“He dwelt earnestly” Welles, Diary, July 13, 1862, 70.
“Things had gone from bad” Carpenter, Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, 21—22.
CHAPTER 21. We Must Think Anew: July 1862-December 1862
“After much anxious thought” This comes from Lincoln’s later words to Francis Carpenter, Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, 21.
not set his sights on emancipation I am indebted to the insights of Allen C. Guelzo’s excellent study, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), but I do not agree with his viewpoint, “The most salient feature to emerge from the sixteen months between his inauguration and the first presentation of the Proclamation to his cabinet on July 22, is the consistency with which Lincoln’s face was set toward the goal of emancipation from the day he first took the presidential oath”. Lincoln’s path to his Emancipation Proclamation was not consistent. See the essay “Review of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation” by Michael P. Johnson, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 26, no. 2 (Summer 2005): 75—81; and George M. Fredrickson, Big Enough to Be Inconsistent: Abraham Lincoln Confronts Slavery and Race (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2008).
“as a fit and necessary “Emancipation Proclamation—First Draft,” July 22, 1862, CW, 5:336-38.
“The wisdom of the view” Carpenter, Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, 22.
“kid glove war” McPherson, Tried by War, forthcoming.
“Old Brains” Stephen E. Ambrose, Halleck: Lincoln’s Chief of Staff (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967), 5—6, 47.
“I am very anxious” AL to Henry W. Halleck, July 14, 1862, CW, 5:323.
“looked weary” Browning, Diary, July 15, 1862, 559—60.
“if by magic” Browning, Diary, July 25, 1862, 563.
asked Burnside to relieve McClellan Marvel, Burnside, 99—100.
“I wish not to control” AL to George B. McClellan, August 29, 1862, CW, 5:399.
“You must call on General Halleck” Ambrose, Halleck, 65.
“Public sentiment is everything” AL, “First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois,” August 21, 1858, CW, 3:13-14, 27.
he regularly saw Carpenter, Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, 154.
“grateful to the New-York Journals” AL to Henry J. Raymond, March 9, 1862, CW, 5:152—53. Attached to Lincoln’s letter to Raymond in the Lincoln Papers in the Library of Congress are all the editorials.
“Having him firmly” AL to Robert J. Walker, November 21, 1861, Nicolay and Hay, 11:121.
“strangely and disastrously remiss” Horace Greeley, “The Prayer of Twenty Millions,” New York Tribune, August 20, 1862.
“Broken eggs can never be mended” James C. Welling, in Rice, Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, 525—26.
I have just read yours AL to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862, CW, 5:388—89, n. 2.
I would save the Union Ibid., 388.
“I have come from the West” John Pope to Officers and Soldiers of the Army of Virginia, OR, vol. 12, pt. 3, 473-74.
attack the Union supplies Robertson, Stonewall Jackson, 556—57.
“I am not prepared to crow” Strong, Diary, August 30, 1862, 3:249.
“We are not yet in a condition” George B. McClellan to Henry W. Halleck, August 28 and 29, 1862, McClellan, Civil War Papers, 412.
“I am clear” McClellan to AL, August 29, 1862, McClellan, Civil War Papers, 413, 416.
astonished by McClellan’s response John F. Marszalek, Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies: A Life of General Henry W. Halleck (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004), 144-47.
“was very outspoken” Hay, Inside, September 1, 1862, 36—38.
beaten Union units For a description of the second battle of Manassas (Bull Run), see McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 526—33.
“that the troubles now pending” Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, 2.
“everything is to come” George B. McClellan to Ellen McClellan, September 2, 1862, McClellan, Civil War Papers, 428.
“There was a more disturbed” Welles, Diary, September 2, 1862, 105.
“seemed wrung by the bitterest anguish” Bates’s observation is found in footnote 1 in AL, “Meditation on the Divine Will,” September [2?], 1862, CW, 5:404.
“experience as a military commander” Chase, Diaries, September 2, 1862, 119.
“Well, General” Sears, George B. McClellan, 261-62.
found refuge in his bottomless barrel Thomas, Abraham Lincoln, 343.
“state the case of his adversary” Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923), 2:113-15.
“manner did not indicate” Leonard Swett to WHH, January 17, 1866, HI, 167.
