Team of Rivals

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

  “The intense…around the city”: Elizabeth Grimsley to Mrs. John T. Stuart, April 29, 1861, quoted in Concerning Mr. Lincoln, comp. Pratt, p. 77.

  Tad boasted…from the roof: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, pp. 68–69 (quotes p. 68).

  “between the grey haired…plough hardened hands”: “20 April 1861, Saturday,” in Hay, Inside Lincoln’s White House, p. 4.

  “rather pale…all ‘go ahead’”: Entry for January 13, 1862, The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861–1865, available through “Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861–1865,” American Memory, Library of Congress, http://memory.loc.gov [hereafter Taft diary].

  “More than once…arm of the chair”: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, pp. 35, 108.

  Julia was appalled: Ibid., pp. 101, 102–06, 109–10.

  “the most lovable…gentle-mannered”: Ibid., p. 8.

  retreat to his mother’s room…write verses: Turner and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 120.

  “what she wanted when she wanted it”: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, p. 49.

  A curious example…purple strings!: Ibid., pp. 43–48 (quotes p. 45).

  brothers and brothers-in-law: Randall, Mary Lincoln, p. 294; Ishbel Ross, The President’s Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln, A Biography (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1973), p. 144.

  the White House…“unsuccessful hotel”: Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Times, p. 26.

  “the family apartments…(first President)”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, p. 47.

  went on a shopping trip: See entries for May 10–22, 1861, in Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, pp. 41–43.

  $20,000 allowance to maintain the White House: Seale, The President’s House, Vol. I, p. 382.

  state guest room…“clusters of grapes”: Betty C. Monkman, The White House: Its Historic Furnishings and First Families (New York: Abbeville Press, 2000), p. 125.

  The press exaggerated…never even visited: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, pp. 58–59.

  the bills added up: Entries for May 13, 21, 24, and 29, 1861, in Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, pp. 41, 43–45.

  Kate Chase was hard at work…to borrow $10,000: Ross, Proud Kate, p. 62; SPC to Henry Carrington, April 16, 1861, reel 15, Chase Papers.

  Chase later complained…with the president: Belden and Belden, So Fell the Angels, p. 94.

  “in a single season”…William Sprague: William Perrine, “The Dashing Kate Chase and Her Great Ambition,” Ladies’ Home Journal XVIII (June 1901), p. 11.

  Kate had first met…“see the other”: Richard Parsons, quoted in Ohio State Journal, Columbus, Ohio, August 4, 1899.

  Sprague would never forget…“it was yesterday”: William Sprague to KCS, May 27, 1866, William and Catherine Chase Sprague Papers, 1850–1900, MS 79. 17, Manuscript Division, Special Collections Department, Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island [hereafter Sprague Papers].

  William Sprague: Peg A. Lamphier, Kate Chase and William Sprague: Politics and Gender in a Civil War Marriage (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003), pp. 27–28.

  “I was thrust…highest positions”: William Sprague, quoted in Lamphier, Kate Chase and William Sprague, p. 32.

  As the largest employer…of his own money: “The Rhode Island Spragues,” unknown newspaper clipping, December 5, 1883, in KCS vertical file, DWP.

  “a loan…the troops”: Belden and Belden, So Fell the Angels, p. 42; ninety-six horses, Lamphier, Kate Chase and William Sprague, p. 39.

  On April 29…“movements of the regiment”: Star, April 29, 1861.

  physical description of Sprague: Belden and Belden, So Fell the Angels, p. 42.

  “a small…wealth and social standing”: “26 April 1861, Friday,” in Hay, Inside Lincoln’s White House, p. 12.

  “When men like…such an army”: “30 April 1861, Tuesday,” in ibid., p. 14.

  “the first, the only…lodgment there”: Entry for November 11, 1868, KCS diary, Sprague Papers.

  “Do you remember…such in life”: William Sprague to KCS, May 27, 1866, Sprague Papers.

  “accustomed to…be anticipated”: Entry for November 11, 1868, KCS diary, Sprague Papers.

  Nettie Chase told Kate…would marry: KCS to Janet Chase Hoyt, September 29, 1861, reel 17, Chase Papers.

  Elmer Ellsworth: Brian D. McKnight, “Ellsworth, Elmer Ephraim,” in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, ed. Heidler and Heidler, p. 647: Turner and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 92.

  wrote a personal note of condolence: AL to Ephrain D. and Phoebe Ellsworth, May 25, 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 385–86.

