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“He Joked And Made Light Of The Occurrence”
Riding was about his only exercise. He had a good seat, but was a hard rider, so that he tired out a lot of horses, and on his rides and drives he had to put up with the precautions of Stanton, who insisted on his being accompanied by a bodyguard. Sometimes, however, when the military situation was causing him great anxiety, or when the receipt of a disturbing telegram had made it impossible for him to sleep, he would — in summer, when he was staying at his country quarters — get up in the middle of the night and ride off unattended to the War Department. On such occasions, he was always exposed to the risk of assassination. One night iq August, at about eleven o’clock, the sentinel at the Soldiers’ Home heard a rifle shot, and soon afterwards approaching hoof beats. In two or three minutes a horse came dashing up, and the man recognized the President, arriving thus belated, and bareheaded. To the sentry, who took the horse’s bridle, Lincoln said, “He came pretty near getting away with me, didn’t he. He got the bit in his teeth before I could draw the rein.” The man asked him where Ms hat was. ” Somebody fired down at the foot of the hill. The horse bolted, and my hat was jerked off.” The sentry and a corporal went off in the direction of the shooting, and found the President’s hat, with a bullet hole through the crown. Next morning, when Lincoln saw the hat, he joked and made light of the occurrence, but added that he wished to have it kept quiet. Thenceforward he never rode alone.
By Emil Ludwig,”Abraham Lincoln: And the Times that Tried His Soul” ,Ludwig-416-03
“He Defends McClellan Against The Supervision”
And McClellan? What is our handsome friend doing, mean- while, beside the Potomac? During the last three months he has been training and grouping one hundred and seventy thousand men. Will he not attack now? Will the President order an advance, or discuss the matter with the general? McClellan does not want advice from any one, and least of all from Lincoln. He complains in private that the President’s frequent visits to the camp are a nuisance. He writes :
“I am becoming daily more disgusted with this administration — perfectly sick of it. . . . I was obliged to attend a meeting of the cabinet, and was bored and annoyed. There are some of the greatest geese in the cabinet I have ever seen.”
This is the way in which the man of the sword is apt to gird at the philosopher — but then why the devil does he not use his sword? Is the enemy too strong ? Only one to three ! McClellan does not believe this. His Napoleonic reputation has been acquired without his ever having fought a battle, and he fears to fritter it away in defeats. He perpetually demands troops, troops, troops; remains entrenched facing the enemy week after week, so that the morale of his inactive forces cannot but suffer ; and when the Southerners, fearing a surprise attack, withdraw, evacuating Manassas, he is content to follow them only a little way, and then digs himself in once more, reporting daily, “All quiet upon the Potomac.” The mood of the nation passes from uneasiness to anger, from anger to derision, from derision to mistrust. Does this Democrat cherish political ambitions; would he fain make his way to the highest office upon the field of inaction, rather than with renown on the battlefield?
Impossible, for the President promotes him. When the veteran Scott is now dismissed into honorable retirement, young McClellan is appointed commander in chief. Why? Lincoln has no one else for the job ! He even puts up with discourteous treatment from the general, allows himself to be kept waiting in the anteroom, so that the matter gets into the papers, and arouses angry comment. Is the President himself put out of humor ? Not in the least ! He does not trouble about personal dignity, for his sole concern is to win the war. “I will hold McClellan’s stirrup for him, if he will only win us victories.” At length, one day, the general, on return- ing to his quarters, finds that Lincoln and Seward are waiting for him ; he goes up to his room and sends down a message, saying he is sorry but is too tired to see them to-day. The Secretary of State is in a great rage, but the President remains unmoved. He pays no more visits to the general, however, and thenceforward his orders are curter.
The two men’s relations assume a sinister tone, have a hollow ring, as if the foundations were being mined. “The Waleck River grows worse, the longer one looks at it,” writes the general, who for six months now has been magnetized by the Potomac and its tributaries. Lincoln, when more troops are continually demanded, only to be swallowed up in the void, says it is “like shifting fleas across a barn floor with a shovel — not half of them ever get there/ ‘ Again, he remarks, ” Unless something is done soon, the bottom will drop out of the whole affair; and if General McClellan does not want to use the army, I should like to borrow it, if I could only see how it could be made to do something.” Nevertheless he defends McClellan against the supervision committee of Con- gress.
In the West, at the same time, everything is at a standstill. The President, upon whom incessant demands for reinforcements, munitions, horses, etc., pour in, does not know what to make of the matter, feels that he is being humbugged in some way or other, but cannot see how to intervene. Here is a man in supreme com- mand who knows nothing of the art of war, and a couple of generals who won’t fight.
Ludwig-294-13
“In This Matter Lincoln Is Too Easy-going”
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4.
To John C. Fremont
Private and confidential. Major General Fremont: Washington D.C. Sept. 2, 1861.
