The most important development of the day, at least as far as President Lincoln was concerned, was the arrival of General William Tecumseh Sherman at City Point. General Sherman arrived aboard the small steamer Russia; he had set out on his journey from Goldsboro, North Carolina, two days earlier. After a day on a train and another on the steamer, he finally reached his destination. The general described City Point as “a pretty group of huts on the bank of the James River, overlooking the harbor.”1 Other visitors were not nearly as complimentary in their description.
The main purpose of General Sherman's visit was to report to his immediate superior, General Ulysses S. Grant. Talking to the president was a secondary consideration. As soon as the Russia docked, and even before General Grant had time to reach the wharf, “Sherman had jumped ashore and was hurrying forward with long strides to meet his chief.”2 Colonel Horace Porter was with Grant when the two old friends met each other. They shook hands “in a cordial grasp,” and shouted “‘How d'you do, Sherman!’” and “‘How are you, Grant!’” to one another. “Their encounter was more like that of two school-boys coming together after a vacation than the meeting of the chief actors in a great war tragedy.”
Sherman and Grant walked up to headquarters, where Julia Grant met Sherman with a “cordial greeting.” The three of them proceeded to talk for about an hour. Mostly, they talked about Sherman's march through Georgia—more exactly, Sherman talked and the Grants listened. Sherman was of a very nervous and edgy disposition; he rattled on about crossing rivers and destroying telegraph wires and other things he had seen for himself during his expedition from Atlanta to the sea. “The story, told as he alone could tell it, was a graphic epic related with Homeric power.”3
After listening to Sherman and his account of the Georgia campaign, General Grant informed his old friend that President Lincoln was on board the River Queen, which was tied up at the pier. He went on to suggest that the two of them pay Lincoln a visit before dinner—the president would certainly be very glad to see him, especially since the capture of Atlanta had virtually assured his reelection in 1864. It was a suggestion that suited General Sherman. The two generals—the tall, red-headed Sherman and the shorter, round-shouldered Grant—started off for the River Queen without any further discussion.
“We walked down to the wharf, went on board, and found Mr. Lincoln alone in the after-cabin,” General Sherman recalled. “He remembered me perfectly, and at once engaged in a most interesting conversation.”4 Sherman had met Lincoln once before, at the White House in March 1861—a few days after Lincoln had been sworn in for his first term as president, and before Sherman had received his commission as colonel assigned to inspect Washington, DC's defenses. At the time, Sherman came away from the meeting with an opinion of the new president that was anything but complimentary.
When they boarded the River Queen, the two generals discovered that the president “was full of curiosity about the many incidents of our great march.”5 Sherman told General Grant all about his activities in Georgia, and was more than glad to repeat them for Lincoln's benefit. From the dispatches he read in the War Office telegraph office and from newspaper accounts, President Lincoln knew the general overview of the campaign, but he appreciated hearing a first-hand account from the commanding general. Lincoln “seemed to enjoy very much the more ludicrous parts” of his story, including anecdotes that described the “bummers,” the foragers who collected food and provisions from the countryside.
Sherman mentioned an incident to General Grant that involved a bummer who cut down a Federal telegraph line. When he was scolded, the soldier responded that he was one of “Billy Sherman's Bummers,” and that Billy Sherman had instructed him, “Be sure and cut down all the telegraph-wires you come across, and don't go foolin’ away time askin’ who they belong to.”6 This was just the sort of story that Lincoln relished.
But President Lincoln was not just interested in hearing funny stories and anecdotes. During his meeting with General Sherman, Lincoln “expressed a good deal of anxiety” that “some accident” would take place with the army in North Carolina while Sherman was absent. Specifically, he was afraid that Joseph E. Johnston's army might slip away and move into Virginia, where he would be in position to join with General Lee. But General Sherman reassured the president. “I explained that the army was snug and comfortable, in good camps at Goldsboro,” he wrote. He went on to say that “General [John] Schofield was fully competent to command it in my absence.”7 But President Lincoln's mind was set on ending the war at the earliest possible date and was only partially calmed by Sherman's reassurances.