“He will issue no proclamation” Leonard Swett to Laura Swett, August 10, 1862, David Davis MSS, ALPLM, cited in Donald, Lincoln, 366.
“had been appropriated” James Oakes, The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007), 191-94.
“Your race is suffering” AL, “Address on Colonization to a Deputation of Negroes,” August 14, 1862, CW, 5:370-75.
seemed to be closing the door Blight, Frederick Douglass’ Civil War, 137—39.
calculated to make this bitter pill Oakes, Radical and the Republican, 191—94.
“Mr. Lincoln assumes” Frederick Douglass, “The President and His Speeches,” Douglass’ Monthly, September 1862, in Life and Writings, 3:267—70.
“meeting of Christians” Chicago Tribune, September 5 and 8, 1862.
I am approached AL, “Reply to Emancipation Memorial Presented by Chicago Christians of All Denominations,” September 13, 1862, CW, 5:419—20.
“The subject is difficult” Ibid., 425.
the moment not to retreat James M. McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom: Anti-etam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 88-89.
“Now is the time” Richmond Dispatch, August 29, 1862.
Lee was on Union soil McPherson, Tried by War, forthcoming.
“the friendly, almost tumultuous” McPherson, Antietam, 98—105.
Halleck talked him out of it Henry W. Halleck to AL, September 12, 1862; and Nathaniel B. Banks to AL, September 12, 1862, ALPLC.
“I have the plans” George B. McClellan to AL, September 13, 1862, ALPLC.
east side of Antietam Creek The Union and the Confederacy conferred different names to a number of battles.
Union Designation Confederate Designation Date
Bull Run Logan’s Cross Roads Pittsburg Landing Second Bull Run Antietam Manassas Mill Springs Shiloh Second Manassas Sharpsburg July 21, 1861 January 19, 1862 April 6-7, 1862 August 29-30, 1862 September 17, 1862
The Union usually named the battle after a landmark adjacent to it, usually a stream or river, such as Bull Run. The Confederates normally named the battle for the town associated with its base of operations, such as Manassas. For many of the battles, the names were often used interchangeably. An exception was the battle in southwestern Tennessee in April 1862. The North originally designated it Pittsburg Landing, after the landing on the Tennessee River they were determined to hold, while the Confederates named it after a church near where the battle began. The North quickly recognized Shiloh as the name of this bloody battle. For an extended discussion, see McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 346.
Halleck was suffering Marszalek, Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies, 148.
“It has been a glorious victory” George B. McClellan to Henry W. Halleck, September 14, 15, 1862, McClellan, Civil War Papers, 461-63.
“God bless you” AL to George B. McClellan, September 15, 1862.
“I now consider it safe” AL to Jesse K. Dubois, September 15, 1862, CW, 5:425-26.
“Your dispatch” Richard Yates to AL, September 15, 1862, ALPLC.
the most violent day For a description of the battle see McPherson, Crossroads of Freedo
m.
“We are in the midst” George B. McClellan to Henry W. Halleck, September 17, 1862, McClellan, Civil War Papers, 464.
would lose 1,700 men McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom, 119—20.
“Our victory was complete” George B. McClellan to Henry W. Halleck, September 17, 19, 1862, McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom, 467, 470.
the scope of the battle McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom, 3.
“when the rebel army” The Salmon P. Chase Papers, ed. John Niven (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1993), 1:149-50.
“the question was finally decided” Welles, Diary, 1:143.
I, Abraham Lincoln, AL, “Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation” [September 22, 1862], CW, 5:433-34.
At the heart of Ibid.,434.
“GOD BLESS ABRAHAM LINCOLN!” New York Tribune, September 23, 24, 1862.
“Mr. Lincoln not only” Charles S. Wainwright, A Diary of Battle: The Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1861—1865, ed. Allan Nevins (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1962), October 2, 1862, 109-10.
“Hatch, what do you suppose” Nicolay, Oral History of Abraham Lincoln, 16.
watched the biennial elections Mark E. Neely, Jr., The Union Divided: Party Conflict in the Civil War North (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002), 37-38.