My dear Sir: Two points in your proclamation of August 30th give me some anxiety. First, [2] should you shoot a man, according to the proclamation, the Confederates would very certainly shoot our best man in their hands in retaliation; and so, man for man, indefinitely. It is therefore my order that you allow no man to be shot, under the proclamation, without first having my approbation or consent.
Secondly, [3] I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph, in relation to the confiscation of property, and the liberating slaves of traiterous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends, and turn them against us—perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky. Allow me therefore to ask, that you will as of your own motion, modify that paragraph so as to conform to the first and fourth sections of the act of Congress, entitled, “An act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes,” approved August, 6th, 1861, and a copy of which act I herewith send you. This letter is written in a spirit of caution and not of censure.
I send it by a special messenger, in order that it may certainly and speedily reach you. Yours very truly A. LINCOLN
Here in St. Louis, likewise, there is a handsome general mounted on a fine horse and attended by a brilliant retinue ; but Fremont, at any rate, has a great past, or the legend of one. He is the Western pioneer, the pathfinder, the romantic figure, the man whom the newly formed Republican Party had nominated as its first presi- dential candidate, and for whom Lincoln had fought. Did all that happen only five years ago? Too recently for Fremont to have forgotten it himself; too long ago for the public to remember without fresh laurels. For the time being, however, he is prized by Lincoln and the cabinet. Glitter, the power of silence, and the lack of experience as a commander in the field are qualities he shares with his colleague beside the Potomac ; but he has worked out a specialty, creating a bodyguard, within which he ensconces him- self, secludes himself undiscoverably, and under whose protection he is tardy in answering letters and telegrams from the government – or will not answer them at all. In their contempt for Washing- ton and the government, the Eastern general and the Western make common cause ; only in this, however, for in other matters they seem determined to work against one another.
But in contradiction to the Eastern organizer, the Western war lord is inactive in respect of the peaceful doings of the army as well, while his vanity makes him an easy prey to fraudulent army contractors (who perhaps are not unknown to the Secretary of War as well), and his main industry is to appoint brigadiers on his own initiative and without consulting the President. Within a few weeks, despite the iron wall of silence with which he has surrounded himself, materials for grave accusations against Fre- mont make their w?^y to Washington. The man who was formerly an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency is said to aim at found- ing a Northwestern Union. The rumors lack foundation, and Lincoln does not credit them, but the fact that they are current serves to show what people regard as possible.
One morning in August, the President reads in a newspaper that General Fremont has issued a proclamation to the effect that the property of all Missourians who shall take up arms against the Union or shall in any other way help the South, will be confiscated forthwith, and their slaves, if they have any, will be declared free. What does Lincoln think and feel as he reads this ? With the self- restraint of a statesman, with the sense of responsibility proper to a reigning sovereign, in defiance of his natural sentiments and wishes, he has, since the beginning of the war, refrained from opening the slavery question, being convinced that his first business is not to free the slaves , but to save the Union. Only if the preservation of the Union remains his war cry, can he count upon a Democratic majority in the loyal States, and upon the neutrality of the border States. If by any war measures on behalf of the slaves he shows that this is a war for abolition and not a war for the maintenance of the Union, he will lose ground, and therewith lose the war; and even in the confiscation ordinances customary in war time he has been careful to avoid mentioning slaves. Now comes one of his generals thrust- ing clumsy fingers into this political web, completely ignoring the subordination of the military arm to the political ! Next day the dormant controversy has been reawakened all over the country. The radical press of the North applauds the bold soldier who has outdistanced the hesitating President. The border States, on the other hand, and Kentucky first of all, are infuriated at what is now, they say, openly disclosed as the purpose of the war, and once more they threaten to secede. Will not the general be cashiered ? Not a bit of it. Lincoln writes him a friendly letter : “I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph [of the proclamation] . . . will alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky. Allow me, therefore, to ask that you will, as of your own motion, modify that paragraph so as to conform to the first and fourth sections of the act of Congress. . . . This letter is written in a spirit of caution, and not of censure. I send it by special messenger, in order that it may certainly and speedily reach you.” Amazing! In this matter Lincoln is too easy-going. His endeavor to avoid harsh measures against men whom he considers possessed of a wider national reputation than his own, his wish to repudiate the formal exercise of authority, lead him to be more complaisant than the risks of the situation justify. What is the upshot? First the general cannot be found; then he writes, asking the President himself to modify the relevant clause in the proclamation ; and he sends this letter by Mrs. Fremont, an able and ambitious woman who has been described as the real chief of staff.
No, this is not a burlesque ; things really happened that way !