  “quite unable…out of my eyes”: JGN to TB, May 25, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.

  Mary was presented…packed away: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, p. 39.

  a resolution…belligerent status: Entry for May 6, 1861, in Long, The Civil War Day by Day, pp. 70–71; Norman A. Graebner, “Northern Diplomacy and European Neutrality,” in Why the North Won the Civil War, ed. David Donald (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1960; New York and London: Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1962), p. 60.

  “younger branch…is too late”: WHS to FAS, May 17, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, pp. 575–76.

  “God damn ’em, I’ll give ’em hell”: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 298.

  On May 21…two wars at once: Jay Monaghan, Diplomat in Carpet Slippers: Abraham Lincoln Deals with Foreign Affairs (Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1945), p. 114; Allen Thorndike Rice, “A Famous Diplomatic Dispatch,” North American Review 142 (April 1886), pp. 402–11.

  “surprised and grieved…she has a natural claim”: AL, “Revision of William H. Seward to Charles Francis Adams,” May 21, 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 377–78, 379 n14, 380.

  the basis for a hard-line policy: Todd Anthony Rosa, “Diplomacy, U.S.A.” in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, ed. Heidler and Heidler, p. 602.

  “currency to Southern bonds”: WHS to TW, May 23, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 576.

  “the ablest American”…his country’s position: Rice, “A Famous Diplomatic Dispatch,” NAR 142 (1886), pp. 402–3, 404 (quote).

  “It is due to…every day”: WHS to FAS, May 17, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 575.

  “Executive skill…assiduous cooperation”: WHS to FAS, June 5, 1861, quoted in ibid., p. 590.

  “to his chief…personal attachment”: Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. IV, p. 449.

  “a brilliant assemblage…twenty years more”: NYT, May 22, 1861.

  forced to rely on government loans: Blue, Salmon P. Chase, pp. 143–46.

  functions…belonged to the War Department: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, pp. 253–54; Bradley, Simon Cameron, pp. 177–78.

  “the principal charge…regiments in Tennessee”: SPC to Trowbridge, March 21, 1864, reel 32, Chase Papers.

  “The President…half-consciousness”: NYT, April 23, 1861, enclosed with SPC to AL, April 25, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “has too much truth in it”: SPC to AL, April 25, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “Oh, it was a terrible time…no anything”: NYT, June 3, 1878.

  weapons in short supply…messengers, and watchmen: A. Howard Meneely, The War Department, 1861: A Study in Mobilization and Administration (New York: Columbia University Press, 1928), pp. 25–26, 106–11.

  “I was…to be envied”: NYT, June 3, 1878.

  “so large…without compensation”: AL, “To the Senate and House of Representatives,” May 26, 1862, in CW, V, p. 242.

  Alexander Cummings: Bradley, Simon Cameron, pp. 196–97.

  “embargo” on…“so strict”: NYT, June 22, 1861.

  congressmen and senators…“President’s message”: NYT, July 4, 1861.

  Senator Orville Browning…“of the Country”: Entry for July 3, 1861, in Browning, The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Vol. I, p. 4
75.

  Jefferson had denounced: “From Time to Time: History of the State of the Union,” The White House, www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/history.html (accessed July 2003); “History of the State of the Union,” National Archives and Records Administration, http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/SOTU00/history/address.html (accessed July 2003).

  had submitted their written messages: Entry for July 5, 1861, in Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 388.

  “give the legal means…the government itself”: AL, “Message to Congress in Special Session,” July 4, 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 426, 431–32, 437, 438.

  “In spite of…masses of the people”: NYT, July 7, 1861.

  Congress responded…patriotic fervor: Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. IV, pp. 370, 375–76, 382–83.

  “No mention is…of the rebellion”: Douglass’ Monthly (August 1861).

  “We have an honest…to Seward”: NYT, July 7, 1861.

  Benjamin Butler…therefore contraband of war: Benjamin F. Butler to Winfield Scott, May 24, 1861, OR, Ser. 1, Vol. II, pp. 649–50; Edward L. Pierce, “The Contrabands at Fortress Monroe,” Atlantic Monthly 8 (November 1861), pp. 627–28.