“vote of want” New York Times, November 7, 1862. The traditional viewpoint has been that the 1862 elections, at both the national and state levels, were a disaster for the Republicans. James M. McPherson argues, “But a closer look at the results challenges the conclusion.” See Battle Cry of Freedom, 561—62.
On Novembers AL to Henry W. Halleck, November 5, 1862, CW, 5:485; Sears, George B. McClellan, 337—39; Smith, The Francis Preston Blair Family in Politics, II, 144.
“Never has such a paper” National Intelligencer, December 2, 1862.
“Without slavery” AL, “Annual Message to Congress,” December 1, 1862, CW, 5:536-37.
“The dogmas of the quiet past,” Ibid., 537.
“As our case is new” Ibid.
Fellow-citizens Ibid., 537.
“that light and wisdom” See Richard F. Mott, ed., Memoirs and Correspondence of Eliza P. Gurney (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1884), 307—13.
“sympathy and prayers” AL, “Reply to Eliza P. Gurney,” October 26, 1862, CW, 5:478 n. 1.
an alternative vision of reality David Zarefsky, “Lincoln’s 1862 Annual Message: A Paradigm of Rhetorical Leadership,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 3, (2000) no. 1:5,12-13.
Lincoln expressed skepticism For the story of the Battle of Fredericksburg, see Marvel, Burnside, 175—200. For Lincoln’s cautions, see his letter to Henry W. Halleck, November 27, 1862, ALPLC.
Many blamed Lincoln AL, Proclamation to the Army of the Potomac, December 22, 1862, CW, 6:13.
On Tuesday afternoon The best account of the Senate caucus is by Francis Fessenden, Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessendent, Vol. 1 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1907) I, 231—38. See also, Browning, Diary, I, December 16-18, 596-98.
Lincoln read Seward’s resignation See Doris Kearns Goodwin’s fine narrative of these events in Team of Rivals, 486—495.
“I saw in a moment he was in distress.” Browning, Diary, December 18, 1862, 600.
“with his usual urbanity” Fessenden, Life and Public Services, 240; Welles, Diary, I, December 19, 1862, 194-96.
Lincoln now moved to act quickly Welles, Diary, December 20, 1862, 197.
Lincoln’s decision to have the Committee Fessenden, 246—48.
“I sent for you” Welles, Diary, December 20, 201.
for the sake of “the public interest” AL to William H. Seward and Salmon P. Chase, December 20, 1862, CW, 6:12.
CHAPTER 22. what Will the Country Say: January 1863-May 1863
And by virtue AL, “Emancipation Proclamation,” January 1, 1863, CW, 6:28-31.
“What if the President fails” Douglass, Douglass’ Monthly, January 1863, in Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, 3:307.
“could not stop the Proclamation” Charles Sumner to John Murray Forbes, December 28, 1862, The Selected Letters of Charles Sumner, ed. Beverly Wilson Palmer (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990), 2:135—36.
“to abstain from all violence” Guelzo, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, 178.
“he would complete” Welles, Diary, December 31, 1862, 210—11. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts took credit for suggesting the idea to both Chase and the president. See Charles Sumner to George Livermore, January 9, 1863, Selected Letters of Charles Sumner, 2:139—40.
“Tomorrow at noon” Guelzo, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, 177—78.
“What do you intend” Florence W. Stanley, “Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln’s Own Story Retold,” Christian Science Monitor, September 22, 1937.
“warm salutations” “New Year’s Day in Washington,” Washington Republican, January 2, 1863.
New Year’s Day reception Mr. Lincoln’s Washington: Selections from the Writings of Noah Brooks, Civil War Correspondent, ed. P. J. Staudenraus (South Brunswick, N.J.: Lhomas Yoseloff 1967), 57-60.
“his hand trembled” Charles Sumner to George Livermore, January 9, 1863, Selected Letters of Charles Sumner, 2:139—40. See also Guelzo, Lincoln s Emancipation Proclamation, 182—83.
“My hand and arm trembled” Isaac Newton Arnold, The History of Abraham Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery (Chicago: Clarke and Company, 1866), 304.
“I never, in my life” Seward, Seward at Washington, 2:151.
“It is of the utmost importance” Ambrose Burnside to AL, January 1, 1863, CW, 6:32.