The conversation lasted about an hour, according to Colonel Porter, but General Sherman himself thought it was “a good long social call.”8 When Sherman left the River Queen, he returned to Grant's headquarters along with General Grant. (In his memoirs, Sherman does not mention that Grant took part in his conversation with Lincoln.) When the two of them arrived, they found Julia Grant talking to Colonel Porter and also discovered that Mrs. Grant had prepared tea for the four of them.
She asked the two generals if they had paid their respects to Mrs. Lincoln while they were on board the River Queen. Grant said no, they had not, and explained that they had gone “rather on a business errand.”9 Sherman added that he did not even know that Mrs. Lincoln was on board. “Well, you are a pretty pair,” Mrs. Grant scolded, and took them to task for being so neglectful. Neither of the two men seemed very upset over their neglect of the First Lady. “Well, Julia,” her husband offered in the way of an apology, “we are going to pay another visit in the morning, and we'll take good care then to make amends for our conduct to-day.”
It would not have made very much difference if either of them had inquired regarding Mary Lincoln's health. They would have been informed that Mrs. Lincoln was indisposed. When Commander John S. Barnes reported to President Lincoln on board the River Queen on the morning of March 27, he made a point of asking about Mrs. Lincoln. He was “hoping that she had recovered from the fatigue of the previous day,” as he diplomatically phrased it.10
Commander Barnes's diplomacy was not lost on the president. He received the commander “with marked kindness,” and said that his wife was “not at all well.”11 Lincoln also “expressed the fear that the excitements of the surroundings were too great for her, or for any woman.”
One of Mary Lincoln's biographers was a good deal less diplomatic. According to this source, Mrs. Lincoln's embarrassing behavior of the day before “had incapacitated Mary Lincoln with a bad case of self-inflicted shame.”12 Anyone who asked for her was informed that she was “indisposed,” “as indeed she was.” Mrs. Lincoln was, literally, ashamed to show her face. “Mortified and apologetic, she stayed in her cabin on the River Queen and was only seen walking along the bank near Point of Rocks with Tad or Robert” on the following day, “or sitting on a chair on the ship's stern.” But Mrs. Lincoln would cause another embarrassing scene with Commander Barnes before the day had ended.
Julia Grant was also on board the River Queen. After leaving the president, Commander Barnes joined Mrs. Grant in the forward cabin, and asked about the president's wife. Mrs. Grant pointed out the window to Mary Lincoln standing on deck, near the pilot house, and suggested that he bring a chair out to her. He pushed “a large upholstered armchair” out on deck, said good morning to Mrs. Lincoln, and offered her the chair. Mrs. Lincoln declined the offer.
A bit nonplussed by Mary Lincoln's conduct, Commander Barnes returned to the forward cabin. Mrs. Grant had been watching through the window and had seen what had just happened. A few minutes later, Mrs. Lincoln came to the window and gestured for Mrs. Grant to join her on deck. Through the same window, Commander Barnes watched the “animated conversation” that took place. Mrs. Lincoln was obviously agitated, while Mrs. Grant spoke in a calm, soothing manner.
After the conversation ended, Mrs. Grant returned to the cabin to let Commander Barnes know exactly why Mrs. Lincoln had wanted to
speak to her—Mrs. Lincoln objected to the commander's presence aboard the River Queen and wanted him to know all about her objections. Apparently, she was upset because he did not take her side during the argument with her husband on the night before.
Commander Barnes was on board expressly because he had been invited to accompany the Lincolns on a trip up the Appomattox River to a place called Point of Rocks. It was meant to be a combination pleasure trip and sightseeing tour. According to legend, Point of Rocks is where Pocahontas saved the life of Captain John Smith. But Mary Lincoln's attitude toward him made his presence aboard the River Queen untenable. “This made things rather uncomfortable for a pleasure party,” Commander Barnes drily remarked.13 After tactfully conferring with Mrs. Grant about the correctness of such an action, the commander decided to leave the River Queen as quickly and as discreetly as possible.