  “I will accept…resign your commission”: Benjamin F. Butler, Butler’s Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin F. Butler (Boston: A. M. Thayer & Co., 1892), p. 242.

  Butler’s order…a confiscation law: Endorsements by Winfield Scott and Simon Cameron, in Benjamin F. Butler to Winfield Scott, May 24, 1861, OR, Ser. 1, Vol. II, p. 652; Simon Cameron to Benjamin F. Butler, May 30, 1861, container 5, Papers of Benjamin F. Butler, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress [hereafter Butler Papers]; John Syrett, “Confiscation Acts (6 August 1861 and 17 July 1862),” in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, ed. Heidler and Heidler, pp. 477–79.

  “You were right…this new doctrine”: MB to Benjamin F. Butler, May 29, 1861, container 5, Butler Papers.

  hundreds of courageous slaves: Pierce, “The Contrabands at Fortress Monroe,” Atlantic Monthly (1861), pp. 628, 630.

  Two weeks into…not to eliminate slavery: Entry for July 22, 1861, in Long, The Civil War Day by Day, p. 100.

  “sword…slavery must die”: John Lothrop Motley to his wife, June 23, 1861, in The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley, Vol. I, ed. George William Curtis (New York: Harper & Bros., 1889), p. 390.

  “Forward to Richmond!”: NYTrib, June 26, 1861.

  “the immediate movement…20th July”: Entry for July 11, 1861, in Browning, The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Vol. I, p. 479.

  General Scott hesitated…public would diminish: James A. Rawley, Turning Points of the Civil War (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966), pp. 52–53.

  McDowell’s plan: John G. Nicolay, The Outbreak of Rebellion. Campaigns of the Civil War, new introduction by Mark E. Neeley, Jr. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1881; New York: Da Capo Press, 1995), p. 173.

  “a terrible…ferocious warriors”: Entry for August 1861, in Adam Gurowski, Diary from March 4, 1861 to November 12, 1862. Burt Franklin: Research & Source Works #229 (Boston, 1862; New York: Burt Franklin, 1968), pp. 78–79.

  “Foreigners…drive them off”: EB to James O. Broadhead, July 13, 1861, James Overton Broadhead Papers, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Mo. [hereafter Broadhead Papers, MoSHi].

  troop strengths: Rawley, Turning Points of the Civil War, p. 54.

  On June 29…approved McDowell’s plan: Nicolay, Outbreak of Rebellion, p. 173.

  The Battle of Bull Run: Many battles of the Civil War came to be known by different names within the Union and the Confederacy. The first battle at Manassas Junction, for example, would be known as the Battle of Bull Run in the North and the Battle of Manassas in the South. As James M. McPherson explains, “In each case but one (Shiloh) the Confederates named the battle after the town that served as their base, while the Union forces chose the landmark nearest to the fighting or to their own lines, usually a river or stream.” In the case of Shiloh, the Confederates named the battle for a nearby church, McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 346 n7.

  “roar of the artillery…grew intense”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, p. 65.

  “stop the roar in [her] ears”: EBL to SPL, July 21, 1861, in Wartime Washington, ed. Laas, p. 65.

  “an unusually heavy…this time to-morrow”: Entry for July 21, 1861, in Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 449.

  In the crowded space…responsibilities: David Homer Bates, Lincoln in the Telegraph Office: Recollections of the United States Military Telegraph Corps during the Civil War, introduction by James A. Rawley (New York: Century Co., 1907; Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995), p. 87.

  and read aloud…“with joy”: NYT, July 22, 1861 (quote); NYT, July 26, 1861.

  “There is Jackson…like a stone wall”: Poore, Perley’s Reminiscences, Vol. II, p. 85.

  At 3 p.m.…fifteen-minute intervals: Entry for July 21, 1861, in Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, p. 55.

  The telegraph line…Telegraph Corps: Bates, Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, p. 88.

  “a small three-storied”…description of headquarters: Entry for July 19, 1861, in Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 431.

  “his confidence…President left”: JGN to TB, July 21, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.

  “the Union Army…victory”: Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 598.

  Bates confided his anxiety: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, p. 153; entry for July 21, 1861, in Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, p. 55.

  “the first time he ever left home”: Entry for July 5, 1861, in The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 188.

  a new intimacy with his president: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, p. 153.

