred, with Lincoln as the central figure, which reveals perhaps more poignantly than any other in his whole career the depths of feeling in that tender and reverential soul. On Sunday evening, July 4,--the fourth day of that terrible battle, with nothing definite yet known of the result,--the President drove out in a carriage, in company with two daughters of Secretary Stanton, to the line of defenses near Arlington. It was toward sundown; and a brigade of troops were forming in position for an evening parade or review. The commander of the brigade, General Tannatt, recognizing the President and his party, rode up to the carriage and invited them to witness the parade. The President a.s.sented. His face was drawn and haggard in its expression of anxiety and sorrow. As it was Sunday evening, some of the regimental bands played familiar religious pieces. The President, hearing them, inquired of General Tannatt if any of his bands could play "Lead Kindly Light."
Then in a low voice and with touching accents he repeated, as if to himself, the familiar lines--never more expressive or appropriate than now,--
Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene,--one step enough for me.
As the sweet strains of the familiar hymn floated on the evening air, Lincoln"s sad face became sadder still, and tears were seen coursing down his cheeks. What emotions were his, who can tell, as he thought of that great battle-field not far away, its issues yet unknown, its ground still covered with dead and wounded soldiers whose heroic deeds--to use his n.o.ble words spoken a few months later on that historic field--"have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract."
General Tannatt, who knew Lincoln well and had spoken with him many times, never saw him again; and his view of that tragic, tear-wet face remains to him a vivid and precious memory.[H]
While the eyes of the nation were fastened upon the great drama being enacted near the capital, events scarcely less momentous were occurring in the Southwest. The campaign against Vicksburg, the great Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi river, had been in active progress, under the personal command of General Grant, for several months. The importance of this strategic point was fully understood by the enemy, and it was defended most stubbornly. At first Grant"s plans proved unsuccessful; the cutting of ca.n.a.ls and opening of bayous failed--as President Lincoln had expected and predicted. But these failures only served to develop the unsuspected energy of Grant"s character and the extent of his military resources. He boldly changed his entire plan of operations, abandoned his line of communication, removed his army to a point _below_ Vicksburg and attacked the city in the rear. With dogged persistence he pressed forward, gaining point by point, beating off General Johnston"s forces on one side and driving Pemberton before him into Vicksburg; until finally, by the aid of Admiral Porter"s gunboats on the Mississippi, he had entirely invested the city. Gradually and persistently his lines closed in, pushed forward by a.s.sault and siege; until Vicksburg accepted its doom, and on the 4th of July, 1863,--the day of Lee"s retreat from Gettysburg,--the city and garrison surrendered to the victorious Grant.
Lincoln"s exuberant joy over the capture of Vicksburg is revealed in an entry made at the time in Mr. Welles"s Diary. "I was handed a despatch from Admiral Porter, communicating the fall of Vicksburg on the Fourth of July," says Mr. Welles. "I immediately returned to the Executive Mansion. The President was detailing certain points relative to Grant"s movements on the map to Chase and two or three others, when I gave him the tidings. Putting down the map he rose at once, said he would drop these topics, and added, "I myself will telegraph this news to General Meade." He seized his hat, but suddenly stopped, his countenance beaming with joy; he caught my hand, and throwing his arm around me, exclaimed, "What can we do for the Secretary of the Navy for this glorious intelligence? He is always giving us good news. I cannot, in words, tell you my joy over this result. It is great, Mr. Welles, it is great!" ...
We walked the lawn together. "This," said he, "will relieve Banks. It will inspire me.""
The Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg caused great rejoicing at the North, and gave added zest to the celebration of the national patriotic holiday. President Lincoln, mindful of the "almost inestimable services," as he termed them, of General Grant, and as it was his wont to do in such circ.u.mstances, made haste to acknowledge his own and the country"s indebtedness to the man who had accomplished a great deed. He addressed to the conqueror of Vicksburg the following letter:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
July 13, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT.
MY DEAR GENERAL:--I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable services you have done the country. I write to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did--march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pa.s.s expedition, and the 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, and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
An officer who was the first from Grant"s army to reach Washington after the surrender of Vicksburg, has recorded the circ.u.mstances of his interview with the President. "Mr. Lincoln received me very cordially,"
says this officer, "and drawing a chair near to himself and motioning me to be seated said, "Now I want to hear all about Vicksburg." I gave him all the information I could, though he appeared to be remarkably well posted himself. He put to me a great many questions in detail touching the siege, the losses, the morale of the army, its sanitary condition, the hospital service, and General Grant. Said he: "I guess I was right in standing by Grant, although there was great pressure made after Pittsburg Landing to have him removed. I thought I saw enough in Grant to convince me that he was one on whom the country could depend. That "unconditional surrender" message to Buckner at Donelson suited me. It indicated the spirit of the man."
It is interesting to note that before the capture of Vicksburg the protracted campaign had occasioned no little dissatisfaction with General Grant; the President had been importuned to remove him, and had much formidable opposition to encounter in his determination to stand by him. Only a few days before the capitulation of the beleaguered city, Senator Wade of Ohio--"Bluff Ben Wade," as he was termed--called upon the President and urged Grant"s dismissal; to which Lincoln good-naturedly replied, "Senator, that reminds me of a story." "Yes, yes," rejoined Wade petulantly, "that is the way 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 h--l, sir, with this Government, and you are not a mile off this minute." Lincoln calmly retorted, "Senator, that is just about the distance from here to the Capitol, is it not?" The exasperated Wade grabbed his hat and rushed angrily from the White House.