“retire to private life” Marvel, Burnside, 209—11.
confidence of the army Marszalek, Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies, 163—64.
tension between Burnside and Halleck Marvel, Burnside, 210—11.
“Ifin such a difficulty” AL to Henry W. Halleck, January 1, 1863, CW, 6:31-32.
“a fine ride” Marvel, Burnside, 212.
“Mud March” Ibid., 212-14.
warned Lincoln Brown, Raymond of the Times, 223—24.
“That is all true” Fehrenbacher, Recollected Words, 375.
“I am a hot headed” Walter H. Hebert, Lighting Joe Hooker (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1944), 65, 91, 153-61.
“That is just such a letter” Noah Brooks, Washington in Lincoln’s Time (New York: The Century Company, 1895), 52—53.
report directly to the president Marszalek, Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies, 166.
“a white man’s war” McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 563.
“And I further declare” AL, “Emancipation Proclamation,” January 1, 1863, CW, 6:30.
“would produce dangerous & fatal” Browning, Diary, July 1, 1862, 555.
“The colored man only waits” Frederick Douglass, “The Proclamation and a Negro Army,” Douglass’ Monthly, March 1863.
clash of twin emotions Blight, Frederick Douglass’ Civil War, 156—57.
gravitating toward the ideas Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, 229—31.
recruitment of African-Americans Dudley Taylor Cornish, The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861—1865 (New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1956), 112-26.
“The bare sight” AL to Andrew Johnson, March 26, 1863, CW, 6:149.
“I desire that a renewed” AL to Edwin M. Stanton, July 21, 1863, CW, 6:342.
“Army of the Potomac” Charles Francis Adams, Jr., to Charles Francis Adams, January 30, 1863, A Cycle of Adams Letters 1860—1865, ed. Worthington C. Ford (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920), 1:250.
“Mymen shall be fed” Hebert, Fighting Joe Hooker, 178—80.
“orderly observance” AL, “Order for Sabbath Observance,” November 15, 1862, CW, 5:497-98.
“a combination of bar-room” Charles Francis Adams, 1835—1915, 161.
Lincoln reviewed the cavalry Air. Lincoln’s Washington, 151—54.
“Gentlemen, in your next battle” Darius N. Couch, “The Chancellorsville Campaign,” Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, ed. Clarence C. Buel and Robert U. Johnson (New York: The Century Company, 1884-88), 3:155.
“That is the most depressing” Brooks, Washington in Lincoln s Time, 52.
“Whereas, while heretofore” AL, “Resolution on Slavery,” April 15, 1863, CW, 6:176.
“Resolved, That no such embryo” Ibid., 177.
“The Jews, as a class” Smith, Grant, 225—26.
Grant alone was responsible Simpson, Ulysses S. Grant, 163—65.
“And so the children of Israel” Bertram Wallace Korn, American Jewry and the Civil War (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1951), 121—25. Lincoln sent the order through Halleck.
“an uncommon fellow” Charles A. Dana, Recollections of the Civil War (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1898), 61.
“to reach the ear of the President” Murat Halstead to John Nicolay, April 1, 1863.
“are too common” Salmon P. Chase to AL, April 4, 1863, ALPLC. Chase enclosed the letter from Halstead.
“I have had stronger influence” Philadelphia Enquirer, May 15, 1863, verified in Fehrenbacher, Recolleded Words, 11.
“The President attaches” OR, vol. 17, pt. 1, 10.
rumors about troop morale McPherson, Tried by War, forthcoming.
“impatient” Henry Halleck to Ulysses S. Grant, April 2, 1863, cited in McPherson, Tired by War, forthcoming.
clamping down secessionist views See Richard L. Kiper, Major General John Alexander McClernand: Politician in Uniform (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1999); and the treatment of McClernand in Steven E. Woodworth, Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861—1865 (New York: Vintage, 2006).
McClernand took advantage McClernand wrote to Lincoln on March 31, June 20, and September 28, 1863.
Grant saw OR, vol. 17, pt. 1, 113-14.
“he thought him brave” Chase, Diaries, September 27, 1862, 161.
“You may not hear from me” Ulysses S. Grant to Henry W. Halleck, PUSG, 7:196.
“I am afraid Grant” Elihu Washburne to AL, May 1, 1863, ALPLC.
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