The general’s lady, fearing lest her husband may be removed, determines to take the offensive. Arriving at midnight, she insists on seeing the President then and there, berates him, threatens him with the possibility of Fremont’s setting up an independent govern- ment. Will Lincoln pay her back in her own coin ? He is said to be half a farmer, mannerless and boorish. “I had to exercise all the rude tact that I possess to avoid quarreling with her,” he says afterwards. He does not want to use the iron hand; neither he nor the country is strong enough for that yet, and it is never his main purpose to seek popularity. He therefore proves accom- modating in a way that is most injurious to himself — agrees to modify the clause under his own name as Fremont has requested, and incurs the anger of hundreds of thousands of Northerners, who regard him as cowardly and the general as a hero. Some of the newspapers declare that it would be well if Fremont were to take Lincoln’s place, and one writer asks : “How many times are we to save Kentucky and lose our self-respect?”
In this matter, too, for Lincoln, policy outweighs ambition, and philosophy policy. Quite unconcerned, he ponders after his own fashion the underlying factors at work in this interlude :
“I have great respect for General Fremont and his abilities, but the fact is that the pioneer in any movement is not generally the best man to carry that movement to a successful issue. It was so in old times ; Moses began the emancipation of the Jews, but didn’t take Israel to the Promised Land after all. He had to make way for Joshua to complete the work. It looks as if the first reformer of a thing has to meet such a hard opposition and gets so battered and bespattered, that afterwards when people find they have to accept his reform they will accept it more easily from another man.”
Thereupon he writes asking General Hunter to go to Missouri : “He [Fremont] needs to have at his side a man of large experience. Will you not, for me, take that place ? Your rank is one grade too high to be ordered to it, but will you not serve the country and oblige me by taking it voluntarily?”
Hunter, however, achieves very little, and writes letters no less arrogant than Fremont’s. Thereupon he is reproved by his chief in this mild way :
“I am constrained to say it is difficult to answer so ugly a letter in good temper. I am as you intimate, losing much of the great confidence I placed in you, not from any act or omission of yours touching the public service . . . but from the flood of grumbling despatches and letters I have seen from you. … I have been and am sincerely your friend, and if, as such, I dare to make a suggestion, I would say that you are adopting the best possible way to ruin yourself. ‘Act well your part, there all the honor lies.’ ”
And when, in the end, he finds it necessary to recall Fremont, his messengers cannot at first get access to the general at all, upon whom the letter has to be forced by a stratagem.
Thus delicately and grotesquely must the President of the Union handle his army commanders.
Ludwig-294
“Lincoln Had Stood By Him”
John Hay returned from Illinois just at the time of Blair’s resignation. He noted that Blair was behaving “very handsomely and is doing his utmost” to reelect Lincoln. Monty would never forget that Lincoln had stood by him after the mortifying publication of his private letter to Frémont three years earlier, which contained passages demeaning the president. He knew that his father had never been turned away when he requested a private audience with Lincoln, and that his sister, Elizabeth, was always welcome at the White House. His entire family would forever appreciate Lincoln’s support for Frank during his continuing battle with the radicals in Congress. Indeed, Lincoln’s countless acts of generosity and kindness had cemented a powerful connection with the close-knit Blair family that even Monty’s forced resignation could not break. In the end, Lincoln gained the withdrawal of Frémont and the backing of the radicals without losing the affection and support of the conservative and powerful Blairs.
By Doris Kearns Goodwin，“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”，Goodwin-627-428-135
“Lincoln Took Upon Himself The Whole Blame”
To the astonishment of Welles, Lincoln “took upon himself the whole blame-said it was carelessness, heedlessness on his part-he ought to have been more careful and attentive.” In fact, Welles continued, Lincoln “often declared that he, and not his Cabinet, was in fault for errors imputed to them.” Seward reluctantly sent the telegram; but Porter had already set sail for Florida. A fast ship was dispatched to catch up with the Powhatan, but when Porter read the telegram, bearing Seward’s signature instead of the president’s, he continued to Florida, on the assumption that the previous order signed by the president had priority.
By Doris Kearns Goodwin，“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”，Goodwin-323-221-88
“Not To Be Making Points Of Etiquette Personal Dignity”
On Wednesday night, November 13, Lincoln went with Seward and Hay to McClellan’s house. Told that the general was at a wedding, the three waited in the parlor for an hour. When McClellan arrived home, the porter told him the president was waiting, but McClellan passed by the parlor room and climbed the stairs to his private quarters. After another half hour, Lincoln again sent word that he was waiting, only to be informed that the general had gone to sleep. Young John Hay was enraged. “I wish here to record what I consider a portent of evil to come,” he wrote in his diary, recounting what he considered an inexcusable “insolence of epaulettes,” the first indicator “of the threatened supremacy of the military authorities.” To Hay’s surprise, Lincoln “seemed not to have noticed it specially, saying it was better at this time not to be making points of etiquette & personal dignity.” He would hold McClellan’s horse, he once said, if a victory could be achieved.