When the boat docked at Point of Rocks, Barnes deliberately stayed on board while the Lincolns went ashore. Before they returned, the commander asked the River Queen's captain to put him ashore on the other side of the Appomattox River, where the boat's quartermaster loaned him a horse. From there, “somewhat discomfited” and for the second day in a row, Commander Barnes rode back to City Point.
Strangely enough, Commander Barnes did not seem to be offended. Instead of being annoyed with Mary Lincoln, he felt sorry for her. He realized that she was not well, “the mental strain upon her was great,” which brought about “extreme nervousness approaching hysteria,” along with “extreme sensitiveness as to slights” and “want of politeness or consideration.”14
“I had the greatest sympathy for her,” Commander Barnes later wrote, “and for Mr. Lincoln, who I am sure felt deep anxiety for her.”15 Not very many people shared the commander's sympathy for Mrs. Lincoln. Friends and acquaintances of the president tended to share the commander's consideration for him and felt sorry for anyone who happened to be married to anyone as eccentric—some would have said crazy—as Mary Lincoln. Very few people had anything but negative feelings, ranging from contempt to ridicule, for Mary Lincoln.
While they were at Point of Rocks, the Lincolns were shown the facilities of the nearby military hospital. The president toured the hospital grounds with his wife and two sons but did not go inside the building and did not visit any of the wards. Mary Lincoln went inside the hospital to visit the soldiers with Tad and Robert. Lincoln walked down to the river and sat under an oak tree, while the rest of his family made the rounds with senior members of the hospital staff.
The visit came as a tonic to the recuperating patients. It not only broke the monotonous grind of their daily routine, which usually consisted of nothing more than reading and playing endless games of cards, but also raised the morale of everyone in the hospital. For convalescing patients, morale was every bit as vital to their well-being as anything any doctor or surgeon could do for them. By the time the Lincolns were ready to leave, hundreds of soldiers, probably everyone who could walk, came out to catch a glimpse of the president. They waved and cheered and applauded; they appreciated the Lincolns’ visit and wanted them to know how much. In response, President Lincoln raised his hat in salute.
Even though the war was not over yet, and there was still a possibility that General Lee might escape to North Carolina, President Lincoln was making preparations to celebrate the end of the fighting. Specifically, he was planning a flag-raising ceremony at Fort Sumter in April, which would commemorate the surrender of the fort to Confederate troops, and the beginning of the war, four years earlier. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton telegraphed the president on March 25: “I have invited Henry Ward Beecher [celebrated writer and speaker] to deliver an address on raising the flag upon Fort Sumter and will give directions…to make all suitable arrangements for the occasion and fire a salute of five hundred guns. The flag will be raised by [General Robert] Anderson”—Anderson was in command of the fort when it surrendered to Confederate forces in 1861. “Please let me know if these arrangements have your approval.”16
President Lincoln certainly did approve of Secretary Stanton's idea—commemorating the end of the war with such a patriotic observance would be fitting and appropriate, exactly what Lincoln had in mind. There was only one problem—the president could not remember if the fort surrendered on April 13 or April 14. “Yours inclosing Fort-Sumpter [sic] order received,” the president replied by telegraph on March 27. I think of but one suggestion. I feel quite confident that Sumpter fell on the thirteenth (13th) and not on the fourteenth (14th) of April as you have it.” He went on to explain that the fort fell on Saturday the thirteenth, that the first call for troops was “got up” on the fourteenth, and the order itself was issued on Monday the 15th. “Look it up in the old Almanac & other data and see if I am not right.”17
Secretary Stanton responded to Lincoln's good-natured inquiry at 6:30 that evening. He said that his own recollections agreed with the president's—that Fort Sumter surrendered on April 13.
But the official report, which had been made by Anderson and submitted to Stanton in April 1861, stated that Anderson “marched out of the fort on Sunday afternoon the 14th inst with colors flying and Drums beating bringing away private property and saluting my flag with fifty guns.”18 The secretary of war went on to remind Lincoln that the attack began “on the 12th at 4:30, continued the next day & during the afternoon of the 13th.” The actual evacuation took place on the afternoon of April fourteenth.