  “A sudden swoop…behind them”: Edmund C. Stedman, The Battle of Bull Run (New York: Rudd & Carleton, 1861), p. 32.

  “never stopped…New-York”: Janet Chase Hoyt, “A Woman’s Memories,” NYTrib, June 7, 1891.

  “Army wagons…sights and sounds”: Stedman, The Battle of Bull Run, p. 35.

  “General McDowell’s…of the Army”: Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 598.

  “a terribly frightened…to Gen. Scott’s”: JGN to TB, July 21, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.

  “He listened in silence…army headquarters”: Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. IV, pp. 353–54.

  “Oh what a sad…sabbath been”: EBL to SPL, July 21, 1861, in Wartime Washington, ed. Laas, p. 65.

  death of James Cameron: “Cameron, James (?–1861),” in Stewart Sifakis, Who Was Who in the Union (New York: Facts on File, 1988), p. 63; Nicolay, Outbreak of Rebellion, p. 214.

  “I loved my brother…of his duty”: Simon Cameron to SPC, July 21, 1861, reel 16, Chase Papers.

  “Every thing…to the field”: WHS to family, July 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, pp. 598–99.

  the returning soldiers…“at this juncture”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, pp. 66–67 (quotes p. 67).

  Lincoln did not sleep…future military policy: Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. IV, p. 368.

  “be constantly drilled”…the blockade operative: AL, “Memoranda of Military Policy Suggested by the Bull Run Defeat,” July 23, 1861, in CW, IV, p. 457.

  a telegram was also sent: Lorenzo Thomas to George B. McClellan, July 22, 1861, OR, Ser. 1, Vol. II, p. 753; entry for July 22, 1861, in Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, p. 56.

  devised a strategy…East Tennessee: AL, “Memoranda of Military Policy Suggested by the Bull Run Defeat,” July 27, 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 457–58.

  “If there were…Union out of it”: Walt Whitman, Specimen Days (Philadelphia: Rees Welch Co., 1882; Philadelphia: David McKay, 1892; Boston: D. R. Godine, 1971), p. 13.

  “a weak…inefficient Cabinet”: NYH, July 27, 1861.

  “Two weeks ago…a great victory”: SPC to William P. Mellen, July 23, 1861, reel 16, Chase P
apers.

  “public censure…on Lincoln”: Rawley, Turning Points of the Civil War, p. 56.

  “The sun rises, but shines not”: Whitman, Specimen Days (1971 edn.), p. 12.

  “Some had neither…blankets”: Entry for July 22, 1861, in Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 467.

  “awakened in the…stand the hurting”: Janet Chase Hoyt, “A Woman’s Memories,” NYTrib, June 7, 1891.

  “The dreadful disaster…could be offered”: EMS to James Buchanan, July 26, 1861, reprinted in “A Page of Political Correspondence. Unpublished Letters of Mr. Stanton to Mr. Buchanan,” North American Review 129 (November 1879), pp. 482–83.

  “an overweening confidence”: Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Vol. I (1881; Richmond, Va.: Garrett & Massie, 1938; New York: Da Capo Press, 1990), p. 330.

  General Johnston observed…faraway hospitals: Joseph E. Johnson, quoted in Nicolay, Outbreak of Rebellion, p. 211.

  “Well we fought…our men”: Nancy Bates to Hester Bates, July 25, 1861, Bates Papers, MoSHi.

  “very melancholy”: Entry of July 28, 1861, in Browning, The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Vol. I, p. 489.

  “black despair…to [his] country”: Horace Greeley to AL, July 29, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  He told humorous stories: Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 448–49.

  “discourage all…I believe he would do it”: William Tecumseh Sherman, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1875; New York: Penguin Books, 2000), pp. 175–76.

  a “renewed patriotism”: NYT, July 23, 1861.

  “Let no loyal…greater efforts”: Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1861.

  Several papers compared: Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1861; NYTrib, reprinted in Star, July 27, 1861.

  “The spirit of…facilities for defence”: NYT, July 26, 1861.

  could “take comfort”: Philadelphia Inquirer, July 25, 1861.

  CHAPTER 14: “I DO NOT INTEND TO BE SACRIFICED”

  “Nothing but a patent…at last”: James Russell Lowell, “General McClellan’s Report (1864),” in The Writings of James Russell Lowell. Vol. V: Political Essays (Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, 1871; 1890), pp. 94, 99.