Though Lincoln, the consummate pragmatist, did not express anger at McClellan’s rebuff, his aides fumed at every instance of such arrogance. Lincoln’s secretary, William Stoddard, described the infuriating delay when he accompanied Lincoln to McClellan’s anteroom. “A minute passes, then another, and then another, and with every tick of the clock upon the mantel your blood warms nearer and nearer its boiling-point. Your face feels hot and your fingers tingle, as you look at the man, sitting so patiently over there…and you try to master your rebellious consciousness.” As time went by, Lincoln visited the haughty general less frequently. If he wanted to talk with McClellan, he sent a summons for him to appear at the White House.
By Doris Kearns Goodwin，“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”，Goodwin-377-257-022
“Lincoln Tolerated Such Flagrant Breaches Of Protocol”
For two months, Lincoln tried to restore harmony between his commanders. He spent many hours at General Scott’s headquarters, listening to the old warrior and attempting to mollify him. He made frequent visits to McClellan’s headquarters, situated in a luxurious house at the corner of Lafayette Square, not far from Seward’s new home. The upstairs rooms were reserved for McClellan’s private use. The parlors downstairs were occupied by the telegraph office, with dozens of staff “smoking, reading the papers, and writing.” Sometimes McClellan welcomed Lincoln’s visits; on other occasions, he felt them a waste of time: “I have just been interrupted here by the Presdt & Secty Seward who had nothing very particular to say, except some stories to tell.” Observers noted with consternation that McClellan often kept Lincoln waiting in the downstairs room, “together with other common mortals.” British reporter William Russell began to pity the president, who would call only to be told that the general was “lying down, very much fatigued.” Nonetheless, so long as he believed in McClellan’s positive influence on the army, Lincoln tolerated such flagrant breaches of protocol.
By Doris Kearns Goodwin，“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”，Goodwin-377-257-008
“Often Reading Aloud”
Before he met Kelso, Shakspere and Burns had meant little to Lincoln; they had been merely names, and vague names at that. But now as he sat listening to Jack Kelso reading “Hamlet” and reciting “Macbeth,” Lincoln realized for the first time what symphonies could be played with the English language. What a thing of infinite beauty it could be! What a whirlwind of sense and emotion!
By Dale Carnegie，“Lincoln, the Unknown” ，Carnegie-029-12
Already he possessed a vivid sensibility for the beauty of the English language. Often reading aloud, he was attracted to the sound of language along with its meaning-its music and rhythms. He found this in poetry, and to the end of his life would recite poems, often lengthy passages, from memory. He seemed especially drawn to poetry that spoke of our doomed mortality and the transience of earthly achievements. For clearly Lincoln, this acolyte of pure reason and remorseless logic, was also a romantic.
Doris Kearns Goodwin，“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” Goodwin-046-30-27
Though he acquired only a handful of volumes, they were seminal works of the English language. Reading the Bible and Shakespeare over and over implanted rhythms and poetry that would come to fruition in those works of his maturity that made Abraham Lincoln our only poet-president.
Doris Kearns Goodwin，“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” Goodwin-046-30-25
“His Love Of Fun”
“His love of the ludicrous was not the least peculiar of his characteristics. His love of fun made him overlook everything else but the point of the joke sought after. If he told a good story that was refined and had a sharp point, he did not like it any the better because it was refined. If it was outrageously vulgar, he never seemed to see that part of it, if it had the sharp ring of wit; nothing ever reached him but the wit. Almost any man that will tell a very vulgar story, has, in a degree, a vulgar mind; but it was not so with him; with all his purity of character and exalted morality and sensibility, which no man can doubt, when hunting for wit he had no ability to discriminate between the vulgar and the refined substances from which he extracted it. It was the wit he was after, the pure jewel, and he would pick it up out of the mud or dirt just as readily as he would from a parlor table.
Quoted in Herndon’s Lincoln: A True Story of a Great Life Written by William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, ed.Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis, editor, Herndon’s Informants, Herndon-313-35
“repeat the substance of what he has just been reading”
What he likes better than anything else is to stretch himself on the old sofa and read. Shakespeare is continually in his hands, and he quotes out-of-the-way passages from this author. He has several editions of Byron’s “Don Juan”, and they are all freely underlined. He is extremely fond of Burns, and once he reads aloud to his partner one of the Scotsman’s poems. The early poems of young Walt Whitman are also discussed in this office. They make a strong impression on Lincoln ; he takes the book home with him, but promptly brings it back again next day, with the grim remark that it has narrowly escaped being “purified in fire”, for “the women didn’t like it.” Of other new books, he will merely flutter the leaves, let them drop on the floor, close his eyes, and murmuringly repeat the substance of what he has just been reading.
By Emil Ludwig,”Abraham Lincoln: And the Times that Tried His Soul” ,Ludwig-136-04