In a verbal shrug of the shoulders, Lincoln telegraphed Secretary Stanton on March 28, “After your explanation I think it is little or no difference whether the Fort-Sumpter ceremony takes place on the 13th or 14th.”19 As long as there was a ceremony, Lincoln did not really care if it was held on a Thursday or a Friday. This exchange of telegrams shows that President Lincoln was convinced that the war was nearly over, and also that he hoped that it would end soon, with any luck within the next few weeks.
The main activity on President Lincoln's agenda for March 28 was a conference aboard the River Queen with General William Tecumseh Sherman and General Ulysses S. Grant, along with Admiral David Dixon Porter. The main topic of the discussion would be the end of the war—how to end the fighting as quickly as possible, and how to rebuild and restore the South when the war was over. “It was in no sense a council of war,” Colonel Horace Porter commented, “but was only an informal interchange of views between the four men who, more than any others, held the destiny of the nation in their hands.”1
The two generals and Admiral Porter were taken by what is usually described as a small tug out to the River Queen, which was lying at anchor in mid-river. They were met by President Lincoln as soon as they stepped on board, and were immediately escorted to the upper saloon, which General Sherman referred to as the after cabin. No arrangements had been made to convert the cabin into a meeting room—there was no conference table, there were no maps on the walls, and nothing special had been done to renovate the room for the occasion. Everyone sat in whatever chairs happened to be on hand. The atmosphere of the meeting would be just as relaxed and informal as the cabin's furnishings, which was exactly what Lincoln had in mind.
General Grant immediately began the proceedings by asking about Mary Lincoln—according to General Sherman, he “inquired after Mrs. Lincoln” (General Sherman's emphasis).2 Grant remembered his wife's scolding of the day before and intended to make amends for “the unintended slight.” The president appreciated Grant's tactful gesture, and went to his wife's stateroom to deliver the general's greetings. He returned a few minutes later with word that Mrs. Lincoln “was not well” and did not want to leave her room. Whether Mary Lincoln's illness was physical or mental, or whether she was still just suffering from a case of acute embarrassment over her behavior involving Mrs. Ord, has never been determined.
With the pleasantries and preliminaries safely out of the way, the meeting finally began. General Grant informed the president that General Sheridan was crossing the James River from the north at t
hat very moment, “by pontoon-bridge below City Point.”3 Actually, General Sheridan had crossed the James about thirty-six hours earlier. Grant also informed Lincoln that, in his opinion, “matters were drawing to a crisis.” His only fear continued to be that General Lee “would not wait long enough,” and might attempt an escape to North Carolina. President Lincoln shared this same fear, which he had stated several times before and would express again before the meeting ended.
General Sherman then gave the president a report on his own army's capabilities. He explained that “my army at Goldsboro was strong enough to fight [General] Lee's army and [General] Johnston's combined, provided that General Grant could come within a day or so.”4 He went on to state that “if Lee would only remain at Richmond another fortnight”—he meant Petersburg—he would be able to move his army into a position where Lee “would have to starve inside his own lines,” or else would be forced to “come out from his intrenchments and fight us on equal terms.” General Grant had been trying to accomplish just this for the past ten months.
President Lincoln had not said very much up to that point. Admiral Porter noted that Lincoln “was then wrought up to a high state of excitement” from listening to what Grant and Sherman had to say.5 “His heart was tenderness throughout,” according to Admiral Porter; the president wanted to end the war as quickly as possible, and “as long as the rebels laid down their arms, he did not care how it was done.”
The president was also not happy to hear that either Grant or Sherman would have to fight one more major battle before the war ended—“one or the other of us would have to fight one more bloody battle,” is what General Sherman said to him.6 Lincoln asked if it would be at all possible to avoid another pitched battle because, as he phrased it, “there had been blood enough shed.” Sherman explained that such an event was beyond the control of Grant and himself, but that, in his opinion, “both Jeff. Davis and General Lee would be forced to fight one more desperate and bloody battle.” Sherman guessed that the battle he was predicting would be fought “somewhere near Raleigh” between himself and Joe Johnston. General Grant added that “if Lee would only wait a few more days,” Union forces would be in position to “be on his heels” in the event of a breakout toward North Carolina.
The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln Page 10